# skimmer, fish slice, spatula?



## Mr Bones

Hello, friends. 

I'm a little mixed up with some kitchen utensils and I was wondering if you could help me. I'd like to know what is the commonest name of this tool you use when you want to take something out from the frying pan (a fried piece of fish or meat, for instance) or some boiled vegetables, etc. I found these three names -skimmer, fish slice and spatula-, but I don't know if they correspond to a particular kind of meal, place (BE or AE), etc. I'm sure you have at least one of these in you kitchen. What do you call it?

Thank you, Mr Bones.


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## tannen2004

I have a spatula in my American kitchen.  I use it for everything: breakfast (pancakes, eggs, French toast, etc.), lunch (grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, etc.) and dinner (pan fried chicken, steaks, etc.).  I've never heard of a skimmer or a fish slice.


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## Rover_KE

A bit of googling will quickly reveal pictures of a spatula and a fish slice. I have both in my kitchen.

(I never boil vegetables in a frying pan.)

_Skimmers_ are completely unrelated.

EDIT - I've just looked at Tannen's _spatula_ link.  If this were twice as long it would be a fish slice to me - an implement for taking a long piece of fish out of the frying pan whilst the fat drains through the slots and remains behind.

For me, a spatula has no holes or slots in it.

Rover


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## panjandrum

Oh dear, Bones, this could be difficult.

The thing that tannen has pictured is, for me, a fish slice.
I seldom use mine with fish, but that's what it would be called in the shop where I would buy one.

Have a look at _THIS PICTURE _from Merriam-Webster.
It calls tannen's spatula a "turner".  Good name, very descriptive, but boring. I would call that a fish slice.

It labels a broad, flat bendy thing a "spatula".  That would be my term for it too.  It is the thing I use to lift stuff from the frying pan - pancakes, fish, meat, etc.

It shows a large spoon-shaped thing with holes in it and calls it a "draining spoon".  I think we may own one of those, but I've never used it.


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## Mr Bones

Hello, thank you to all of you. From all the utensils contained in the Merriam-Webster's picture, I only have the ladle, the turner -I didn't know this name- and what is called a skimmer, and this last one is the one I use more often (we Spaniards fry a lot, as you probably know yet). It worries me the fact (well, maybe worry is too strong a word) that I have the notion that skimmer is quite an unusual word, but this one (round, with little holes on it) is my favourite.

Thank you, Bones.

P.S. I never boil vegetables in a frying pan either, Rover, It was just my flawed English expression.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

I would call the thing in tannen's picture a "spatula". I could call that long narrow item a "spatula" as well (and possibly even a "frosting spatula", as I would be most likely to use it while frosting a cake), but it would not be the sort of thing I would expect to find in most American kitchens -- unlike the item shown by tannen, which I would expect everyone to have.

I would tend to reserve the term "turner" (or more particularly, "pancake turner") to an item such as this one -- and especially, to something which did not have slots. 

Much more common than a skimmer in the kitchems of most people around here is a good old slotted spoon.

I love to cook, and have spent many a happy hour in shops in the US that specialize in kitchen gizmos, gadgets, and doodads, but to my knowledge I have never in my life until now ever heard, read, or come across the term "fish slice." I suspect that we have another difference of AE and BE usage.


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## Cagey

A search of Google images site:uk for "fish slice" shows me the "turners" (what I would call "spatulas") as well as utensils with flat sloted fanshaped blades like this.   

It also finds fancy silver serving implements like this one.  This what I expected a_ fish slice_ to be, as it seems that people get them as wedding presents in the Victorian novels I read.  Do you still do that?


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## losilmer

For taking out fried fish, meat or chips (French fries) from a pan with a lot of oil (covering the food), the most appropriate utensil is a perforated metal skimmer or a wire skimmer.  But if you use only a little oil for cooking you could use rather the fish slice or a spatula simply. That's what I use myself.  Otherwise, if you should use a deepfrying pan, there is no need of those, if it has its perforated metal or wire basket. Enjoy your meal!


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## losilmer

losilmer said:


> For taking out fried fish, meat or chips (French fries) from a pan with a lot of oil (covering the food), the most appropriate utensil is a perforated metal skimmer or a wire skimmer.  But if you use only a little oil for cooking you could use rather the fish slice or a spatula simply. That's what I use myself.  Otherwise, if you should use a deepfrying pan, there is no need of those, if it has its perforated metal or wire basket. Enjoy your meal!


I want to add *the turner *also, which is similar to a spatula but wider, shorter, and bent so as to turn over the slices of meat or fish, or similar.


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## Infininja

I would say a spatula could or could not have holes, but most likely does in America.


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## sdgraham

Infininja said:


> I would say a spatula could or could not have holes, but most likely does in America.


Does not.


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## Infininja

> Most have long slots on the blades to allow liquids to flow through, though some have holes or no perforations at all.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatula


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## Eigenfunction

The object that the Merriam Webster picture has labelled as a spatula, I (BrE) would call a *palette knife*. The other utensils mentioned:
*Fish slice* - The flat slotted utensil (usually metal)
*Spatula* - flat, no slots. like this
*Skimmer* - Refers to one of several insects, birds, etc., none of which can be found in my kitchen .

I would choose a fish slice or wooden spatula to serve things from a frying pan. A slotted spoon would do the job in most cases too.


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## Infininja

I would call your spatula (commonly used in baking) a spatula _in addition to_ the fish slice being called a spatula.


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## Cagey

Like Infininja, I use _spatula _to refer to two different utensils.  





Eigenfunction said:


> The object that the Merriam Webster picture has labelled as a spatula, I (BrE) would call a *palette knife*. [....]


Do you really call that a _palette knife_ when you use it in your kitchen?   I would only call it a palette knife when it is used while painting ~ and those are much smaller.


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## Infininja

sdgraham said:


> Does not.



Did you edit in the link? I didn't notice it the first time.

As I stated, I would _also_ call that a spatula, though it is of course different than the thing you would use to flip burgers on a grill (which would probably have slots and is called a spatula where I com from).

It might be telling of American English you had to specifically search for "rubber spatula" to get those results.


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## Eigenfunction

Cagey said:


> Do you really call that a _palette knife_ when you use it in your kitchen?   I would only call it a palette knife when it is used while painting ~ and those are much smaller.


Yes, I definitely call it a palette knife when I use it in the kitchen. I usually use it to lift rolled pastry from the board I've rolled it on, if you're interested. Nothing else is flexible and flat enough to slide under the pastry without tearing it. Palette knives for painting are smaller and differently shaped.


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## sdgraham

Infininja said:


> Did you edit in the link? I didn't notice it the first time.
> *Nope*
> 
> As I stated, I would _also_ call that a spatula, though it is of course different than the thing you would use to flip burgers on a grill (which would probably have slots and is called a spatula where I com from).



One of the pitfalls for the young and enthusiastic is that they automatically assume their age group and location is the norm for the rest of the country - or English-speaking world.


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## liliput

Eigenfunction said:


> The object that the Merriam Webster picture has labelled as a spatula, I (BrE) would call a *palette knife*. The other utensils mentioned:
> *Fish slice* - The flat slotted utensil (usually metal)
> *Spatula* - flat, no slots. like this
> *Skimmer* - Refers to one of several insects, birds, etc., none of which can be found in my kitchen .
> 
> I would choose a fish slice or wooden spatula to serve things from a frying pan. A slotted spoon would do the job in most cases too.


 
I think this a good summary of the BE perspective. Certainly the item in tannen's picture is a fish slice for me. Personally I would probably use palette knife and spatula interchangeably for the palette knife. The item in Eigenfuntion's picture is a spatula.

In my kitchen I have a slotted spoon, but I also have a flatter, spoon-like utensil, which I suspect may be a skimmer, but which I've never had a name for. It's very useful for removing fried things from the frying pan - ideal for fried eggs. I've never felt the need to call it anything; if I was asking someone for it I'd probably ask for the flat spoon with holes in.


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## Infininja

sdgraham said:


> One of the pitfalls for the young and enthusiastic is that they automatically assume their age group and location is the norm for the rest of the country - or English-speaking world.



Perhaps I shouldn't have said "most likely does in America," but I did preface my statements by saying they're from my point of view.


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## Loob

liliput said:


> I think this a good summary of the BE perspective. Certainly the item in tannen's picture is a fish slice for me. Personally I would probably use palette knife and spatula interchangeably for the palette knife. The item in Eigenfuntion's picture is a spatula.
> 
> In my kitchen I have a slotted spoon, but I also have a flatter, spoon-like utensil, which I suspect may be a skimmer, but which I've never had a name for. It's very useful for removing fried things from the frying pan - ideal for fried eggs. I've never felt the need to call it anything; if I was asking someone for it I'd probably ask for the flat spoon with holes in.


I suspect there are some variations in the BrE perspective: I'd only use a palette knife for plastering, painting etc, not for cooking.  

That said, like liliput, I've never had a term for the round utensil with holes (click) or its mesh-type equivalent (click), both of which I have in my kitchen. (I think it's the first of these which Mr Bones describes as his favourite.) I suppose I'll have to think of them as types of 'skimmer' from now on - though I'd honestly never heard that term until this thread....


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## Cypherpunk

Although it's often referred to as a spatula, this is the implement I used in every commercial kitchen that I cooked in. They are officially known as turners (but I never knew a single cook who called them that), and they are perfect for use on a flat grill, especially if you take the time to sharpen one or two edges. They are available in a variety of sizes, and you can get them with both long and short handles.

Loob, I'd call those a slotted scoop and a spider, respectively.


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## Loob

I just knew that what we needed was a professional! So Mr Bones' favourite round thingy with holes is a "slotted scoop" (as distinct from a slotted spoon) and the round thingy with mesh is a "spider".

That said, I can go only so far. I can and will embrace _slotted scoops_, not least since they sound better than _skimmers_.

But "spiders" **? Sorry, that's a giant leap too far.


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## Cypherpunk

I believe they are nicknamed spider, because they look like a spider web. Sometimes they are also referred to as skimmers or strainers, but most cooks and chefs I know call them spiders (probably because it's more interesting than 'strainer'--we call large conical strainers 'china hats', probably for the same reason).


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Really, Loob? I love that term "spider". The _slotted scoop_ is perhaps not as common in kitchens on this side of the Atlantic as it seems to be on that, perhaps because the typical household on this side of the water does not fry things (such as eggs) in oil qute the same way. The people I see using that item more than anyone else are in fact the cooks at Chinese take-out (take-away for the transAtlantic readers) restaurants, who seem to use them in preference to anything else when cooking in a wok.

I am glad to know a better name for them, because the first meaning that I associate with the word "skimmer" is this.


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## Cypherpunk

GWB, when I saw skimmer, I thought of a funky spoon that has an outer ring with an inner spoon, used to trap oil on the surface of soups and stocks. But, I thought of this next, because I have a little sister who used to go on for hours about any and every type of clothing under the sun...


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## Loob

Errr - it seems like we're developing a consensus here: that we all dislike/don't use 'skimmer'?


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## paul_vicmar

I´ll put my name forward as skimmers spokesperson. Extremely useful when making soups, especially fish soup, or cooking stews where it is necessary to remove an excess or unwanted element. http://www.wordreference.com/definition/skim 

http://www.decuisine.co.uk/cookshop/kitchen_tools_gadgets/KU-353.html
http://www.panik-design.com/acatalog/Alessi_-__Passtoo__Skimmer.html
http://www.richmondcookshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=4362
There are many more places selling skimmers. So someone must be using them.


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## Mr Bones

Loob said:


> Errr - it seems like we're developing a consensus here: that we all dislike/don't use 'skimmer'?


 
This is really bad news for me, since, as I've just said, *skimmer* is the first word I learnt to call this whatsit. I had been wondering what you would call this for a long time and some day I looked it up and googled to find images that would confirm the accuracy of the name. But if I started this thread was precisely because I suspected that this term wasn't that habitual.

However, fortunately, in the end and while I'm writing this, Paul Vicmar came to join the ranks of the skimmer enthusiasts with a very good explanation of its pros. So, I feel less lonely now .

Best regards, 
Mr Bones.


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## pickarooney

I call that thing 'a slotted spoon' in English but only because my mother once referred to it as such. I'd never really had cause to use it until I started making dishes which require skimming the fatty deposits of the top of a saucepan of water (e.g. _blanquette de veau_).
In truth, whenever I mention the utensil, I use the French word (_écumoire_) as it describes the purpose of the implement (skimming) correctly whereas slotted spoon is a bit ambiguous and only describes its appearance.

I would refer to the photo back in post #2 as a fish-slice but again only for historic reasons and because I don't know any other word to distinguish it. I don't know that I've ever sliced fish with one. 

A spatula for me has no holes and can be plastic/rubber and flexible or wooden and rigid.


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## panjandrum

All of those skimmer things and things that look like spoons with holes in them, of whatever shape and size, are *holey spoons*.


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## Loob

paul_vicmar said:


> I´ll put my name forward as skimmers spokesperson. Extremely useful when making soups, especially fish soup, or cooking stews where it is necessary to remove an excess or unwanted element. http://www.wordreference.com/definition/skim
> 
> http://www.decuisine.co.uk/cookshop/kitchen_tools_gadgets/KU-353.html
> http://www.panik-design.com/acatalog/Alessi_-__Passtoo__Skimmer.html
> http://www.richmondcookshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=4362
> There are many more places selling skimmers. So someone must be using them.


OK, OK.

But if you're trying to skim fat off a soup, stew etc the last thing you'd need is something with holes in - no? (I'm sure my husband - the cook in the family - used to use some sort _of pipette.)_

I reckon panj is right with his _holey spoons_ = what others call_ skimmers._


Sorry, Bones, for the lack of consensus


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## paul_vicmar

Couldn´t find too many references to *holey spoon*, in the context being used, although I did find a recipe which made reference to it in inverted commas, which would suggest that it was the authors unofficial name for it. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/jan/01/foodanddrink.recipes
Here is *yet* another page talking in depth about skimmers, and its uses, which states - *

"Skimmer,* a type of         flat ladle, is a long handled kitchen utensil with either a perforated         disk or a shallow, bowl shaped, wire mesh. It is used to retrieve small         pieces of food from hot liquids or to remove unwanted surface fat and         froth from soup or stock"
http://handicraft.indiamart.com/products/home-products/kitchenware/skimmer.html


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## liliput

paul_vicmar said:


> Couldn´t find too many references to *holey spoon*, in the context being used, although I did find a recipe which made reference to it in inverted commas, which would suggest that it was the authors unofficial name for it.
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/jan/01/foodanddrink.recipes
> Here is *yet* another page talking in depth about skimmers, and its uses, which states -
> 
> *"Skimmer,* a type of flat ladle, is a long handled kitchen utensil with either a perforated disk or a shallow, bowl shaped, wire mesh. It is used to retrieve small pieces of food from hot liquids or to remove unwanted surface fat and froth from soup or stock"
> http://handicraft.indiamart.com/products/home-products/kitchenware/skimmer.html


 
Significantly, the recipe talks about using the holey spoon to "*skim...*froth off the surface".

I suspect that "skimmer" is the official or trade name, but your average home cook will call it a holey spoon or something similar.


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## paul_vicmar

I think Lilliput´s comment about the official name and what the average Joe calls it, is about right.


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## RM1(SS)

Keith Bradford said:


> My usual tool is a metal fish slice (see below) - good for turning bacon and easy-over eggs, as well as mushrooms.



Thank you for the picture Keith -- I've often wondered what a fish slice was, though never to the point that I was willing to actually investigate.   I'd call that a turner or maybe a spatula, though when I hear "spatula" I think of these:











DonnyB said:


> Yep: not being a gourmet chef, in BE I poke mushrooms about in my frying pan using a fish slice just like Keith's (post #8).
> 
> For a more detailed explanation of the difference:
> Skillet / frying-pan / griddle-pan



Yep, indeed -- synonymous, though I'm more likely to call it a skillet if it's cast iron, and a frying pan if it's not.  And as someone pointed out, it's never "out of the skillet into the fire."


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## PaulQ

Those 4 things in primary colours: I don't see them as spatulas - they are not flat. We have one of those - it is not very large and the blade is thin and flexible: I use it for getting the last bits out of a jar of jam, etc. 

The thing on the right looks like an icing knife.


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## RM1(SS)

I would call the brightly coloured things "rubber spatulas" (even though they're probably made of plastic) and use them to scrape a bowl clean.  The one on the right I would call an "icing spatula," and use to spread icing on a cake.


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## suzi br

PaulQ said:


> Those 4 things in primary colours: I don't see them as spatulas - they are not flat. We have one of those - it is not very large and the blade is thin and flexible: I use it for getting the last bits out of a jar of jam, etc.
> 
> The thing on the right looks like an icing knife.



So what do you call the colourful things if you don't call them spatulas?


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## velisarius

There used to be only metal spatulas. In fact I still have my mother's.

Then at some point plastic ones were invented. The brightly-coloured ones look to be of silicone. Cooks still call them spatulas, since they do a similar job to that done by the metal ones (the plastic ones are more suitable for scraping than for icing).

Edit: There are also wooden spatulas for non-stick frying pans.


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## PaulQ

suzi br said:


> So what do you call the colourful things if you don't call them spatulas?


I call it "that thing you use for getting stuff out of jars" I thought it was a quite separate invention from a spatula


RM1(SS) said:


> and use them to scrape a bowl clean.


 That too.


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## RM1(SS)

Having read the rest of the thread we've been moved to, I'll add a couple more terms, as I use them.

Turner or pancake turner (with or without slots):










Skimmer:


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