Spoons & Ladles

What are Spoons and Ladles?

Spoons are a must-have in the kitchen, and we’re not talking about the ones you use to eat soup with! Professional cooking spoons come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are delegated different tasks in the kitchen. There can be either slotted or solid, made of silver, fibreglass, stainless steel, and wood. Besides this, we cannot forget ladles that also fall under this category. Which ones you choose to equip your kitchen with relying on function and the type of cookware you have.

What’s the difference between a kitchen spoon and a ladle? While kitchen spoons have all the same structure as cutlery or tableside spoon, they are typically flatter and can take less in one scoop. This is why the spoons are commonly used for stirring and tasting or sometimes even serving but not much more. While ladles, on the other hand, on average hold up to a ½ cup of liquid and are meant for transferring sauces, soups, and the rest of the liquid spectrum of food from one place to another. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to have at least one of each in your kitchen cabinet since they are both necessary to carry out different functions during cooking.




Wooden spoons are a favourite for many and have been for centuries since it’s the most natural and easily attainable utensil one could acquire long before the days of modern cooking and table etiquette. One of the primary reasons cooks prefer wooden spoons is not only for their natural composition but because they are gentle on cookware surfaces and don’t leave scratches. They are certainly multi-functional since wooden spoons can be used for anything from stirring a soup or sauce to tossing salad. However, they are uncomfortable to use for scooping up large spoonfuls of liquid besides for tasting since wooden spoons are typically less hollow than ladles. Along with this, if you need to strain the chunks from the liquid for pasta or other meals, a slotted spoon is a more optimal choice and they are not made of wood.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel spoons in the kitchen are durable and reliable kitchenware products. These spoons are not your typical stainless steel tablespoons or teaspoons: they are specially shaped and designed for specific functions in the kitchen. They are much easier to clean than wooden spoons and are excellent at scraping food off of pots and pans. However, it is best to not use them on non-stick surfaces since too much wear and tear on your pan by the rough material of the stainless steel will quickly damage the Teflon on the surface. Yet, stainless steel or other metallic cooking spoons are versatile and must-haves in the kitchen. They can have more of a dip or be relatively thin and flat, solid or slotted, and more. Not to mention how appealing they are on the dinner table when serving your already cooked meals with.


Silicone spoons are often considered as a middle ground between wooden spoons and stainless steel spoons. They have the soft quality of a wooden spoon that doesn’t easily scratch pots and pans like stainless steel spoons, but they also come in more various types such as stainless spoons. You can easily find slotted spoons or spaghetti slotters made of silicone since they are quite widespread and durable for handling this task. Flatter silicone spoons are also available, making it comfortable to spread creams and sauces with. They also come in a variety of colours that you can mix and match with the rest of your kitchenware and utensils.

Whichever material or type of kitchen spoon you decide to opt for, make sure you don’t forget about a trusty ladle, especially if you make a significant amount of soups and chowders in your kitchen. The primary function of ladles is preparing and serving liquid food, but you can carry out several other useful functions in the kitchen. For example, while a ladle isn’t made with stirring in mind as its primary feature, you can use it to stir or even skim broths and soups. Depending on the size of your ladle, you can opt for a serving ladle that fills one full portion of soup with the ladle. This makes portioning out soup and serving it much easier without worrying about having uneven portion sizes. Don’t make soup often? That’s not the only reason ladles are used! Ladles are a go-to for pouring pancake batter onto a hot pan with the exact same amount of batter each time for perfectly identical pancakes each time. What about pouring your homemade gravy sauce all over the next roast dinner? Ladles are an undeniably vital utensil in the kitchen.