For some reason, our house uses a lot of ladles. One for the water kettle that no longer has a working pump, one for soup every so often, and one for decoration and "just in case" situations. You'd think that this problem would resolve itself after a quick trip to a kitchen supply store or a big-box store and you'd be perfectly correct.
Seeing as how we got by for so long without another ladle, this problem wasn't a really high priority on my list of things to do. It turns out that I could have gone to Wal-Mart and picked one up for cheap. Instead, I got a ladle and a bunch of other things for slightly more during a trip to Ikea.
Ah, but this story isn't quite as simple as picking up any random ladle. At the store, I let my over-analytical/paranoid side go wild and realized a bunch of things I wanted in a kitchen utensil.
Stainless steel is my preferred material for anything not used in non-stick pans. The reason is for its durability and lack of toxins that I know of that exist or are suspected. With all the stories of plastics leaching things that I've heard over the past while (e.g. water bottles, microwavable containers, etc.), I just want the piece of mind.
In the theme of leaching things, I also found that I preferred utensils with one material and no joints. This is in case any glue or welding is used -- again, I just don't want to have to think about it. And then the last reason for stainless steel is for its general ease of cleaning.
Luckily, Ikea has a really cheap line of stainless steel kitchen utensils that appear to be single pieces with no joints -- I can't see them at least. This, of course, it the Ikea GRUNKA collection that includes not only a ladle, but also a spoon, spatula, and pasta server.
Configuration
Ikea GRUNKA Kitchen Utensils- $4.99
Includes: Spoon, spatula, ladle, pasta server
Assembly
All set.
Stability
Don't think I can make a fort out of them.
Expandability / Customizability
You can name them. I call the pasta server "Pete".
Everyday Use
Being a house of non-stick pan and pot users, the spatula and spoon do not get a lot of use. In fact, we're a house that uses very few specialized tools for cooking. Measuring spoons? Just eyeball it. Mixing? Get a fork. That leaves the ladle, which I discussed in detail earlier, and the pasta server.
The ladle is a ladle and it works well. I haven't noticed any material issues like tarnishing after at least two months of regular use for serving soups. Before getting the pasta server though, we used forks and spoons. That never went well and it was extremely annoying to serve pasta. After trying the pasta spoon included in this bundle, I was blown away at how easy it made to serve both spaghetti-like long noodles and smaller things like macaroni. I find it very easy to scoop things up with it, but do have to be a bit more careful with non-stock pots. The material looks fine after two months or so too.
Yes, I just wrote a few paragraphs on what is essentially a collection of spoons. I like them and they're a good price.
Related
IKEA BEKVAM Kitchen Cart Review
IKEA FIXA 17-piece Tool Kit Review
IKEA LILLHOLMEN Vanity Mirror Review
IKEA SIGNUM Cable Rack Review
IKEA Laminate Flooring Review
