Spatulas are rubber, they are meant to bend and move as needed to conform to the sides of the bowl you are scraping.
If you’re making batter using a stand mixer, sometimes the food will be pushed up the sides of the bowl. This is when you want to stop the mixer, and using the end of the rubber spatula, push the food down to the bottom of the bowl.
To get the excess batter off of your rubber spatula, run it against paddle or whisk attachment of your mixer. Set your spatula aside.
Turn your stand mixer on again and mix the rest of the contents.
When you’re finished incorporating all of your batter, it’s time to put your batter in or on your pan.
You can use the spatula again to scrape the batter into your pan.
Or, if you’re working with a thicker dough like cookie dough, you can scrape the contents on the bottom to make sure you get as much of the dough you’ve made as possible.
See video here.
Spatula uses in baking
A spatula is a rubber ended tool that is used in baking in a couple of different ways.
- scrape the sides of a bowl
- shaping butter
- mixing
- pouring batter and scraping it into a pan
How to use a spatula for butter
When making a butter layer for croissant dough, you use your rubber spatula to push the butter into a perfect rectangle.
Begin by placing the room temperature butter on top of a silicone pastry mat.
Push the butter into a rectangle by using your rubber spatula as tool.
Measure your butter as you go. The sides will become thin. To make them into the thick butter layer that you want, push the excess butter remnants from the silicone mat into the rectangular sides.
Can a rubber spatula melt
Yes, a rubber spatula can melt if it used over heat. Rubber has a melting point of 180 degrees Celsius. You will want to use a wooden spoon if you’re cooking with a saucepan instead of a rubber spatula.
Is rubber scraper a mixing tool
Yes, you can use a rubber scraper as a mixing tool for batter such as muffin batter or cake batter.
These batters are to be mixed only until just combined, therefore using a rubber spatula for a couple of mixes will be ideal for your batter.
A rubber spatula is fairly small and flexible. For thicker doughs like cookie doughs a rubber spatula will not work as well. The dough is too tough to mix with a rubber spatula. It’s best to use a stand mixer or wooden spoon for these types of thicker doughs.
