The most awe-inspiring kitchen tool in existence is the spurtle. That is, if you ask Scotland’s competitive porridge cooks (yes, that’s a thing). Of course, that begs the question: What the heck is a spurtle? Let’s find out.
There are two kinds of spurtles: the rod-shaped, single-use original Scottish version and the newer American design, which is a cross between a spoon and spatula. The Scottish version, which is shaped like a dowel, is used exclusively for stirring porridge. Before rolled oats existed, porridge had to cook for a long time, and the spurtle helped in curtailing lumps.
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In Scotland, devotion to the spurtle runs so thick that there’s an annual Golden Spurtle competition. There, cooks from across Scotland compete under Olympic-level restrictions, creating 1.5 pints of porridge for three judges to taste. There’s no pre-cooking allowed (and no quick oats, either), which makes it very difficult to cook a silky porridge within the contest’s time limits. Difficult, that is, until the spurtle slides in. Due to the dowel-like shape, cooks are able to use the tool like a whisk while constantly stirring—not scraping—their porridge.
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In the 1970s and 1980s, English television star Graham Kerr spread the gospel of the spurtle on his cooking show, “The Galloping Gourmet”. However, the tool he called a spurtle looked more like a wooden spoon with the contour of a spatula. Thanks to the flat surface area, Kerr used it for more than just cooking porridge, like stirring melted marshmallows for Rice Krispies treats.
Kerr’s version of the spurtle was soon adopted by non-porridge-making Americans, like former Martha Stewart Living food director [Lucinda Scala Quinn] who created her own heirloom design that’s “not quite a spoon, not quite a spatula.” She uses it for stirring eggs, folding chives into mashed potatoes, making tuna salad, and yes, even for oatmeal.
However you interpret its look—is it a cross between an offset spatula and a cricket bat? Is it a spatula-like spoon?—the modern American version can stir, scoop, smash, and serve. Use it to stir chili more evenly. Get more control and fluidity when folding a batter. Worried about scratching the stainless steel interior of your Instant Pot? Get out your spurtle.
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In an age of too many kitchen appliances with too few uses, it’s liberating to see a simple tool that can do a host of things. But according to Harry Clarke of Kitchen Carvers, another spurtle manufacturer, there’s one thing you shouldn’t do with the spurtle.
“Don’t lend your spurtle to anyone,” he warns. “If you do, the person who borrowed it will fall in love with it and will never return it.”
BUY A SCOTTISH SPURTLE: Scottish Wooden Spurtle, $3 on Amazon
BUY THE AMERICAN VERSION: Crate Collective Bamboo Spurtle Set, $15 on Amazon
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