Dropped my fish spatula into the fryer and learned a hard lesson about handles

So I was working a busy Friday night shift at this Italian place in Chicago, right. I had my trusty fish spatula I'd been using for like 2 years straight. It had this rubber handle that looked fine from the outside. Well I'm flipping some calamari and it slips right out of my hand into the 350 degree fryer. I grabbed the tongs to fish it out and the handle was already melting into this goopy mess. The rubber had been cracking on the inside for months and I just never noticed because I never looked close. I had to dump a whole batch of oil and spend 20 minutes cleaning melted rubber off the heating elements. Now I check every tool handle before service starts. How often do you guys replace your spatulas and tongs, or do you just run them until they break?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jason7d ago

learned a hard lesson about handles" - yeah man that's a rough way to find out. I actually read a thing from a kitchen safety blog that said rubber handles on spatulas and tongs usually only last about 6-8 months in a busy fryer station before the heat cycles start breaking them down from the inside. The heat from the oil actually cooks the rubber slowly even when it's not submerged, making it brittle. I replace my fish spatulas every 4 months now because I'd rather spend $15 than dump a whole vat of oil like you had to. That melting rubber is a NIGHTMARE to clean off heating elements, I've been there once with a pair of tongs and never again. Check the handles by bending them a little each week, if you see any tiny cracks just toss it immediately.

rayc387d ago

Yep been there with tongs dropping into the fryer. The rubber just disintegrates and you're left fishing chunks out of hot oil for an hour. Now I just buy the all metal ones and skip the rubber handles entirely.