Dough scraper/cutters and spatulas - and their uses

[First posted 23rd July, 2011.) 

I've got several dough cutters that I use:

The wooden handled one belonged to my dad - it was always known as a Scotch scraper, I'd love to know why! It was old when he took over the bakery, in 1948. (He was a bus conductor for many years before this.) It feels really comfortable in my hand, but the blade isn't as sharp as I'd like.



The one top right I've had for about 15 years and it came under the Graham Kerr (Galloping Gourmet) label. It's the one I use most as it has a sharper blade and is just slightly flexible. This is particularly handy when I'm kneading a sticky dough - that way I only have one hand to clean! I have seen similar ones in kitchen supply shops for around £6.



Bottom left was from Macro (I think), and the one bottom right came from Creed bakery supplies. I bought a dozen  to sell at my Saturday workshop sessions - just before they were cancelled, and I haven't done one since!  I've still got about 9 left! (Now only 4 left after my Autumn evening course!)



The spatulas are really handy for mixing a dough up to about 500g of flour - the shape means that you can easily scrape around the side of the bowl and you can readily cut through the dough with them. These used to be available at my local Cook Store, but they haven't been available for over 10 years. I first came across them in schools, back in the 90s - every school kitchen had dozens.


For a bigger batch I use a curved knife given to me by a butcher relative - it's an abattoir knife which I put to much better use!


Also available are small plastic scrapers in the shape of a D, which are very useful. Bakery reps used to give them away - possibly still do! Richard Bertinet always uses one when kneading dough.

The plastic scrapers are bevelled along the curved side and are great for scraping dough - or cake mix - out of a bowl

The metal dough cutter/scraper in the pic is one I used to sell many of in my workshops before Ikea stopped making them. At £1.50 each, they were a bargain  - and they fit very well into the hand, as well.

But my favourite cutter is the Graham Kerr one - I thought I'd run through some of the uses of the implement.


Apart from the obvious uses - cutting dough, scraping the worktop clean - it's very handy for handling a sticky dough. I push the dough flat with my left hand (I'm left-handed when it comes to kneading dough - right-handed in most other things) and use the scraper in my right hand to lift the dough up and over - so I only have one hand sticky with dough.

But apart from breadmaking, this tool has many other uses:
Chopping potatoes for mashed potato, for instance. You can chop away then scoop the diced potatoes up and drop them in the pan in one easy action;
Turning fried mashed potato. I like to gently fry my mashed spuds to get a crust on each side. Using the scraper, with its large area, makes it much easier to turn the potato over;
If I ever I get some crusty bits on the bottom of my cast iron frying pan (it does happen!), it's the work of seconds to scrape it off. (But I wouldn't let it near my non-stick frying pans - for obvious reasons!);
Finally, I use it for scraping any bits around on my worktops before  I wipe them clean - I can reach under the microwave with it, for instance.