Don’t Let the Name Fool You. This Flexible Fish Spatula Can Do It All.
A fish spatula (aka a fish turner) is a style of spatula whose thin, long, semiflexible surface is designed to slip and wiggle cleanly under a delicate fillet to flip and transport it safely from pan to plate, crispy skin and all. Despite the name, it’s a versatile spatula for practically any kind of food you need to flip or transfer with precision — whether that’s brittle shortbread, soft-baked cookies, or a trembling French omelet.
Fish turners abound, and a few look more or less identical. But even compared with near lookalikes, the Victorinox Swiss Army Slotted Fish Turner has come out ahead in our testing since 2016. The spatula’s thinness and subtle give help it slip under delicate foods without simply pushing them around a fat-slicked pan. The long surface acts as a runway for slippery foods, and it’s stable, flat, and big enough to transfer piles of roasted vegetables from a sheet pan and oversized cookies, skillet-size pancakes, and other generous portions from pan to cooling rack or plate without causing rifts.
That structure also means you can confidently scrape off the browned bits from the bottom of cast-iron pans to reincorporate into flavorful sauces and gravies — an essential spatula job, in my opinion. The slotted design lets fats run through and helps steam escape, preserving the crisp sears you’ve waited for so patiently.
Mike Cohen, who covers deals at Wirecutter, can vouch for the spatula’s finesse after putting it to work this winter to fry dozens of latkes, both large and small. “It was the least messy latke-making experience I’ve ever had,” he says.
No other fish turner we’ve tested hits that sweet spot in balancing a versatile size, flexibility and firmness, comfort in hand, precision and control, price, and durability (and by extension, sustainability; Victorinox also has a lifetime warranty).
