Flippers

All metal flipper
© Denzil Green

Flippers are a metal tool used for flipping food over in a frying pan, on a griddle or on a girdle. Occasionally they are also used for serving with. You can also use them to scrape pans with.

They consist of a long handle with a completely flat shovel at the end. The shovel part can be a somewhat elongated square, or very long and rectangular.

They can be made of metal or plastic. Plastic ones are safest to use on non-stick pans, even though some modern non-stick pans say that metal is fine.

Flippers with flexible shovel ends are better at sliding under delicate things (such as fried eggs.)

Flippers are called many different things by many different people. Many people will call it by one name one day, and the next day, based on what they are using it for at that particular moment, call it something different.

Here are some common names:

cooking spatula (presumably to different it from the rubber ones used for preparing the food)
flipper (the "flipper" name comes from the act of "flipping")
hamburger flipper
pancake flipper
egg flipper
egg lifter
egg slice
egg turner
metal spatula
spatula
turner

Some wags have suggested a new standard name of "food inverter."

For slotted Flippers, see the entry on "Fish Slice."

Also called:

Escumadeira, Salazar (Portuguese)

Other entries for: Spatulas
Baker's Peel, Fish Slice, Flippers, Lefse Stick, Rice Spatula, Rubber Spatulas

Other entries for: Cooking Tools
Alambic Stills, Apple Corer, Avocado Slicers, Baking Mats, Baking Stones, Batterie de Cuisine, Biscuit Brake, Blowtorches, Branding Iron, Bread Bins, Bread Machines, Bulb Baster, Butter Muslin, Caja China, Can Openers, Canning Funnels, Cans, Chopsticks, Contact Paper, Cookware, Cooling Racks, Corkscrews, CorningWare, Cuppitiello, Dishwashers, Dough Scrapers, Doughnut Cutters, Egg Cups, Egg Timers, Esky, Fat Separators, Flour Dredgers, Flour Duster, Food Pushers, French Butter Crock, Funnels, Girdle, Graters, Griddles, Heat Diffuser, Ice Pick, Icing Syringe, Kitchen String, Kitchen Tongs, Kneading Gloves, Knives, Measuring Cups, Meat Tenderizer, Melon Baller, Milk Cellar, Non-Electrical Rotisseries, Olive Pitter, Oshibori, Oxo Good Grips, Paraffin, Pastry Brush, Pastry Frame, Pea Sheller, Petites Marmites, Pie Plates, Pie Racks, Pizzelle Iron, Proof Box, Ramekins, Rolling Cookie Cutters, Rolling Pins, Salad Spinner, Salamanders, Salt Pigs, Scales, Steamers, Sugar Cutters, Tassie Cups, Tea Trappings, Thermometers, Tortilla Warmers, Treen, Tupperware, Uchiwa, Waffle Iron, Whisks