Types Of Spoons (Cutlery)

A spoon is perhaps the most important item of cutlery. But, did you know that there are several types of spoons you can use for different purposes?

As food is an essential aspect of survival, cutlery items have often recewoodived more importance, and people have tried to come up with different ways of using utensils. With time, spoons, forks, and knives have evolved to the extent that we now have different spoons for each purpose.

So, do you want to know about the different types of spoons and their uses? Keep reading to find out!

1. Soup Spoon

Just as the name suggests, a soup spoon is used when you’re eating soup. As soup has a thin and liquid consistency, the spoon is specially designed to accommodate more soup in the spoon.

This type of spoon has a round bowl at the end, a bit deeper than the regular spoon, to help occupy soup. Soup spoons can come in various shapes and sizes. However, all of them have a rounded and deeper bowl.

2. Chinese Spoon

The Chinese spoon is much different from the soup spoon, although both can be used for the same purpose. The shape of the Chinese spoon is very different, and it is designed this way to occupy liquids in a larger quantity.

The Chinese spoon often has a thick but short handle, which makes it easier to hold. The handle is connected to a deep bowl, like a soup spoon. However, the main thing that differentiates the soup spoon and the Chinese spoon is that the bottom of the Chinese spoon is flat.

While these spoons are primarily for soups and sauces, people often use them for eating solid food items.

3. Baby Spoon

Baby spoons are small in size because they are made to fit the small mouths of babies.

However, baby spoons also serve several other purposes. The special size and shape of the baby spoon make it perfect for eating yogurt during breakfast.

The main quality of the baby spoon is that it’s smaller than the tablespoon and larger than the teaspoon.

4. Coffee Spoon

Coffee spoons are less common and are only found with special sets of dishes. They are shaped like a regular spoon, the only difference being that coffee spoons are smaller than teaspoons.

The primary use of coffee spoons is to stir the coffee. These spoons are often used with after-dinner coffee cups.

5. Dessert Spoon

Dessert spoons are used to eat desserts. They are a bit different from the regular spoons as well. In fact, their size comes in between that of a teaspoon and a tablespoon.

Also, while the regular spoons have an oval bowl, the bowl of a dessert spoon is pointed towards the end and is usually longer as well.

6. Grapefruit Spoon

The grapefruit spoon is a special spoon that is designed to eat the grapefruit.

This citrus fruit is a bit hard, and therefore, this spoon can help you separate the rind from the spoon. It does this with its serrated or zig-zag end.

The spoon is serrated from the tips and extends a bit to the sides as well. This end makes it super easy to cut the fruit. However, make sure that you’re careful while using the spoon because the sharp edge might hurt you.

7. Cream Spoon

While a cream spoon may look exactly like a soup spoon, both are quite different. The cream spoon is shorter than a soup spoon and is primarily used to put cream and sauces on top of other spoons.

This spoon also has a deeper and round bowl to help accommodate creams and sauces more easily.

The cream spoon is also used to apply the cream to toppings, and the round bowl helps in doing it the right way.

8. Bouillon Spoon

Many people confuse a bouillon spoon with a soup spoon, but both differ.

First, a bouillon spoon is smaller than a regular soup spoon.

Secondly, the bouillon spoon is used for light soups. These include jellied soups or broth-based soups.

For this reason, bouillon spoons have a round but a bit shallower bowl.

9. Fruit Spoon

The fruit spoon is used when eating fruits. It has a simple handle, like a regular spoon, to make it easy to hold the fruits. You can use it when eating a fruit salad.

The spoon has a handle like that of a regular spoon. But, the size of the fruit spoon is smaller than that of the tablespoon.

This spoon also has a wider bowl to accommodate fruit pieces.

10. Egg Spoon

The main use of an egg spoon is to eat an egg.

However, the egg spoon can also be used to move the hard-boiled eggs from the stand. It does resemble a typical teaspoon, but the handle of the egg spoon is a bit shorter.

While the bowl of an egg spoon is also smaller, it a slightly pointed at the end. This design makes it resemble the shape of an egg.

11. Dinner Spoon

The dinner spoon is also called the tablespoon and is used at the dinner table.

You can use it for eating different food items. People usually eat rice, curry, and stew with the dinner spoon.

This spoon is large and has an elongated handle as well as a pointed and round bowl. This shape makes it perfect for holding in hand, and the spoon can carry the right amount of food too.

12. Demitasse Spoon

The demitasse spoon resembles a coffee spoon in shape, but it is even smaller than the coffee spoon, usually 3-4 inches long. However, this spoon can still be used in making coffee.

Demitasse spoons are designed to be used with espresso cups, which is the primary reason for their small size. That is why people also call them ‘’espresso spoons” or “mocha spoons”.

13. Absinthe Spoon

The absinthe spoon is a unique type of spoon with perforated holes.

This spoon is specially designed for absinthe drinkers. As it is for drinks, the spoon has a flat bowl and is not rounded like the other spoons.

The holes in the spoon allow the liquid to pass through, which creates water currents in the drink. The main purpose of this spoon is to dissolve the sugar cube in the glass.

14. Cheese Spoon

Cheese spoons are used with cheese.

They go well with grated cheese due to their design and shape. However, you can also use it to dig hard or semi-hard cheese.

The design of the cheese spoon may also vary. However, all the cheese spoons have a finely decorated bowl and are smaller in size.

The pattern or design on the sides of the bowl is to help dig the cheese.

15. Bar Spoon

A bar spoon is also known as a cocktail spoon. This spoon has a long and thin handle. The bowl is also small.

The smaller bowl isn’t an issue because the spoon is only used for stirring the drink. Also, the longer handle can easily reach the bottom of the tall glass.

16. French Sauce Spoon

A French sauce spoon has a different shape and design compared to a regular spoon, and it is because the spoon is specifically designed for eating sauces.

The bowl of the French sauce spoon is a bit flattened. Also, the spoon has a notch on the side.

The purpose of this notch is to allow the oil to drain from the sauce. Then, you can easily get the sauce on the spoon and eat it without tipping the plate.

17. Sugar Spoon

While many people often use the same regular teaspoon for adding sugar, there’s a special spoon for this purpose.

It is called a sugar spoon and is used for scooping table sugar. You will often find this spoon with a tea or coffee service.

The sugar spoon is almost the same size as a teaspoon. Also, what sets it apart from a teaspoon is that a sugar spoon has a shell-like bowl.

The bowl is also deeper, and the bowl has a curved pattern, which resembles a sea shell.

18. Chutney Spoon

The chutney spoon is a traditional piece of cutlery and is made of stainless steel or handcrafted. These spoons are common in Asian countries where people still make different chutneys to eat with food.

The chutney spoon has a long and thin handle, which makes it easier to reach the bottom of the bowl. The bowl is round yet pointed in some spoons to get the chutney from the bowl.

19. Mustard Spoon

Mustard spoons are used for taking out the mustard, and these spoons are either made of wood or stainless steel.

As there are various types of mustards, it’s better to use a mustard spoon for them. This wooden spoon has a long and thin handle that allows it to reach the end of the mustard jar.

Also, the bowl is round but elongated from the tip and less wide. This shape allows the spoon to dip in the mustard and pull it out.

20. Spaghetti Spoon

As taking out spaghetti from the spoon is impossible, and the fork isn’t enough for a large amount, we have a spaghetti spoon for this purpose. It is large and shaped like a ladle, which large tines at the side of the round bowl.

The spaghetti spoon also has holes in the middle of the bowl. The big tines make it easier to grab the noodles and move them to another plate, making them great serving spoons for spaghetti.

21. Teaspoon

A teaspoon is a regular spoon we use in our kitchen for measuring. They can be used for other purposes as well, especially when you want to eat something but cannot find a specific spoon for it.

As they’re small, teaspoons can also be used for stirring and mixing things.

22. Tablespoon

A tablespoon is perhaps what you use when eating food. However, these spoons are also used for measuring.

Tablespoons are larger than teaspoons and are perfect to fit the mouths of adults. Like the teaspoon, you can also use the tablespoon to mix and stir food.

23. Slotted Spoon

A slotted spoon is a large spoon used in cooking. This spoon has slots or holes in the bowl and a long handle to protect your hands from the heat.

The slotted spoon is used when you have to separate the solid and liquid food items. You can take the solid food items in this spoon, and the liquid will drain from the holes.

24. Jelly Spoon

A jelly spoon is used for taking out jelly. This spoon is medium size and has a handle like a regular spoon.

However, the bowl is different and often has a pointy edge. The shape of the edge can vary.

The different shapes of the bowl help you get a nice shape of the jelly once you take it out with the spoon.

25. Ice Cream Spoon

The ice cream spoon is only used when eating ice creams. Ice cream spoons now come in a variety of shapes as well, all of which are intended to make it easier for you to eat your ice cream.

The basic ice cream spoon comes with a thin and short handle. The overall size of the spoon is also small and matches that of a dessert spoon.

However, the bowl of the ice cream spoon is flat and open at the end to get through that scoop of ice cream and take it out!

26. Caddy Spoon

You’ll rarely find a caddy serving spoon in homes these days because these are traditional spoons used commonly in the 19^th century. The purpose of the caddy spoon was to measure tea and dispense tea from the tea caddy.

This spoon comes with a short handle and a large bowl shaped like a sea shell.

27. Panja

Panja is commonly used in India. This spoon comes with a flat surface and is used for serving rice.

It also has four indentations shaped like a finger. They make it easy to take the rice with the spoon and move it to the plate.

28. Olive Spoon

The olive spoon has a bowl shape like an olive and is used for taking olives out of the liquid. You can also use this spoon to serve other kinds of appetizers that are soaked in liquid.

The spoon has a handle like that of a regular spoon. However, the bowl is round in shape and much deeper. This shape is perfect as it slows you to take the olives out easily.

The bowl also has a few holes that can drain the liquid.

29. Gumbo and Chowder Spoon

A gumbo spoon is also a soup spoon, but it is used for soups that have meats and vegetables in them as well. It resembles a regular spoon but is larger than a teaspoon.

Also, the gumbo spoon has a larger bowl than the regular soup spoon and more surface area.

30. Salt Spoon

The salt spoon is a small spoon that we use to measure and add salt to dishes.

A salt spoon resembles a caviar spoon. It has a long, thin handle, and the bowl is oval and deeper.

Final Words

Our list of the different types of spoons in cutlery will definitely be useful when you’re confused about which spoon to use for a specific purpose. We have provided in-depth detail and the purpose of each spoon to make your understanding clear.