How well do Americans know their kitchen utensils?

April 13, 2021

In a year that’s seen many of us spend more time than ever at home, it’d be easy to assume that the everyday American has a good working knowledge of the kitchen. However, shockingly, recent Wren Kitchens data has revealed that only 60% of US homeowners can correctly identify common kitchen utensils.

We presented 12 images of ordinary kitchen implements (pastry brush, egg poacher, apple corer, cheese grater, garlic press, carving fork, steak hammer, orange juicer, salad spinner, fish slice, egg slicer, and pasta maker) to 1,000 Americans aged 16-55+, to determine which age bracket and gender is most comfortable rooting around the kitchen drawer. Analyzing the data, the results make for very interesting reading…

Which kitchen item do Americans struggle with most?

Name of utensil	% of people who know it’s use
Fish slice	11%
Egg poacher	43%
Apple corer	51%
Garlic Press	62%
Pasta maker	63%
Egg slicer	65%
Carving fork	65%
Pastry brush	68%
Salad spinner	69%
Orange and lemon juicer/squeezer	69%
Steak hammer	73%
Cheese grater	83%

Comparing age groups, it’s perhaps unsurprising that each bracket found the cheese grater imagery to be the most easily identifiable. Intriguingly, however, less than 70% of Americans aged between 35-44 correctly named the utensil. In fact, the 55+ bracket was the only age group with more than nine-in-ten (93.74%) naming the implement correctly, with just 78.95% aged 16-24, 80% aged 35-34, and 85.31% aged 45-54 successful.

Turning our attention to the other end of the scale, there’s evidently nothing more puzzling to an American than the practical fish slice. Extraordinarily, just over one-in-ten 16-54-year-olds are aware of what this utensil is, while only 7.91% of over 55s can correctly describe its functionality.

As far as trends go, it’s clear that, on average, the older an individual gets, the more likely they are to have the nous to perceive kitchenware correctly. This is supported by the 55+ age bracket being the best performing across all groups (73.68%), despite also featuring the largest variation between most correct and least correct answers (85.83%).

How do men and women stack up?

By gender, women are considerably superior to men when it comes to correctly identifying common kitchen utensils, with each right 65.49% and 51.68% of the time, respectively.

Interestingly, neither takes too long to pick out a cheese grater from a line up, with each of men (76.37%) and women (89.55%) scoring highest for this kitchen aid. Meanwhile, however, just over one-in-ten men (10.79%) and women (12.6%) can successfully put a name to the modest fish slice.

In terms of variation between most correct and least correct answers, women displayed a difference of over 75%, compared to men displaying a disparity of less than 66%.

What are the most common kitchen mix-ups?

The most common kitchen misconception comes through the false identification of the humble pastry brush, with 24% of Americans thinking its primary function is for painting.

Closely following, 22% believe an orange juicer is in fact an ice cream scoop and 18% think their steak hammer is styled to mash potatoes. Again, not far behind, 17% of US homeowners struggle to name an apple corer, instead thinking it to be a nutcracker, while 15% consider an egg slicer to be, in fact, an orange juicer. Meanwhile, horrifyingly, the same number of Americans confuse their cheese grater for a foot file.

Beginning to round off the 12 images, 13% of US citizens would use their egg poacher to pot plants, 12% are likely to attempt to shred paper through their pasta maker, and 11% believe their carving fork would hold up as an ice pick.

Finally, one-in-ten confuse a garlic press for a nutcracker and a fish slice for a potato masher, while a reassuringly low 3% believe the true purpose of a salad spinner is to juice oranges.

Despite many of us having spent the majority of the last twelve months at home, it’s remarkable how many Americans continue to struggle to pick out common kitchen utensils. Putting the spotlight on specific cities, it’s the people of Austin, Texas (45%) who struggled most with the task, compared to California’s kitchen-competent San Franciscans (86%).