Handle material
The material from which the handles of the included appliances are made.
— Metal. Handles made entirely of metal — usually stainless steel — without any inserts (handles with inserts are placed in a separate category, see below). The main advantages of metal are high strength and reliability; such a handle is not easy to break, even if you specifically set yourself such a goal. In general, metal handles are somewhat inferior in terms of convenience to plastic and wooden ones — in particular, they tend to slip in the hands; however, in fact, it all depends on personal preferences — some, on the contrary, prefer metal. Of the unequivocal disadvantages of this option, a rather high thermal conductivity can be noted — with a long contact of the tool with hot dishes or its contents (for example, if you forget a ladle in a saucepan or a spatula in a pan), the handle can get very hot. However, such situations rarely arise in fact.
— Steel with an insert. Steel handles with additional inserts or overlays made of plastic, rubber, silicone, wood or other material. For features of steel, see "Metal" above; and inserts are intended to more or less compensate for the shortcomings of all-metal handles. First of all, this design provides a secure hold in the hands and minimizes the likelihood of slipping. In addition, most of the materials used for inserts have low thermal conductivity, which allows you to safely take even a very hot device. However, for a number of...reasons, it so happened that most sets using such pens consist of tools that are not designed to work with hot products — corkscrews, nutcrackers, vegetable peelers, etc.
— Wood. Quite a comfortable material for handles: wood has an aesthetic appearance, pleasant to the touch, securely held in the hand and poorly conducts heat, so that such handles almost do not heat up even with prolonged contact of the device with a hot dish. However the wooden surface tends to accumulate dirt, so after each use such a handle must be washed quite thoroughly. Another disadvantage is the likelihood of cracking when wet and then dry, but this is mainly the case with old pens that have served for several years. Note that the tree must be protected from open fire: it can char or even catch fire.
— Plastic. Inexpensive and at the same time very practical material. Plastic is lightweight, can be made in any colour, for ease of holding, its surface can have a notch that prevents slipping, and due to low thermal conductivity, the risk of getting burned on such a handle is minimal, even if the device has been in contact with hot food or dishes for a long time. In addition, unlike wood, plastic does not absorb moisture and dirt and is easy to clean. In terms of strength, it may be somewhat inferior to the same tree, but this moment, usually, is not critical in fact. The disadvantages of this material include sensitivity to strong heat: even from a hot frying pan, plastic can melt. In addition, some consider this material to be “cheap” and not prestigious, but this moment is largely subjective, and among the varieties of plastic there are quite advanced high-strength varieties.
