Take 5: Pastry brushes
This kitchen tool needs to be flexible enough to grease a baking pan or egg wash a delicate pastry. bristles with excitement
This flimsy plastic brush has long nylon bristles, all cut to an even length, making it effective for jobs on flat surfaces such as greasing baking trays. However, on more uneven surfaces it's hardly up to the task. The hard bristles also create unsightly dents or lines when brushing soft dough.
HK$9.90 ParknShop, citywide
The most rustic of the brushes we tried has a wooden handle and natural bristles of uneven length. It works for all sorts of surfaces, from flat baking trays to bumpy walnut bread, giving an even spread and controlling the flow of liquid well. It is the hardest to wash and took the longest to dry of those sampled.
HK$24, City'super, citywide
This silicon brush holds a lot of liquid, but isn't able to control the flow, dumping most of it at the beginning of the first stroke. The bristles are thick and also tend to stick together too easily once they are dipped. Their even length means this brush works better on flat surfaces.
HK$12, Jusco Living Plaza, citywide
The density of these synthetic bristles makes for a brush that holds a lot of liquid and spreads it quite evenly. As the bristles are of uniform length it is at its best on harder or flat surfaces. It takes a bit more effort to clean thoroughly, and also took some time to dry.
HK$25, City'super, citywide
An all-black silicon brush that looks perfect for a designer kitchen - pity it's not much good to use. The bristles are short, thick and insufficiently tapered, meaning that they neither hold a lot of liquid nor spread it properly. They are also quite stiff at the ends, making them unfriendly to soft dough.
HK$68, Muji, Lee Theatre Plaza
