Slotted spoon. Coyau / wikimedia / 2013 / CC BY-SA 3.0
Slotted spoons are spoons with slots or perforations in their bowls. They are used to scoop food items out of a liquid, leaving the liquid behind.
The slots can be two to four actual slots running side by side almost the length of the bowl of the spoon, or they can be perforations of various shapes and placement.
Slotted spoon with actual slots. © Denzil Green / 2005
Some slotted spoons have spoon bowls the size of a standard large stirring spoon; others have oversize spoon bowls. Some have bowls which are almost flat, with just slightly curved edges on them enabling them to still qualify as a “spoon.”
Slotted spoon with flat bowl. Marina Shemesh / needpix.com / CC0 1.0
They can be made of bamboo, plastic, silicon, stainless steel, or wood. Older ones might be made of aluminum.
They can also be used for stirring.