Aprons: Do you use one?

[Kim Shook]

On 2/13/2022 at 3:23 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I seldom have anything on in the kitchen.

 

I feel sad for my Rough Linen.  I would wear it more if I could figure out how to put it on.

 

I think I'm getting to the bottom of why we see Jo so often in the "I will never again..." thread.  

 

I love aprons and am a mess, so I wear one at all times.  I have a large hook on the kitchen wall and have all kinds of fun, interesting, beautiful aprons on it - even some for each holiday.  What do I end up wearing?  A stained white one I got from a Roberto Donna cooking class YEARS ago.  Why?  Because it is the only one with ties long enough to wrap around me and tie in the front.  Why don't more apron manufacturers do that???

Edited February 15, 2022 by Kim Shook (log)

[blue_dolphin]

On 2/13/2022 at 12:23 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I seldom have anything on in the kitchen.

 

I feel sad for my Rough Linen.  I would wear it more if I could figure out how to put it on.

 

 

2 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I think I'm getting to the bottom of why we see Jo so often in the "I will never again..." thread.  

 

I love aprons and am a mess, so I wear one at all times.  I have a large hook on the kitchen wall and have all kinds of fun, interesting, beautiful aprons on it - even some for each holiday.  What do I end up wearing?  A stained white one I got from a Roberto Donna cooking class YEARS ago.  Why?  Because it is the only one with ties long enough to wrap around me and tie in the front.  Why don't more apron manufacturers do that???

 

Yes, clothing, including shoes, can be the best PPE in the kitchen! 

 

As to apron strings, I suppose they should be long enough but I very much dislike them and their special ability to entangle an entire load in the dryer.  It's why I like the Rough Linen versions - no strings at all!  I'm not challenged by putting them on but clearly that is an issue for others so I guess it's good to have all sorts of options. 

[chromedome]

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

As to apron strings, I suppose they should be long enough but I very much dislike them and their special ability to entangle an entire load in the dryer.

 

I hold mine together, double them back to half-length, and then tie a slip knot in them. They stay put, and my laundry remains un-entangled.

[liuzhou]

Apron ties at the back are safer. Less likelihood of @CentralMAsyndrome.

[CentralMA]

51 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Apron ties at the back are safer. Less likelihood of @CentralMAsyndrome.

 

Yeah, I was going to detail the issues of immolation...got busy with other stuff.

 

Immolation is not good, highly not recommended.

 

Still laughing about it though.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

12 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

 

Yes, clothing, including shoes, can be the best PPE in the kitchen! 

 

As to apron strings, I suppose they should be long enough but I very much dislike them and their special ability to entangle an entire load in the dryer.  It's why I like the Rough Linen versions - no strings at all!  I'm not challenged by putting them on but clearly that is an issue for others so I guess it's good to have all sorts of options. 

 

While I am getting better at it, I failed geometry, and I never expected to encounter a mobius strip this side of reality.  If you've seen the Marvel movie Black Widow, think of Red Guardian putting on his uniform.  Better yet the gag reel version.

 

Still I am weak and that blue Rough Linen pinafore is calling me.

 

[slo_ted]

I never wear an apron although I should.  My shirts all have splatter scars.  If they don't they are not my shirts.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

For shame, I totally forgot to put on my pinafore.  Immediately I rose up from my mai tai to remedy the lapse.  Yesterday I got the Rough Linnen on first try.  Tonight it was a struggle.  Less like Red Guardian, more like a mistrussed goose.

 

Is there a deterministic method to this madness?

 

[weinoo]

On 2/15/2022 at 11:55 AM, Kim Shook said:

Roberto Donna

 

Great, and troubled, chef!

[Kim Shook]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Great, and troubled, chef!

Yep.  There's a reason that really good culinary programs teach business classes as well as cooking ones.  His class was fantastic - he was a good teacher.  I still make the panzanella salad that I learned to make when I took the class with him.  

[palo]

Having an apron is essential = to mop up spills 😛

 

p

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I may have developed a determinist method to put on my Rough Linen pinafore.  Unfortunately I cannot explain it.

 

[Duvel]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I may have developed a determinist method to put on my Rough Linen pinafore.  Unfortunately I cannot explain it.

 

Were Mai Tai‘s involved ..?

[liuzhou]

This one of the aprons I never wear. It was a gift.

 

 

The Chinese means "Kitchen God". Flattery will get you fed!

Edited April 29, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, Duvel said:

Were Mai Tai‘s involved ..?

 

Only afterward.

 

The method involves placing the pinafore face down on the bed, at which time the straps resolve themselves into alignment.  I think that I shall patent it.

 

[lindag]

2 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Only afterward.

 

The method involves placing the pinafore face down on the bed, at which time the straps resolve themselves into alignment.  I think that I shall patent it.

 

Yes it is a bit of a puzzle.  Reminds me somewhat of origami.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner tonight involved searing chicken thighs.

 

I love Rough Linen, especially now that I can put on my apron in just a couple minutes!  Nonetheless, the beautiful Rough Linen pinafore is worth far more than any clothes I may or may not be wearing in the kitchen.  And if you're picturing hot spattering fat branding human skin, no apron helps much for protecting forearms.  Ask me, I know.

 

Besides, at my age, forearms are mostly bruises, ulcers, open sores, and scar tissue already.

 

[chromedome]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Besides, at my age, forearms are mostly bruises, ulcers, open sores, and scar tissue already.

 

I can remember at one point we got tired of my mom burning herself at the base of her thumb/top of her wrist, so we replaced her heat pads with oven mitts. She immediately began burning herself at the base of her wrist, just where the mitts stopped. So we bought her longer oven mitts, and she began burning herself at the top of her forearm right (wait for it) where the mitts ended. So Dad told her to just call him when she had things to take out of the oven.

 

She didn't bake but once or twice after he died, so that was a non-issue, but her forearms like yours are a constant mass of bruises and recent scrapes (her skin is similarly fragile).

[jedovaty]

I have an apron from amazon that I don't like, it has plastic clasps that rub against my neck, and as such I rarely wear it and have ruined so many expensive shirts (when I'd come home from work, first thing I'd do is start cooking before changing, I'm a nerd in salesmen's clothing).  Looking at the recommended/influenced rough linen brand here, the aprons seem like they'd sit too low on a skinny dude, so I think I'd prefer a more traditional kind over the neck so it sits up higher.  There was a link here to an eater article.. "Merci" brand has some, but all the models are women.  Any of you tried that brand?  Any good?  Similar pricing to rough linen it seems.  i.e. expensive 😖

[blue_dolphin]

5 hours ago, jedovaty said:

I have an apron from amazon that I don't like, it has plastic clasps that rub against my neck, and as such I rarely wear it and have ruined so many expensive shirts (when I'd come home from work, first thing I'd do is start cooking before changing, I'm a nerd in salesmen's clothing).  Looking at the recommended/influenced rough linen brand here, the aprons seem like they'd sit too low on a skinny dude, so I think I'd prefer a more traditional kind over the neck so it sits up higher.  There was a link here to an eater article.. "Merci" brand has some, but all the models are women.  Any of you tried that brand?  Any good?  Similar pricing to rough linen it seems.  i.e. expensive 😖

 

Hedley & Bennett make very good quality aprons.  They put the clip to adjust the length of the neck strap over on one side so it doesn't sit at the back of the neck. Made in the US.  Nice selection of fabrics. I know a lot of people who are big fans. 

 

Edited to add that their cross back aprons are good if you don't want anything on your neck at all. 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by blue_dolphin (log)

[lindag]

2 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Hadley & Bennett make very good quality aprons.  They put the clip to adjust the length of the neck strap over on one side so it doesn't sit at the back of the neck. Made in the US.  Nice selection of fabrics. I know a lot of people who are big fans. 

I'm a big fan of the pinafore style apron since anything against the back of my neck is an irritation.  Of course, I usually forget to put one on before splattering my clothing.

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Hadley & Bennett make very good quality aprons.  They put the clip to adjust the length of the neck strap over on one side so it doesn't sit at the back of the neck. Made in the US.  Nice selection of fabrics. I know a lot of people who are big fans. 

 

Edited to add that their cross back aprons are good if you don't want anything on your neck at all. 

 

Not only have I bought their aprons (for gifts these days, my grand niece is an up-and-coming baker), but I was using their cloth masks for many months.

[blue_dolphin]

12 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Not only have I bought their aprons (for gifts these days, my grand niece is an up-and-coming baker), but I was using their cloth masks for many months.

Yes, I had some of their masks, too.  Nice pivot to keep their staff employed and the business going when their restaurant business dried up. 

[Annie_H]

We like the bistro waist wrap style. I have a half dozen from a restaurant supply from years ago but hard to find all cotton. 

I have a big bolt of raw linen I've cut into big squares and washed a dozen times to make some but my sewing machine needs repair. It was a lock-down project gone wrong. Bummer. I designed it to have more pockets and grommets in each front lower corner to pull up and tie in the back as a harvest garden apron. Annoying to hit the garden early morning with coffee and no basket handy. 

I have a nice gifted one but anything around my neck feels wrong. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, jedovaty said:

I have an apron from amazon that I don't like, it has plastic clasps that rub against my neck, and as such I rarely wear it and have ruined so many expensive shirts (when I'd come home from work, first thing I'd do is start cooking before changing, I'm a nerd in salesmen's clothing).  Looking at the recommended/influenced rough linen brand here, the aprons seem like they'd sit too low on a skinny dude, so I think I'd prefer a more traditional kind over the neck so it sits up higher.  There was a link here to an eater article.. "Merci" brand has some, but all the models are women.  Any of you tried that brand?  Any good?  Similar pricing to rough linen it seems.  i.e. expensive 😖

 

Rough Linen offers two choices of strap length and three different apron sizes.  I got the longer straps on mine, though now I am wishing I had ordered shorter.  Now that I know how to quickly put it on I am loving (and wearing) my apron more and more.

 

I wish, however, there were a sash that could be tied around the waist.  It is awkward to bend over, say when assaying the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.