Tongs

[CaliPoutine]

What do you think of this article by David Chang. He is very anti-tong.

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[Chris Hennes]

From the article:

Also, he was cooking with tongs, which was bad technique, it ripped the food apart, it was how you cooked at T.G.I. Friday’s—he should have been using a spoon or a spatula.

Ouch. Chang can have my tongs when he pries them from my cold, dead hands . If your tongs are ripping the food apart, you're doing it wrong. At least, that's my opinion on the matter, and obviously Chang has a wee bit more experience (and credibility) to back him up!

[Mano]

I can see Chang's point. On rare occasions tongs have ripped delicate food so I quickly substitute something else.

What are "gravity tongs"? I googled them and came up with gravity bongs. I've never heard of them or smoked pot, buy my friend, Ernie Lundquist, has and he endorses them.

Back to gravity tongs. I'd be interested in them, but I don't know that I need a sixth pair of tongs.

[Chris Hennes]

OK, I can acknowledge that there are plenty of food items that may be marred using tongs, but to categorically reject them on that basis? There are also a lot of items where they are definitely the best thing you can use: take grilling a sausage, for example. Tongs are hands down the best way of turning the sausage. You have complete control, no piercing of the casing, no "marring" or "damage" to the surface.

As for gravity tongs: this is the kind of thing I am referring to (no idea what the proper name is, but they lock and unlock using gravity, so that's what I call them)—

On the right side of the tongs you can see a sliding pin, and on the left side you see the slot where it goes in to lock the tongs. Turning the tongs completely upside-down and closing them allows the pin to fall into that slot. When they spring back open a bit, the spring causes the pin to get clamped in that hole and held in by friction, locking the tongs. To unlock, turn downward the squeeze the handles: the tension on the pin is released, which allows the pin to be pulled down out of the slot by gravity. Voila!

[paulraphael]

What do you think of this article by David Chang.  He is very anti-tong.

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Thomas Keller also has a tong embargo in his kitchens.

I believe tongs can be used very gently and respectfully, although they are certainly not appropriate for everything (yes, i have tried to turn fish fillets with tongs, but guys like keller don't hire guys like me, who have been known to use tongs to scratch our butts, open beers, change light bulbs, and dispose of spent mousetraps ... plus, I only ripped up a fish fillet once before learning my lesson!)

It might be easier when you're running a kitchen (or in the case of Chang and Keller, several kitchens) to make simple rules rather than trying to get everyone to master more delicate skills. People working long shifts in a fast paced place can get lazy with tongs and rip up the food. The easiest solution is probably just to ban tongs and give everyone offset spatulas.

Edited December 17, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[halogenic]

Now you've gone and done it, I'm buying at least 3 more sets of tongs after Christmas... You guys make my line cook wallet sad.

[Dr. Teeth]

I'm another OXO man. 3 pairs, all with stainless tips. I prolly should get a rubber tip pair at some point.

[Fat Guy]

If I had to guess, I'd say David Chang picked up his anti-tong sentiment from Tom Colicchio -- Chang is a Craft alumnus.

When I did a faux stage in the Kitchen of Gramercy Tavern about a decade ago, pretty much the only thing a cook could do to get Chef Tom angry was hang a pair of tongs over an oven-door handle, use tongs to aid in sauteeing or otherwise misuse tongs. It would drive him completely nuts. I chatted with him about it briefly and don't remember everything he said, but I think the basic position isn't that tongs are entirely evil. They certainly use them, for example, at Craftsteak. Rather, the position is that tongs are overused. Just like plastic squeeze bottles, another thing you never saw at Gramercy Tavern under the Colicchio regime. You want to put sauce on a plate? Learn how to do it with a spoon.

This all flows, I think, from an ethos of "the right tool for the right job." Tongs are indeed the right tool for turning steaks on a grill. They are not the right tool, however, for a lot of jobs I've seen them used for. They're not the right tool when a spatula/turner is the right tool. They're not the right tool when a spoon is the right tool. And they're not the right tool when no tool is required.

I have tongs and don't use them very often. When I need them, they're indispensable. But most of the time you'll find me using a more purpose-built tool.

[Chris Hennes]

This all flows, I think, from an ethos of "the right tool for the right job." Tongs are indeed the right tool for turning steaks on a grill. They are not the right tool, however, for a lot of jobs I've seen them used for.

I'm trying to think of an instance when I might have used tongs when they were inappropriate, and am unable to do so. This may, however, be an instance of a tong-addict's inability to recognize he has a problem. I mostly use tongs for shuffling things to and from pans, and turning them when they are in the pan (excepting particularly delicate items like fish or burgers, which get the spatula and spoon treatment), and I find myself doing this pretty often, hence my frequent use of tongs.

Can you give some examples of situations where you have seen cooks using tongs when another implement would have been more appropriate?

[Fat Guy]

Turning anything delicate that would be better turned with a spatula/turner -- that's the most common offense. Also sighted: grabbing the handle of a pot or pan instead of using a towel or potholder (tongs are not a secure way to manipulate a utensil), giving a sauce or other liquid a quick stir when a spoon would be the right tool, cutting soft things, scooping off a knob of butter, using tongs as a saute implement, pulling out the oven rack, etc.

[slkinsey]

Yea... I'm with Steven on this one. There are certain tasks for which tongs are indispensable (I'd say that my main use is to fold pasta together with the sauce during the last-few-minute cooking together), but all in all I rarely use them. Strangely, my most commonly used utensil is probably a heat-proof rubber spatula. Much of the time, I don't use any utensil at all.

[HungryChris]

I don't think there is any question that tongs are not the answer to all kitchen situations in the home or commercial kitchen. The use of sizzle platters for oven broiling, roasting and baking is my favorite example of the ideal tong application. It is often benificial to keep a pool of water in the bottom of a sizzle platter for optimum cooking conditions. For example, to properly prepare a lobster tail, a pool of water in the bottom of the platter keeps the fanned out tail in perfect condition while the meat up above bakes to perfection. If you were to reach into the oven to bring out that platter with a kitchen towel, you would run the risk of a bad burn from the sloshing boiling liquid. A good pair of tongs is just the thing.

A proper cook or chef will use the right tool for the job, period. Tongs are just a great weapon to have in the tool pack.

HC

[Mano]

I'm not sure I agree with FG on this one. I'm by no means a lazy cook and fully appreciate the notion of using right tool for the right job. But in the matter of tongs, are they necessarily the wrong tool when scooping off a knob of butter or are there simply other tools that are ideally or better suited for a job?

No doubt we tend to overuse the tool we use the most and for me they're tongs and a chef's knife, even when a paring knife is the better tool. When in my cooking groove I develop a kind of tunnel vision and forget I may have the perfect tool for the job and by default, use what I have in my hand.

[Chris Hennes]

Strangely, my most commonly used utensil is probably a heat-proof rubber spatula. 

I don't think that's strange at all—I'm certain that is also my most commonly-used utensil. I didn't mean to imply, in my praise of the tongs, that they are the be-all end-all kitchen tool, or even the one I used most frequently. I simply find them indispensable for many tasks. Scraping down the bowl of my mixer not being one of those tasks .

[paulraphael]

I'm not sure I agree with FG on this one.  I'm by no means a lazy cook and fully appreciate the notion of using right tool for the right job.  But in the matter of tongs, are they necessarily the wrong tool when scooping off a knob of butter or are there simply other tools that are ideally or better suited for a job?

I agree. Ultimately, tongs are the wrong tool only when they harm the food. Or maybe when they create a dangerous situation (ok, I just pulled a couple of pans out of a 500 degree oven with tongs ... if there had been other people in close quarters this would have merited collichio's wrath).

In any case, they can be used delicately and respectfully, or they can be used in a hamfisted manner. Like knives. Like anything. I think the embargos on tongs are just the product of pet peeves ... chefs who have seen them abused so often that they've decided to draw a big line in the sand.

[whatsaMcGee]

Tongs are generally a tool used by home cooks and shoemakers. You won't find very many pairs being used in legit restaurants. Tongs damage food more than any other utensil, hands down.

edit for a typo

Edited December 19, 2008 by whatsaMcGee (log)

[Fat Guy]

I will say that I found my tongs quite useful when we caught a mouse in a mousetrap.

[mkayahara]

Tongs are indeed the right tool for turning steaks on a grill.

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So, by extension, wouldn't they also be the right tool for turning sausages (or duck breasts or whatever) in a frying pan? I can see not using them for fish fillets or hamburgers, for example, but I use them for practically every other pan-frying application I can think of, at least where meat products are involved.

[paulraphael]

Tongs are generally a tool used by home cooks and shoemakers.  You won't find very many pairs being used in legit restaurants.  Tongs damage food more than any other utensil, hands down.

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um ... i've seen tongs in use in most of the high end restaurant kitchens i've ever visited. i rarely see them in home kitchens. which is why when asked to cook at someone else's house, i bring a pair.

i don't doubt that tongs damage a lot of food. but it's not the tongs, it's the indelicate use or misuse of them. truthfully, i think much more food gets damaged by the indelicate use and misuse of knives. but i don't think knives should be abolished; i think people should learn how to use them.

[Mano]

I will say that I found my tongs quite useful when we caught a mouse in a mousetrap.

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Exactly my point!

[HungryChris]

I will say that I found my tongs quite useful when we caught a mouse in a mousetrap.

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You were then able to continue plating and saucing dinner with those trusty tongs as if nothing had happened, I'm guessing, right? You can't beat 'em I'm telling you!

[Qwerty]

I can tell you from experience that it goes beyond a black and white "will it damage the item" consideration for use of tongs. There is a lot of that however (and I've also seen tongs damage meat and veg a lot). In 2 of the 3 kitchens I've worked tongs have been forbidden.

It has just as much to do with the inelegance of tongs vs. the damage they do. They are considered tools for lazy, sloppy cooks who have no finesse. It seems that a cook who uses spoons, palate knives and meat forks has more touch with the food and less of a "bang it out" mentality.

Now, whether this is technically true or not is debatable. But I'll give you an example of differing opinions.

At one resto I worked at, I was to mix the salads with tongs (first mistake), then use a the tongs to pack the greens (2nd) in a ring mold on a plate, use a plastic squeeze bottle to tamp down the greens (3rd), then remove the mold. Now, the tongs were not the right tool for the job. They damaged the greens (even when I was gentle) and were not good. I hated it. Did not stay at this resto very long, though it got great reviews and is a highly regarded place in it's city.

At another resto, if I used tongs to mix a salad (or do anything else for that matter) I would have been absolutely ripped a new one. Hands are the tool. Greens are delicate, so treat them gently.

I indentify with the second philosophy.

So I dunno. The only thing I like them for is taking meat off the grill. But since at the two resto's who forbade tongs didn't have grills, it wasn't a problem.

[Peter the eater]

I like my bamboo tongs -- no hinges or moving parts. You can stir and lift small bits of food without damaging a non-stick or tinned pot (or the food) and they're usually around three dollars.

I have a worst tongs nomination!

They came with a cheap camping charcoal grill. I don't have a picture because they got chucked soon after the trial run. Built like scissors, it's made of bent wire as thick as a bamboo skewer. The handles are at a right angle to the business end, which instead of the expected pair of triangular grips, it's only one grip opposite a mini sheet metal spatula. A useless abomination.

[Katie Meadow]

I'm always amazed at how much Lidia uses tongs--like an extension of her hand. I love the way she uses them to plate and twist pasta.

Besides the obvious, such as grilling or browning steaks or chicken pieces, I find tongs indispensable when making stocks. It's how I fish out the chicken or oxtail or hamshanks or whatever when it's time to remove the meat from the bone, etc. Trying to use a slotted spoon for large ungainly hunks like whole shanks or a large section of turkey carcass doesn't work as well as a long sturdy pair of tongs.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Katie Meadow (log)

[Batard]

I found this line in online instructions for making confit:

Let the fat render out on the stove for about 2-3 hours depending on how low you have your flame. Be sure to give the fat a good stir with some tongs about every 1/2 hour.

I wonder what Chef Tom would think?