Wooden Spoons

[rancho_gordo]

I just got these in Mexico:

and these:

Most folks bring back Havana rum. I bring back wooden spoons and wooden bean mashers.

[chezcherie]

^^ what a fabulous collection! and great souvenirs of travels. very nice!

[heidih]

I can't live without my two main wood spoons- one for savory and one for sweet. They are cheapo ones whose shapes have changed over time based on the way they are used. My savory one is dark and much smaller and more rounder than it was when we started. The other day the teenagers lost my sweet spoon when they were baking. They tried to use my savory one and I screamed "NO!".

After the loss of the sweet wooden spoon I ran to the market and grabbed what they had. The handles were too narrow and did not feel good in my hand. I later found a better one at a drugstore. There was no time to get to a kitchen product store.

What are your preferences, habits, rituals with wooden spoons.

[Qwerty]

I heart wooden spoons.

In the kitchens I work in the use of metal spoons on metal pans (except for plating spoons, but I'm talking like those big serving spoons) in frowned upon. It is believed that scraping metal on metal has an adverse effect on the food, and I think it is true.

So I pretty much use wooden spoons whenever I am cooking and need to stir something.

[C. sapidus]

I have become quite fond of cheap bamboo spoons. Two are P-shaped, and fit nicely into a wok or curved sauteuse. Two are flat with squared off ends, good for scraping fond from flat-bottomed pans. The bamboo spoons have survived many trips through the dishwasher, and can be replaced easily if they crack.

I have a heavy wooden spoon with a bowl and squared-off end, perfect for making (and tasting) mole. I used to use it frequently, but it seems too nice to cook with so it has migrated to the bottom of the wooden spoon and wok utensil drawer.

Wooden spoons give Mrs. C the willies, so she uses silicone or plastic.

[Qwerty]

dishwasher!?!?

[Peter the eater]

What are your preferences, habits, rituals with wooden spoons.

Great idea for a dedicated topic -- wooden spoons seem so ancient and important, like a mortar and pestle, or a ceramic bowl. Right now, there's probably 6 or 8 in my kitchen. There's one that's three feet long which I've yet to really use, a bunch of well-used medium ones, and a bright yellow curry spoon.

When cooking and serving oatmeal, it's got to be a wooden spoon. And it can also be a weapon in the hands of an angry grandmother.

[maggiethecat]

What are your preferences, habits, rituals with wooden spoons.

And it can also be a weapon in the hands of an angry grandmother.

←

Or in my case, an angry driven nuts-mother. (The flyswatter was worse. Ow.)

I'm glad I forked over a buck for an olive wood spoon lo these many years ago when I was assembling my cooking trousseau at Crate and Barrel, because it's still around and better than ever. I'm almost as fond, in my power-to-the-people persona of every cheesy, almost unsanded dollar store wooden spoon and spatula I own.

And Peter, as a Scots Canadian, I'm so with you about wooden spoons and porridge.

[Shel_B]

I have a few wooden spoons, but the one I like best is the one I got in 1979. I've used it just about every day since it came to live with me. It's bamboo, and it has held up very well. It's visited the dishwasher a few times with no ill effects. It's worn down quite a bit, but that adds to the charm and its desireability.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Shel_B (log)

[sygyzy]

I bought a few wooden spoons from WS recently and they are unfinished. I mean they are SUPER rough. Am I expected to sand them down or something? So far nothing negative has happened but I don't want a wood fiber to come off while stirring or something.

[Carole]

And what about the wonderful spurtle! My husband couldn't make oatmeal without his. It's not exactly a spoon, but .....

[RobertCollins]

I have a fair number of wooden spoons and other wooden devices [spatulas, what ever you call one of those egg picker-uppers that every body uses to pick up spaghetti,etc].

I mostly can't find which ever I am looking for at any given time 'cause I have two kids who also think they need free access to any tools I have. The short of that is, I use what I can find this/that time.

Amongst the usually lost are many olive wood spoons and a few spatulas that ,when I have found them, are old and wonderful to use.

Once the kids are really gone from my kitchen, I hope I will miss them not the damn spoons.

edit: hope this isn't as morose as it read back and spelling.

Edited January 27, 2009 by RobertCollins (log)

[cbread]

I bought a few wooden spoons from WS recently and they are unfinished. I mean they are SUPER rough. Am I expected to sand them down or something? So far nothing negative has happened but I don't want a wood fiber to come off while stirring or something.

←

I must be missing something or be the odd man out, since I have only two wooden spoons and rarely use them. Somehow, it bothers me that the working end is so blunt. I have wondered on occasion, whether I should reshape the ends to "sharpen" them up. I may try that, to see if they become more desriable as a tool to me.

Currently, I use some plastic spoons that have a simple wooden spoon profile, but more slender. They have just enough of a point at the working endm that I can get under things, and frequently use them as spatulas.

[paulraphael]

I must be missing something or be the odd man out, since I have only two wooden spoons and rarely use them...

I realized that I haven't used a wooden spoon in years. They've been rotated out in favor of these bamboo spatulas, which I have in a couple of sizes.

For serving or tasting, I use metal spoons or ladles. For stirring or deglazing, the spatula shape works better (can clean the bottom of the pan and reach into corners). And bamboo seems much less absorbant than wood, so it doesn't transfer flavors as much, and is easier to clean. It lasts practically forever.

It's such a useful shape ... I'm surprised it almost never turns up at restaurant supply stores.

[thock]

I have a lot of wooden spoons and spatulas. I got a bunch of Frugal Gourmet olivewood utensils at Big Lots, oh, about 10-12 years ago, and although I haven't brought them all out to use, I do love the ones I have in use. I also have a slotted and a solid wooden spatula that I've been using for about 20 years (wow, I didn't realize!) that I love, too, and some cheapo spoons that I've had about that long, too. I also have some cheapo ones that are a lot younger, but those seem to snap easily, and the handles are thinner.

Hmmm, maybe I need to break out some more of my "new" olivewood Frugal Gourmet stuff...

The cheaper stuff I've had to sand the heck out of before I started using them. I also sand the whole lot down every once in a while, because whacking the edge (especially of the spatulas) against my cast iron skillet (that I love and use every day) beats them up. And I hand wash all my wood.

I have a set of wooden utensils that were lacquered when I bought them. I have yet to finish sanding them down to get the lacquer off, because who wants that in their food? That set has a spoon, a spatula, a fork and a spoonula (kind of a spoon with one squared-off corner). They're fairly heavy-duty, so I need to just finish sanding, already, and start using them.

Tracy

[HungryC]

My favorite wooden spoons, spatulas, and ladles are from The Spoon Mill. Spoon Mill offers a nice selection of left-handed implements!

[TheUnknownCook]

Some recipes advise to cook (whatever you happen to be cooking) until it coats the back of the spoon[and forms a Nape], and some cooks believe that wooden spoons work best for the correct texture. I own primarily LamsonSharp cutlery, and their wooden spoons are the TreeSpirit line. Happy cooking.

Edited November 24, 2009 by TheUnknownCook (log)

[Wholemeal Crank]

I no longer keep wooden spoons on my gadget board--just never reach for them anymore.

I do keep a couple of olivewood spatulas for sauteeing and stirring, which are my favorite utensils, but these silicone spoonula/spatulas have taken over some of the olivewood spatulas's chores in addition to the work of the bamboo rice spoons (but I'll keep them for use on the table when serving), and eliminated the position of rubber scraper entirely.

[Gayle28607]

I've had cheap wooden spoons that have lasted for about 30 years, I think. I had them designated "sweet" and "savory." A dear friend stayed with me and mixed them up, and my relationship with the spoons hasn't been the same since then.

[LindaK]

dishwasher!?!?

I throw mine in the dishwaaher all the time. If it does any harm, I've never noticed. Many I've had for years.

I find them especially critical when using Le Creuset or other enameled cookware. No scratches. And for stirring risotto or polenta, I've always relied on the flat-ended wooden spatulas to scrape along the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing is sticking. Such an inexpensive tool but one of the best.

[nbaines]

I have two favorite utensils when cooking, both handed down from my mum when I first moved out. One is a wooden spatula and the other a simple wooden spoon. My mum has always had a big jar full of wooden spoons and spatulas and the ones my mum gave me where not particularly well worn at the time. Since then the wooden spoon has been worn down a bit and taken a slight bend to the left, and both are super smooth from continuos use. I have tried silicon spoons but I just can't take to them.

[Lindacakes]

Personally, I can't navigate one of those silicone spoonula things. Cannot possibly use it.

I am a big fan of the Oxo, too. And I hate Oxo implements in general.

I also like a bamboo spoon with a deep bowl that I got in Chinatown -- use it for a ladle.

[tomdarch]

On one hand, I'm realizing that I use a pretty wide variety of implements in pots and pans, among them some very simple/cheap wooden spoons.

On the other hand, reading this made me realize that there's something special about the "feel" you have for what's going on at the bottom of the pot with a simple wooden spoon. I think that the friction between the wood and the "fond" or whatever it is down there. Metal and plastic are too slippery, and, of course, silicone doesn't have the rigidity to transmit that "feel."

[JTravel]

Wooden tools are one of my favorite things to bring home from a trip. Usually I buy them from some wood worker at a public market. My favorite "big" spoon came from some kind of festival at a castle (ruin) on the Rhine where we bought a "stew served in a bread bowl" and got the spoon. It has stirred a lot of soup.

The olive wood tools are really nice, wish I'd stocked up on those.

I love the "spurtle" type thing, flat with a hole through it, that I got in Croatia. Plus, not spoons, but I have a couple of "oh so smooth" small rolling pins that work great. When I buy those things I feel I am actually helping a real local person and I get a tiny piece of the country.

[pastameshugana]

I just read this thread before going on a shopping date with Mrs. Meshugana, and just had to pick up a couple spoons when we saw them. I'm going the other way: I learned on silicone and plastic, now I'll learn the 'wood magic'.