Wooden kitchen utensils - What do you use/like?

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apathetic

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I tend to use a lot my wooden spatula among others, and I was thinking it would be worthwhile to get a set made into some really nice wood that would last a lifetime and probably be good enough to pass son to a future generation :)
So:

- Do you use wooden tools?
- Which ones are your favourite?
- If you were to make some custom ones, what wood would you use, which shape, etc...
- This also include pastry tools, has anybody ever used a wooden whisk?
 
I'd enjoy a few nice different shapes to use with my steel pans. Currently have found bamboo to hold up the best, but would enjoy something made of a nicer wood.
 
I use a wooden spoon (lots) and wooden spatula (sometimes).
Usually for mixing stuff that would bend a plastic or metal one.

I have tried making some from burl (bad idea) but I kept breaking the handles.
I would suggest a straight grain figured wood like curly maple or koa.
There are a bunch of people on etsy making/selling wooden utensils.
 
i friggen love wooden spoons and spatulas.

i love them when they get broken in and they develop that deep darkness in the wood. i am pretty sure my stuff are just cheapos. i have a wooden spatula that i use for fried rice and stuff. i will be so bummed when that thing breaks.
 
wooden utensils are a must if you use tinned copper pots and pans. i like berard olive wood spoons and spatulas.
 
I've been using bamboo for a few years as well. Extremely tough.
 
I was wondering actually if I could make some utensils out of your burl. Was it too much a pain to work in shape or was it too fragile?
Just a note, I am still quite ignorant when it comes to wood, but this forum is a great learning platform! :)
Apart from the cost, would there be any reason to avoid making utensils in very dense woods like ebony?
I would have thought that something like that might last the longest.

I use a wooden spoon (lots) and wooden spatula (sometimes).
Usually for mixing stuff that would bend a plastic or metal one.

I have tried making some from burl (bad idea) but I kept breaking the handles.
I would suggest a straight grain figured wood like curly maple or koa.
There are a bunch of people on etsy making/selling wooden utensils.

@boomchakabowwow: that's one of the reasons I am looking into making/buying some really durable utensils.

@EdipisReks: I actually now mainly use carbon pans or seasoned cast iron pans and pots so I know I could just use metal utensils. But I still love the feel of wooden utensils.
 
I put wooden utensils right up there with Cutco knives.:vmc: But I'm sure they have there place.

Stirring a rondo full of product with a metal spoon sounds and feels awful. I definitely prefer wooden spoons/scrapers. Just my opinion. I don't understand the cutco metaphor?
 
I have been getting wooden paddles for my last wooden utensil pickup. They are awesome for everything and scrape the entire bottom of a pan with ease. I have never tried a wooden spatula always have silicone or metal maybe I should step out on a limb.
 
I use wooden paddles and have for yonks.

Stirring and scraping a pan with metal ones is very grating and it scratches my steel pans as well. I like the ones made from very large bamboo (from China I think). They're very efficient, hard, as well as hard wearing. These are getting increasingly difficult to find for some reason. My beautiful bamboo rice paddle recently cracked after about 7 years of use and I haven't yet found a suitable replacement. I'm using a Japanese plastic one with a tiny bubbly texture at the moment. Works well, the rice doesn't stick to it but I love the feel of a natural wooden/bamboo one better.
 
I love my Yew wood spoons and Spatulas and am lucky enough to have a father whom makes em pretty much any size and shape i want em
1374877_10151733084553935_770089502_n.jpg
 
I use wooden paddles and have for yonks.

Stirring and scraping a pan with metal ones is very grating and it scratches my steel pans as well. I like the ones made from very large bamboo (from China I think). They're very efficient, hard, as well as hard wearing. These are getting increasingly difficult to find for some reason. My beautiful bamboo rice paddle recently cracked after about 7 years of use and I haven't yet found a suitable replacement. I'm using a Japanese plastic one with a tiny bubbly texture at the moment. Works well, the rice doesn't stick to it but I love the feel of a natural wooden/bamboo one better.

have you thought about repairing them? Many epoxies are food safe (they get used in home-brew all the time), and the bond between epoxy and wood is usually stronger than the wood itself. I repaired a Berard olive wood spatula that broke with epoxy, and it worked perfectly. In fact, when the spatula was later broken again (the thing was twice crushed in boxes when I moved apartments, just bad luck) it broke around the epoxy, but the epoxy bond itself was still intact.
 
have you thought about repairing them? Many epoxies are food safe (they get used in home-brew all the time), and the bond between epoxy and wood is usually stronger than the wood itself. I repaired a Berard olive wood spatula that broke with epoxy, and it worked perfectly. In fact, when the spatula was later broken again (the thing was twice crushed in boxes when I moved apartments, just bad luck) it broke around the epoxy, but the epoxy bond itself was still intact.


Thanks for the suggestion ER but this particular paddle had truly gone past its use-by date by a long shot. So, I'm still looking for that 'one' special bamboo rice paddle where the grain is straight, the curvature just right, and the node (where it's strongest) falls towards the the tip of the paddle.

With other flat paddles I actually prefer softer wooden ones because they scrape the bottom of the pan better. Great when making thick stews or soups where there's a tendency to stick and burn on the bottom.
 
I love my Yew wood spoons and Spatulas and am lucky enough to have a father whom makes em pretty much any size and shape i want em
1374877_10151733084553935_770089502_n.jpg


Excuse my ignorance but isn't Yew poisonous?
 
I was wondering actually if I could make some utensils out of your burl. Was it too much a pain to work in shape or was it too fragile?
Apart from the cost, would there be any reason to avoid making utensils in very dense woods like ebony?
I would have thought that something like that might last the longest.
I use a wooden spoon most when mixing ingredients for baking. So I need the wood to be able to flex without breaking.
With burl the grain is turning all over the place and is prone to breaking.
Straight grain wood will have a lot more strength and is able to flex without as much chance of breaking.
When wood cracks or breaks, it usually breaks along the grain. With burl the grain can be going across a 1/2" or less wide handle. So you have only about 1/2" of strength. VS a piece of straight grain wood the grain runs the length of the spoon giving several inches of strength. I am not sure if I am making sense.
 
I use wooden spoons all the time. I have a few that I have had for years. I would agree that bamboo seems to last the longest (and cheapest) while an olive wood spoon that I had was gorgeous but broke after a few uses.
 
Excuse my ignorance but isn't Yew poisonous?

I'd suggest not eating the spatulas, but I'd be highly skeptical to claims that yew cooking utensils are going to poison anybody.
 
Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense to me

I use a wooden spoon most when mixing ingredients for baking. So I need the wood to be able to flex without breaking.
With burl the grain is turning all over the place and is prone to breaking.
Straight grain wood will have a lot more strength and is able to flex without as much chance of breaking.
When wood cracks or breaks, it usually breaks along the grain. With burl the grain can be going across a 1/2" or less wide handle. So you have only about 1/2" of strength. VS a piece of straight grain wood the grain runs the length of the spoon giving several inches of strength. I am not sure if I am making sense.
 
I have a couple of really big sturdy spatulas my friend got me from Mexico, a flat scraper style that will deglaze the biggest roasters no problem, and a large bowled serving spoon style. I also have a spoon/scraper combo in olivewood from Berard, and really like the wooden handled le creuset silicone spatulas, the wood they use seems to be better than most and they are sturdy. I enjoy rubber spatulas as well as wooden spoons, but sometime a plastic handled rubber spatula just can't support a lot of weight, especially after going through the dishwasher a million times, they start to flex.
 
another wooden spoon fan here. have a wooden corner spoon just for risotto....
 
I love my wooden utensils as much as my knives and cast iron! My favorite is the spurtle. I've always said if I had to pick only 3 kitchen utensils to use for the rest of my life it would be my knife, cast iron pan and my spurtle. It's a cross between and spoon and spatula. You can do pretty much anything with it. Everyone should own one of these pretties.


My collection. Everything is handmade out of cherry or maple.

image-9.jpg



A few of my spurtles

image-10.jpg
 
I love my wooden utensils as much as my knives and cast iron! My favorite is the spurtle. I've always said if I had to pick only 3 kitchen utensils to use for the rest of my life it would be my knife, cast iron pan and my spurtle. It's a cross between and spoon and spatula. You can do pretty much anything with it. Everyone should own one of these pretties.


My collection. Everything is handmade out of cherry or maple.

image-9.jpg



A few of my spurtles

image-10.jpg




Your spurtles are fantastic! Makes me want one.
 
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