Cooking with wooden utensils has been a popular choice for centuries, and for good reason. Wooden spoons are smooth and gentle on cooking surfaces, which means they won't scratch cast iron pans or stainless steel pots. They are also much more durable than plastic, and their wide shape but narrow edge make them the ideal tool for stirring a pot of food, while scraping the bottom of the pan and digging in the corners. Wood is a poor conductor of heat, which is great news for dishes such as soups or sauces that require a lot of agitation.
The handle of the spoon stays cool to the touch while you cook, and its smooth surface will not scratch non-stick pans. A study found that liquids and any bacteria that hide in them do not return to the surface once they are absorbed by wood cells. Wooden utensil handles tend to be rounded, so there are no hard metal edges and smooth wood is easy to grip and pleasant to hold. They add a touch of nostalgia and beauty to your kitchen, while enhancing your dining experience.
They're extremely durable, and when it's time to retire, your favorite wooden utensils are also biodegradable. In restaurants, line cooks usually pick up any tools in the kitchen, but it's common to see them bring their favorite wooden spoon. Holland Bowl Mill recommends using water and a small amount of mild soap to clean wood products, and then hand dry. Don't let them soak, as this will open up the wood grain, which also means that they are not suitable for your dishwasher. Perhaps the main reason wooden utensils are better for cooking is because they don't scratch the surface of your cookware.
While there are advantages and disadvantages to using each material, there are some properties in wood that make it the best type of cooking utensil. Wooden spoons won't scratch, they are durable, they stay cool to the touch, they don't absorb bacteria or liquids, they add beauty to your kitchen, and they are biodegradable. A wooden spoon is a timeless kitchen tool and also happens to be one of the best kitchen utensils you can use. If you need to stir a thick sauce or scrape something off the bottom of a pan, a wooden utensil will do it without breaking. For this reason, a growing number of cookware companies are manufacturing flat-edge spoons ideal for scraping.
Half of the spoon is round and ripe for tasting, while the other ends in a rounded tip, perfect for indulging even the smallest cravings. So if you're looking for an efficient and reliable kitchen tool that won't scratch your cookware or break easily, then wooden utensils are definitely worth considering. They offer many advantages over metal or plastic utensils and can be used for a variety of cooking tasks.
