Wooden Spoons in a Kitchen

If you have ever wondered about wooden spoons… next to the fingers, spoons are amongst the oldest and most basic kitchen tools. Wooden spoons are a kitchen essential and I’d bet you have at least one kind or another, possibly even a drawerful. A good wooden spoon is strong, inflexible and a poor conductor of heat. How many times have you burned your fingers picking up a metal spoon left against a hot pot while cooking. Ouch! I’m guilty of that too.

Think about how many times you use wooden spoons with cooking… no bowl of soup or casserole comes together without a stir of this trusty utensil. Maybe you unconsciously reach for your favorite wooden spoon to stir a sauce or mix an all-in-one cake recipe. You might even own a dedicated wooden spaghetti spoon to fish out long strands of pasta from boiling water, the prongs making the task so much easier. And you love wooden spoons for their non-abrasive qualities, they don’t scratch your pots or pans and make cooking much quieter. 

Like my favorite red mixing bowl, wooden spoons are part of my basic kitchen essentials and used daily. I might also find myself using a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly ajar for a recipe after turning off the heat. And when making brandy snaps (an old favorite), wrapping the warmed biscuits around the handle of a wooden spoon shapes them perfectly into tubes. 

Have you ever bought wooden spoons as souvenirs on your travels? One in particular comes to mind. While browsing, a shop owner noticed me looking curiously at a particular wooden spoon and came over to explain its purpose. He said it was a sauce-testing spoon and when cooking; you take a spoonful of sauce, run it along the groove to the smaller end on the spoon. The hot sauce will have cooled by then and won’t burn your mouth on tasting. And no chance of double dipping either. He was so excited about his crafty invention and so was I! Anytime I use this sauce-tasting spoon, I remember the lovely town of Orvieto and the enthusiasm shared by the artisan wood carver who was so proud of his work.

Do you consider wooden spoons a kitchen essential? What unusual ways do you use  your wooden spoon? I’d love to know.