Wooden spoons... and other utensils.

kitschkitty

Just a question out of curiosity and because I thought the OS cooks would be a good bunch to ask...

Do you use wooden spoons? What types of utensils do you have/use and why are they your preference?

All mine are stainless steel & silicone (except the potato masher), as they're so much easier to clean (don't own a dishwasher) and never get melted or singed/burnt!

I know they are (generally) more expensive but they last so much longer.

I'm also a big fan of silicone oven mitts and trivets, but while I have quite a lot of silicone bakeware I'm not really such a fan of it for baking cakes.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I have about 5 wooden spoons in varying sizes. Unless it's currently being washed, the only one I actually use is a smallish, square tipped, long handled one that came from my Granddad's kitchen.

The rolling pins are lumps of wood. As are the chopping boards.

The rest of the utensils are stainless steel.


They all get bunged in the dishwasher.


I don't use mitts and whatnots, they make it more likely I'm going to drop something. I use teatowels instead. If it's light, just the one, if it's a bit heavy, pull the rack forward, one teatowel for each hand, folded as appropriate.

I wish I could dispose of the manky tartan mitt the Fella insists is the only way to take stuff out the oven. He's the one with lines of oven rack burns, not me, strangely enough. It has NOTHING to do with him being unable to grip anything properly with it, so pushes his gloved hand too far into the oven so that he bashes his arm against the racks, apparently :cool:

Other than that, metal tins, metal pans (except for the Fella's dependence upon a non stick frying pan - pointless, considering he fries everything in huge amounts of butter and oil). Plus a china stewpot and two glass oven dishes that hardly ever get used.

Honey_Bear

I love my wooden spoons! They are great for stirring anything in a non-stick pan and I wouldn't be without them for the worold.

I have two silicone scrapers and they're useful for a variety of jobs, but I don't like stirring thing with them. When it comes to scraping out tins they're the tops, but sadly they soon develop nicks where the sharp tin edges catch on them. It doesn't seem to stop them being useful.

Pretty much everything gets chucked in the dishwasher sooner or later by me, OH or the lodgers. Wooden spoons don't seem to mind in the slightest.

LameWolf

I have no silicon in my kitchen at all. I have seven wooden spoons; Mr LW bought 2 sets of 3 long before I ever met him, and I have a hand-carved little tiny one which I use with the tiniest saucepan, that I bought in Guernsey.:o Of the other 6, there are two that I use all the time - one "normal" size and one huge, depending on the size of cooking vessel.:o

A lot of our utensils belonged to Mr LW's mother, and a few (such as the jar-opener particularly) to his grandmother. There's nothing wrong with them, so why would I bother buying new ones?:D

I have a pair of Nomex (sp?) oven gloves - Mr LW tells me it's the fire-retardant material used by racing drivers. I sometimes use a bar towel (kept on the back of the perching chair) if I'm in a hurry, though.;)

I don't own a dishwasher - that's what husbands are for!:rotfl:

sarah222

I bought a pack of 6 silicon muffin cases as I bake alot of cup cakes after the first use which was carrot cake they turned orangey colour from the carrots and I havent used since as they look minging. So as for saving me money I feel I wasted it :-(

kitschkitty

I don't think I've ever owned a wooden spoon! My mum has - probably still does.

No wooden chopping boards either - I use plastic cutting mats most of the time, but do have a lovely chunky bamboo chopping board.

trailingspouse

Wooden spoons, wooden potato masher, wooden chopping boards, and a wonderful metal table spoon that came from my Grandma's when she died, and has been so well used by some many generations that it's actually worn into the perfect shape for scraping out a pan!!!
And I really don't like the oven gloves that are padded with foam rubber - they don't work.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

1 large wooden jam spoon and 2 other wooden spoons. Also have two bamboo spoons which I use all of the time and they dishwash too. Silicone spatulas and a combination of plastic and metal utensils although I do npt tend to use spatulas much.

sparrer

4 wooden spoons of varying sizes/lengths, all of which are used regularly. A wooden spatula, a coconut ladle I use for the wok, various nylon utensils and a couple of ss ones. All baking tins are heavy gauge metal, some of which I've had for 30+ years and are still as useful as the day I bought them. I don't have any silicone or other modern materials, but did buy quality items which will last me a lifetime. You get what you pay for, as they say.

scaredy_cat

i use a wooden spoon and a wooden spatula, i find that are softer on the nt non stick on pans, and also they don't conduct heat like metal utensils do.

peachyprice

No silicone or plastic in my kitchen either, or oven gloves/mitts (I too find them too thick to pick anything up properly).

I have an array of wooden spoons in varying sizes which are used every day, stainless steel spatulas, ladles, whisks and pasta spoon, wooden chopping board and rolling pin, metal baking tins. Everything gets chucked in the dishwasher, except the baking tins which only get a wipe over before being chucked back in the cupboard.

Do people really use trivets? I see them in twee shops but have never thought of buying one. Do you have several, one for each pan when you do a roast or the like?