So are you? I'm ashamed to admit that I have been guilty of this for years and I had no idea. As many home cooks, for a long time I did not know how to properly care for my wooden kitchen utensils to keep them looking good while also sanitary.
I love using wooden spoons, cutting boards, and other kitchen tools and truly believe that they are the workhorses of the kitchen. They can be used for all types of cooking. What I didn't know was that if well cared for, wooden utensils can last for years.
After throwing away a number of cracked wooden spatulas and a stack of warped cutting boards I set out to find out what I was doing wrong and how I could avoid making same mistakes in the future.
Here's my collection of most favorite wooden pieces. As you can see, some of them really need care.
How to care for my wooden kitchen tools was one of the things I set out to investigate. The other one was which products to use for cleaning and maintenance.
When they're made, most wooden spoons, utensils and cutting boards are treated with food grade mineral oil, which creates a neutral surface that does not allow bacteria to reside. With time and use this layer of protection wears off and needs to be restored.
Rub with mineral oil or board wax when your wooden spoons or cutting boards start to look dry or feel a bit rough. Don't use olive or vegetable oils for this, since these oils go rancid over time.
Hand-wash wooden utensils with hot water and mild dish soap. Although wooden utensils and cutting boards could technically be cleaned in the dishwasher, it's not a good idea. The hot water and harsh detergent will lead to their demise fairly quickly.
Dry wooden utensils with a dishtowel, then allow to air-dry completely before putting them away. This way you can avoid the nasty black mold spots which develop if wooden utensils are stored with any residual moisture. Same goes for cutting boards that are stored vertically on the counter.
Stains are not a deal breaker. Highly pigmented foods, such as tomatoes, herbs or berries, will stain wooden utensils and cutting boards. They're still safe to use. The stains will eventually fade or can be removed with the help of a lemon and some salt or baking soda. Any spotted stains or roughness can be rubbed away with a piece of fine grit sandpaper. If you choose to do this, however, make sure to season the raw surface afterward with board oil or wax.
Pick your odor management strategy. Wooden items tend to absorb odors from strong flavors like garlic, onions or certain herbs which could get transferred to other foods. To reduce the smell, rub the wooden surface with the cut side of a halved lemon or with a paste made of baking soda and water. This will help neutralize the odor. For me this is not enough and I simply keep a separate cutting board and/or utensil for foods with more intense flavors.
Not all common household cleaning products are good for your wooden utensils. Some may be too harsh and will dehydrate the wood too much causing your favorite utensils or boards to crack or warp. I've put together a short guide to remind you which products are helpful when it comes to wood care.
Even though wooden kitchen tools seem a little fussy and require more care they are most definitely worth the extra effort. With proper care your wooden kitchen utensils should last a long, long time.
You will need food-safe mineral oil or any other formulated board oil or cream. If you don't have any of those on hand you can use coconut oil. But this is the only cooking oil that is ok to use on cutting boards. Other vegetable oils are a big no-no because they oxidize and develop a rancid smell which you do not want on your boards or food.
Start with giving your board a light hand wash with mild soap, then wipe with a kitchen towel and let it air-dry completely. The first time you season your board, you should aim to really saturate it in oil. Pour on what looks like far too much, then rub it in with a clean cloth (do not use paper towel for this - it will leave fibers clinging to the surface of your board). When you're done rubbing it may look like you still have too much oil on the surface, but let your board rest 5-10 minutes and you will see that the oil will get absorbed. For a new board you can repeat this process a few more times to ensure there are no thin or extra-thirsty spots.
Work on one side of your board at a time, letting it sit with the oiled side up overnight so that it absorbs the oil completely. But a much more efficient way is to let your board sit upright in a rack or a pot lid holder. After the initial seasoning, all you need to do is keep up the oil on the surface whenever you see it wearing thin - that's when you notice water getting easily absorbed into the cutting board. To maintain your cutting board simply re-apply a single layer of board oil and let it rest overnight. With everyday use you'll need to do this once every 2-3 weeks.
There are a lot of fat-soluble vitamins in butter. This includes vitamins A, E and K2. While the first two are not a big deal for anyone who eats a balanced diet of animals and plants, the latter is fairly rare in modern diet and many people don’t know about it.
Vitamin K2 can have powerful effects on health. It is intimately involved in calcium metabolism and a low intake has been associated with many serious diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis.
Dairy from grass-fed cows is particularly rich in Vitamin K2.
Bottom Line: Butter contains a lot of fat-soluble vitamins. Grass-fed butter is particularly rich in Vitamin K2, which can have powerful health benefits.
The “war” against saturated fat was based on bad science. There was never any evidence that it caused any harm. In fact, recent studies suggest that there is no association at all between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease.
Saturated fats raise HDL (the good) cholesterol and change the LDL from small, dense (very bad) to Large LDL, which is benign.
Additionally, butter contains a fair amount of short and medium chain fats… which are metabolized differently from other fats. They lead to improved satiety and increased fat burning.
Bottom Line: New studies show that there is no association between saturated fat and heart disease. Butter contains short- and medium chain fats which help increase fat burning.
Mainstream nutrition guidelines tend to backfire and have the opposite effect of what they were intended to do. A perfect example of this is the recommendation to replace butter with margarine – a fallacy that mainstream nutritionists and doctors have been preaching for a long time.
Well, what happened is that we replaced butter, a healthy food, with something containing highly processed trans fats, which are downright toxic and cause all sorts of diseases.
In the Framingham heart study, they examined the effects of butter and margarine and found that margarine significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, while butter had no effect.
Another study revealed that high-fat dairy consumption reduced the risk of heart disease by a whopping 69%, most likely due to increased Vitamin K2 intake.
Bottom Line: Margarine raises heart attack risk, while natural butter does not. Grass-fed butter may even reduce heart attack risk due to the high Vitamin K2 content.
Butyrate is the 4-carbon fatty acid created by bacteria in the colon when they are exposed to dietary fiber. This may be the main reason fiber has health benefits for humans. But there is another good dietary source of butyrate… butter, which is about 3-4% butyrate.
In rats, butyrate supplementation prevents weight gain on an unhealthy diet by increasing energy expenditure and reducing food intake. It also improves the function of mitochondria and lowers fasting triglycerides and insulin.
In humans, butyrate is anti-inflammatory and has powerful protective effects on the digestive system.
Bottom Line: Butter is an excellent source of the 4-carbon fatty acid butyrate, which can have various health benefits.
Butter, especially grass-fed, is a great source of Conjugated Linoleic Acid. This fatty acid has powerful effects on metabolism and is actually sold commercially as weight loss supplement.
CLA has been shown to have anti-cancer properties as well as lowering body fat percentage in humans.
Bottom Line: Grass-fed butter contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), which has been shown to improve body composition in several studies.
The nutrition authorities often recommend that we choose low-fat dairy products. That way, we can get the calcium we need without all those “bad” fats and calories.
But despite the higher calorie content, eating high-fat dairy products is NOT associated with obesity. In fact, a review paper came out in 2012 that examined the effects of high-fat dairy consumption on obesity, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic disorders.
They discovered that high-fat dairy did NOT increase risk of metabolic disease and was associated with a significantly reduced risk of obesity.
In the words of Julia Child, with enough butter anything is good.
I rest my case.
What can I say, cooking is truly my passion. I enjoy every part of the process including prepping and even clean up after... well, mostly... But my favorite part is definitely watching people enjoy my food. Would you say this describes you? What is your favorite part about cooking? I would love to hear your passion!
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