So my girlfriend and I were flipping through the channels the other daya dn we happened along a cooking show. In the background was a wooden spoon hanging on the wall that looked to be practically pre-historic. Of course the request came to make such a spoon (wider and longer than the ones we have). I love to cook and thought this was a resonable idea, so I agreed. Ok, so on top of the 412,895,736 other projects I have to do now a spoon. I figure this is a good project to have her do most of the work on (she likes working on small projects). The only problem is I have no idea what kind of wood to use and what to seal it with once it is made. Maple??? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Art K
Replies
Sycamore is a traditional wood for eating utensils, because it does not impart any taste of its own. Likewise beech. But I think you can use almost any dense, fine-grained, non-resinous wood; maple is probably great.
Most wooden spoons aren't sealed with anything. You don't want anything that will form a surface film finish (shellac, lacquer, varnish) because they will trap moisture within the wood, causing decay, and eventually will start flake off. If you feel you must apply something to the wood, use something like walnut oil, mineral oil, or wax.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
Art,
I've seen old spoons of maple, beech and poplar. In the kitchen right now, I have spoons that I've made, of beech, cherry, and walnut, all of which are on the order of 20-30 yrs old. When I make a spoon, I'll give it a coat of vegetable oil, these haven't been treated with anything other than what they've stirred, since they were new. They do get washed with soap and water :))
Regards,
Ray
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