10 Reasons Why Wooden Spoons Are The Best

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There are multiple wooden spoon uses that don’t just include mixing. Here’s how to use this versatile cooking utensil, plus the best way to clean your wooden spoon for long-term use.

Collection of wooden spoons in wooden container (wooden spoon uses).

Grandma was right. Wooden spoons really are the best. They are inexpensive, versatile, and often overlooked in the kitchen. They don’t transfer heat the way metal spoons do, and they won’t scratch your non-stick cookware.

Personally, I’ve always loved using a wooden utensil over a metal spoon. It’s probably my favorite kitchen tool. In fact, I have a few very special wooden spoons that were hand-carved, which I picked up from artisans at craft shows. I love buying them this way because you can “try on” the spoon to find the one that fits in your hand just right.

At the end of this post, I’ll address any concerns you have about bacteria in wooden spoons, and I’ll tell you the best way to clean them.

But first, let’s look at 10 great wooden spoon uses and why you should go to Amazon right now and buy a bunch of wooden spoons.

10 Reasons Wooden Spoons Are Just the Best

1. They hold your oven door open

When you turn off the heat but want to keep something warm, put a wooden spoon between the door and the oven. It will hold it open just enough to let out some, but not all, of the heat.

2. They are perfect for putting holes in cakes

The handle of a wooden spoon is the foolproof way to make uniform holes in a cake so that you can pour something yummy inside.  This is one of my favorite wooden spoon uses, which I use for our poke cakes. Want to try it out? Check out these recipes: strawberry poke cake, coconut poke cake, s’mores poke cake, and jello poke cake.

Another use for a wooden spoon is to dimple focaccia dough before baking.

3. They will keep your pot from foaming over the sides

Lay a wooden spoon across the top of a boiling pot to prevent the foam from spilling all over your stovetop. This isn’t meant to be kept there for hours. It appears to help for a time, but if the boil gets rolling like crazy, turn down the heat to avoid overflow.

4. They can tell you whether or not the oil is hot enough

Put the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If it bubbles, it’s ready. The hotter the oil, the smaller and faster the bubbles.

5. They won’t cause a metallic taste

If you’re preparing something with acidic ingredients, such as tomato sauce, regular spoons can react with those ingredients and cause a distinct metallic taste. Wooden cooking utensils are nonreactive, so no worries there. They also won’t leach harmful chemicals, so it’s a win-win.

6. They’ll secure your cabinets

Slide a wooden spoon between the cabinet handles to keep them closed. If you have a nosy dog or cat, this is a great solution to keep them out of places they shouldn’t be.  

7. They are ideal for drying pasta and shaping foods

Whether you are a homemade pasta fan or you love to bake delicately shaped cookies and pastry, you’ll find wooden spoons to be indispensable. Lay one across a big bowl and drape your noodles or other goodies over the spoon handle to dry. 

8. They’re also ideal for lid venting

Sometimes you want to leave a pot’s lid slightly ajar when cooking to allow steam to escape or the contents to thicken. However, sometimes adjusting a lid to be ajar just a touch is difficult. What you can do is lay your wooden spoon crosswise on the rim and balance the lid on top. Problem solved! Plus it won’t get too hot when you have to move it.

9. They don’t scratch

Non-wooden spoons like metal spoons are far more likely to scratch and leave marks on your pots, pans, and non-stick cookware. But not wooden spoons!

10. They don’t conduct heat

Compared to a counterpart like a plastic spoon, a metal spoon, or a silicone spoon, wooden utensils don’t conduct heat, so you can use them in any sort of high-heat situation (such as boiling hot water). This also means they won’t alter the cooking temperature (yes, this is a thing). I always turn to my wooden spoon when making jam and the like.

How to Care for Your Wooden Spoon

So, do wooden spoons really harbor bacteria? Well, yes. But if you don’t properly clean your metal or silicone utensils, so do they.

The best method for cleaning wooden spoons is the simplest one. Hand wash them in hot, soapy water and dry them with a clean towel. The dishwasher can cause them to crack or warp and letting them air dry may do the same.

If you like, once in a while, you can massage them with a little olive oil or coconut oil to keep them in great shape. Coconut oil in particular has some antimicrobial activity meaning it can help keep some types of bacteria at bay.

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78 Comments

  1. I love my wooden spoons esp because they don’t scratch my non stick pans. LOVE Southern Plate. I use so many of your recipes.

  2. Love all my wooden spoons. Would not be without them. Best part is that they don’t scratch non-stick pans…

  3. I was taught to cook with a wooden spoon back in Jr. High (notice I say Jr. High as “Middle School” was a term not invented yet!) home ec. Even though my own Mother didn’t use them, nothing else feels quite right in my hand. I have one that is so old, it is slightly bent to conform to my hand! Hoping one day, one of my daughters falls in love with that same spoon-it would be like we are holding hands as she cooks!

    1. I know no one will ever see this as this post is almost 2 years old ! But, after I wanted to say to Vickie my eyes also filled with tears as I read “holding hands as she cooks ( so precious ! ) = I also wanted to add that I think another way school “labels” are sometimes used is that a “Middle School ” is often used for a school for students in the sixth, seventh & eighth ( 6,7,8 ) grade and a “Junior High School ” is for students in the seventh, eighth & ninth ( 7,8,9 ) grade ? At least that’s been our experience as we moved our children around, coast to coast for 14 moves ( with all my wooden spoons *g* ) while Dad was in the military . But now that I think about it, they were only in elementary school when we were stationed in Florida so maybe the terms are indeed interchangeable in some States ? Wishing everyone a Blessed Day !

  4. I’ve always used wooden spoons. My German mother always used them and her mother (my German grandmother) always did, too. Come to think of it, I think my other grandmother did, too. She was Guamanian. I love them for all the reasons you mentioned, Christy! I don’t let them sit too long in the sink and never in water. I wash them well and dry right away. I love the look and feel of them and the versatility. But I never knew that about keeping a pot from foaming over! I’ll have to try that. 🙂

  5. I have one that my oldest son made for me.
    I love to use it because it has an extra long handle which makes it perfect for big pots of everything!
    He made it for me as a gift when he married and moved into his new house.
    Be still my heart 🙂

  6. I must be the lone hold-out. I HATE the feel of wet wood (shades of those horrid wooden tongue depressors from the doctor’s office)! I threw out all my DH’s wooden spoons when we got married.

    1. Well now no one mentioned tongue depressors – I’m sure you’ll find we are all the “amen” choir to that one. A good wooden spoon for cooking is a whole other animal. 🙂 And if you keep the clean and in drawers, they won’t be wet. 🙂

        1. AWESOME!!!!
          I LOVE wooden spoons. I will definitely be ordering some from you! I am left-handed. So you know, those bamboo utensils that come with woks are always for right-hand use only.

          Another thing I really need is a perfect wood spoon to mix cookie batter (oatmeal raisin mostly). I had one that I liked a lot and one day one of the dogs thought it looked really nice too. 🙁 But when I’m making cookies and mixing the batter by hand, I need a perfect spoon. I have not been able to find one to replace the one the dog destroyed. I did find one that looked promising, but the handle is really too large around for that job. But that spoon does come in perfect for stirring the DE for my pool filter.

          What a wonderful craft! I live outside of Tampa. I will watch your show schedule.
          Thank you so much!!!!

          1. HI Dee Dee, I hear that a lot about dogs! I make my handles really sturdy so that they are perfect for cookie dough. Let me know when you’re in the area! DJ (Fort Remington Wood Spoons)

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