Category: Tools

Today’s cooking tool is a wooden spoon! Every cooks needs a good wooden spoon or two. I have one wooden spoon to use for sweet recipes like pancakes, and another wooden spoon that I use for savory foods like spaghetti sauce and stew!

• Wooden spoons don’t get hot to the touch.
• Wooden spoons don’t scratch pots and pans.
• Wooden spoons will not melt.
• Wooden spoons are non-reactive. This means that they will not change the taste or color of your foods the way that metal spoons can sometimes do.

Keep your wooden spoon in good shape by rubbing it occasionally with mineral oil to keep the wood from drying out and cracking. Never let your wooden spoon sit in a sink filled with water. Instead, put the spoon in the dishwasher or wash and dry it by hand each time you finish cooking. Make sure it is completely dry before putting it away and your spoon could last for years!

A reader asked me this question. “If you knew you were going to get stuck on a desert island that had plenty of food, but you were only allowed to bring 10 kitchen tools with you, what tools would you bring?” What a great question! Each week, I’ll share one new cooking tool and explain why we need it and how to use it. Today’s tool is soap and water for clean hands.

Soap and Water!

The first thing every good cook needs to do is wash their hands.

Our hands and paws are our most important kitchen tool and we use them every time we cook! Clean hands won’t spread germs. Clean hands also help keep our foods safe to eat.

Warm water works best to dissolve dirt and wash germs away. It takes about 25 seconds to sing the ABC song. Time yourself by singing the ABC song as you wash. For really clean hands, sing the song twice. Wash each finger, the front and backs of your hand, and your wrists. Germs love to hide in the space between your finger and fingernail. Clean your nails with a nail file or scrub under them with a nail brush. Rinse your hands under running water and dry them with a clean towel.

Now you are ready to cook!