Wooden Spoon?

[BlueMoose]

Does anyone know why a lot of recipes specify using a wooden spoon? What is wrong with plastic? Just curious!

[Mamasue]

Good question! I would imagine because wooden spoon is a well known utensil to have in the kitchen and just about all of us use them versus a plastic one. That's my guess...but maybe some else has more input. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[kwormann]

Thats actually kind of funny....my habds are very sensitive to wood and I cant use wooden utensils unless it is a glazed wood, so I rarely use that instruction!

[Zinnia]

IMO, it's to save your plastic ones from snapping in half in your hand when stirring/mixing heavy batters and dough! I can say from experience http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif-they are alot sturdier. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Zinnia

[Curleytop]

I have a whole selection of wooden spoons, one for "onion", one for cake, one for cranberry sauce, wooden stirfry utensels etc.
Plastic either breaks or you leave it near a hot pot and it melts!

[AD]

What's wrong with metal or a "metallic" type spoon like stainless steel? That's the only kind I even own. I use the same type of spoons for cooking that I use for serving and eating food.

[sneezles]

Metal spoons don't do well with non-stick or even cast iron.
I have had wooden spoons break while stirring but prefer to use them because of the shape of the spoon itself. The couple of plastic ones seem too deep to cook with.

[Jewel]

In my experience, even the best plastic spoons can scratch a nonstick surface if used a lot over time. In dishes where I'm only stirring or tossing occasionally, I'll use my plastic, but in dishes like risotto, where stirring is more frequent, I always use wooden spoons. I also like the shape better for some jobs, and appreciate the strength. I won't use them for mixing cake batter or anything, but I'll use them in my nonstick whenever I know they're going to get a workout! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif