Find out if your wooden utensils are truly clean by using boiling water
There is no kitchen from which wooden utensils are missing: whether they are spoons with long handles, or large fork-shaped tool, tongs, stirrers and many other types, all these utensils come into contact with many different foodstuffs over the course of their lives. And we don't always remember to separate those used for savory dishes from those used to prepare desserts. But even this last precaution could be superfluous these days: wooden ladles - a real institution in kitchens for centuries now - should be completely eliminated from our kitchen equipment, according to some.
As carefully as we clean them, in fact, the wood fibers will always end up absorbing a certain amount of residue from any food they come into contact with, and this will not wash off easily. So, within a few months, invisible quantities of dirt accumulates on these utensils which can be deleterious to our health... or at least until you try using the boiling water tip.
via @miss.clean.with.me/TikTok
This is now a very well known tip, and it was former judge of the Master Chef Australia cooking program, Matt Preston, who made it famous. This chef, in fact, used this method to show how dirty the wooden ladles really were, to determine when they were to be thrown out.
You can also see this method used in a TikTok video posted by @miss.clean.with.me. This is a very easy method for which you will only need: any wooden ladle (or other wooden utensil), a glass container and boiling water. Here's how to proceed:
- Put the ladle in the glass.
- Pour in the boiling water.
- Wait several minutes, (as long as twenty minutes, if you have the time), and the water will turn from clear to dirty, or very dirty. When the water turns dirty, it is a sign that the utensil should be replaced.
Since it is a tip that, in fact, releases a lot of dirt from the ladles, it can also be used to periodically clean them more thoroughly, postponing the time when we have to replace them. And in this case, this method will also work by putting several ladles together in a pot in which you have boiled an adequate amount of water. And you could also add white vinegar, citric acid or baking soda to the water itself for extra cleaning kick.
Have you ever tried this method at home?
