Being forced to pick a favorite would be a serious conundrum, akin to deciding between Rubber Soul and Revolver as my favorite Beatles album, or toasted marshmallow and buttered popcorn as my favorite Jelly Belly flavor.
I've seen a full-grown line cook shed a tear when his favorite spoon of 15 years finally cracked in half while he was deglazing just a bit too aggressively. So, when somebody asks me which wooden spoon is best, I always give the same advice I give when recommending knives, wives, or magic wands: It's an inherently personal decision. If it feels right to you, if it sits comfortably in your hand, if you get a little spark of joy every time you reach for it, then you've found the right one.
My personal winner is this Le Creuset wooden scraping spoon. Before I explain why, though, let's look at some basic criteria that went into my testing. The main factors that affect these functions are material and shape. Because wood is soft and deforms relatively easily compared to, say, metal, it's great at following the contour of the bottom of a pan, even when there are micro-aberrations in the surface.
Wood is also much firmer than silicone or rubber, which means you don't miss out on scraping up even stubborn spots of browned meats or vegetables. Your stews and soups will be tastier for having been scraped and stirred with a wooden spoon. Meanwhile, heat-resistant nylon spoons are enjoying a brief moment in the sun, but I can't understand why. They're simply too hard to work properly.
Sure, maybe they won't break after 15 years, but they won't give slightly the way a wooden spoon does—you may as well be using metal. They do exactly what a wooden spoon does, only worse, and for more money. Apart from these bi-material spoons from Le Creuset, which come with pros and cons of their own though mostly pros , I firmly believe that only wood will do.
The best are hard, lightweight, durable woods, like beech, maple, or the new eco-friendly favorite of many manufacturers bamboo. Wood isn't only naturally a little giving, but also softer on the hands, and, with time, it will slowly conform to the shape of your hand and pot. But just because you're picking up the right kind of wood doesn't mean you've landed the ideal spoon. Shape is absolutely critical. Round-headed spoons, like these cheap, functional models , are the classic, consisting of a circular or oval-shaped bowl at the end of the handle.
I will say there were no pan juices, just fat in the skillet. Will add to the recipe rotation. Good for family and company dinners too. I've done this using a rimmed sheet pan instead of a skillet and put veggies and potatoes around the chicken for a one-pan meal. Broccoli gets nicely browned and yummy! Amazed this recipe works out as well as it does.
Would not have thought that the amount of time under the broiler would have produced a very juicy and favorable chicken with a very crispy crust. Used my 12" Lodge Cast Iron skillet which can withstand degree temps to respond to those who wondered if it would work and it turned out great. A "make again" as my family rates things. This is a great recipe, and I will definitely make it again.
My butcher gladly butterflied the chicken for me, therefore I found it to be a fast and easy prep. I used my cast iron skillet- marvellous! John, wasn't it just amazing chicken? So much better than your typical oven baked chicken and on par if not better than gas or even charcoal grilled. It gets that smokey charcoal tasted and overnight koshering definitely helps, something I do when time permits.
First-time I've pierced a whole chicken minus the times I make jerk chicken on the grill. Yup, the cast iron was not an issue. Cook Thanksgiving with Confidence. America's Test Kitchen will not sell, rent, or disclose your email address to third parties unless otherwise notified.
Your email address is required to identify you for free access to content on the site. You will also receive free newsletters and notification of America's Test Kitchen specials. Head Design Determines Effectiveness The biggest factor in determining whether a spoon was effective was the shape of its head. We used all the spoons to make batch after batch of Weeknight Tagliatelle with Bolognese Sauce : breaking up and browning ground beef, scraping fond, and building the sauce in a Dutch oven; tossing the sauce with the pasta; and serving the final dish.
Equipment Review Wooden Spoons This old-school kitchen tool is sprouting all kinds of new bells and whistles. Buy the Winner.
See the Chart. Leave a comment and join the conversation! Join the conversation with our community of home cooks, test cooks, and editors. As the handle thins down, you will feel it flexing beneath your tools, and you may feel you are going to break it.
If the spoon survives the process of its own making, it will survive for many years in the kitchen. If you must, you can drill a hole in the end for hanging, but most people keep their spoons in drawers or canisters.
Now turn the spoon around in the vise and work on the outside of the bowl. Use a drawknife or handsaw to shape three large chamfers, two on each side and one on the end. Use a spokeshave to round over the edges of the facets. Start each cut at one side of the bowl and follow the edge of the stock up to the center.
After a few strokes on one side, move to the opposite side. Quick, light strokes work best. As you shape the outside of the bowl, pause regularly to gauge the thickness of the bowl by pinching it between your fingers. In theory, the outside of the bowl should be the same shape as the inside, and it should be the same thickness from the tip to the shoulders.
In practice, the thickness can vary quite a bit front to back. Just make sure not to leave too much wood on the underside of the bowl, especially near the rim. The underside of a spoon should slope gently so that it will easily scrape the bottom of a pan or the inside of a mixing bowl. Finally, use the spokeshave to narrow down the shoulders.
Use the same scooping motion you used on the sides. Aim to remove wood from the shoulders without continuing to thin down the handle. It is easy to leave too much wood here, making for a heavy, bulky spoon in use. A half-round rasp is a good alternative to the spokeshave. As you work, periodically take the workpiece out of the vise and look at it from a variety of angles — from the top, from the side, and down the length — to ensure that you have not left lumps or bumps anywhere.
The bottom of the bowl should dip down below the line of the handle, and the handle should be either straight or curved downward slightly.
Once the spoon is a satisfactory shape, use card scrapers to remove tool marks and tearout. I use a curved card scraper for the inside of the bowl. For everything else, I use a thin, straight card scraper, bent between my fingers.
Use long, gentle strokes to blend the lines into each other and remove the remnants of your layout lines. The only flat surface should be on the top of the handle, where the thumb will rest in use.
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