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Glam Journal

Are wooden spoons better than metal?

Author

Ava White

Updated on February 27, 2026

Are wooden spoons better than metal?

Benefits. Wooden spoons are soft and gentle on cooking surfaces, meaning they won’t scratch your cast iron skillets and stainless steel pots. They also don’t make that metal scraping on metal sound—the one that tends to offset the otherwise peaceful nature of stirring.

Is it safe to cook with wooden spoons?

However, research suggests wooden spoons are safe to use in your kitchen. Yes, wood is porous, and it may draw in liquids and oils from the food you’re cooking. The best way to eliminate bacteria from the surface of a spoon—wooden or otherwise—is to wash it after cooking with soap and hot water.

Why is it more convenient to use wood ladies when cooking instead of metal ladies?

Wood is an inert material and is absolutely natural. Wooden spatula won’t react with the acid in foods and neither leave a metallic taste in your food, which might happen with aluminium or steel spatula. This will keep your food toxin-free and healthy.

Do you OIL new wooden spoons?

Depending on how often you use your boards and wooden spoons, you should also give them an oiling to help maintain their surface and keep them from drying out. In my house, this happens about once a month but I know some people who do it once or twice a year and others on a weekly basis.

What oil is best for wooden spoons?

mineral oil
If your wooden spoons or cutting board start to look dry or don’t feel super smooth, periodically rub them with mineral oil or a beeswax compound. Don’t use food-based oil like vegetable or olive oil, since these types of oils can go rancid.

Do you oil wooden spoons?

Wooden cutting boards need to be kept clean and daily maintenance is often a good scrub with hot soapy water after using. Depending on how often you use your boards and wooden spoons, you should also give them an oiling to help maintain their surface and keep them from drying out.

Why do you use a wooden spoon instead of a metal spoon?

Compare the weight of a wooden spoon and a metal spoon. The wooden spoon is so light in comparison, it is simply easier to work with while cooking. Wood feels good in your hand. Now, since wood is so light relative to its tremendous strength, wooden spoons can have handles of varying lengths without becoming a two-hander.

Can a wooden spoon be left on a hot pan?

Unlike stainless steel or plastic cooking utensils, wooden spoons don’t conduct heat. Because of this, you can leave them on a hot pan for extended periods of time and rest assured that the handle will still be cool (probably better to remove the spoon, though, if you have the option).

Which is the best type of cooking spoon?

When it comes to choosing a cooking spoon, the three most common types are wood, metal and plastic. Each material has its pros and cons but if you visit the kitchens of professional and casual chefs around the world, the kind you’d most likely come across is the wooden spoon­ – and it’s plain to see why:

Why does a metal spoon get hot during cooking?

If you hang on to the metal spoon for a long time, eventually it will start to feel warmer again, as it absorbs more of you body heat until it’s own temperature approaches your’s. Where do you rest your wooden spoon during cooking?

What makes a wooden spoon better for cooking?

4 – Wooden spoons won’t react badly with your food. Wooden spoons are non-reactive, which means that the wood won’t adversely react with the acids in some foods or leave a nasty, metallic taste, like metal spoons often tend to do. Over time, plastic spoons can start to break down at the edges.

Can a wooden spoon be used in a cast iron pan?

Wooden spoons however are naturally soft and won’t scratch the finish on a non-stick pan or ruin the surface of cast iron/stainless steel pans, ensuring a long life of happy cooking. Anyone who spends enough time in the kitchen knows that sometimes one of the most important ingredients in any dish is a little elbow grease.

Why are wood cooking utensils better than metal or plastic?

They go from cast-iron to non-stick to stainless pans without fear of scratching. They won’t change the taste of acidic foods like tomato sauce the way metal utensils are purported to. You can leave them in the pot and they won’t melt or get too hot to handle. They’re incredibly durable and, well, they just feel good in the hand.

Do you use wood or metal spoons when making candy?

Our chef’s justification for using metal spoons, which has always made sense to us, is that they are less likely to carry trace amounts of fat, air bubbles, or other food particles than a rough-surfaced wooden spoon. These foreign particles can also cause the sugar to crystallize. So who do we trust: the Mighty McGee or our baking-veteran chef?