- Boiling wooden spoons risks damaging their integrity and invites germs.
- Wooden spoons can last up to 50 years if cared for properly.
- Dishwashers aren't good for wooden spoons, either.
Cooks are facing a conundrum: How do you clean a wooden spoon properly? This query pops up in multiple venues online: How long should I boil my wooden spoon to clean it?
Most experts offer simple advice: Zero seconds.
There are loads of videos showing how to properly boil a wooden spoon. The only problem is, it’s bad advice if you want the spoon to last or avoid letting it harbor germs over time.
Allrecipes notes the plethora of how-tos on cleaning a wooden spoon by boiling it, as it’s a TikTok favorite hack at the moment. But before recommending it, Allrecipes asked someone who actually works with wooden spoons professionally.
Brad Bernhart of Early Wood Designs said boiling cleans utensils, but it also creates problems. Treated properly, a wooden spoon can last 50 years.
“Boiling utensils not only takes out any leftover food bits and sauces,” he told Allrecipes, “but it also pulls out any oil or wax that was previously put on the utensils.” And it can warp or crack them.
Wood absorbs water and expands. It shrinks as it dries. Wash them normally in hot water with soap and park them upright to dry and they do fine. Boil them and cracking is a real possibility, which can let that wooden spoon harbor germs.
He said he’d be OK with it once or twice a year as a deep clean, but the advice to do it at least monthly is a bad idea. If, however, you’re committed to the notion of boiling a wooden spoon, he said to give it a good rub with a scratchy cleaning tool like a Scotch-Brite pad to get rid of raised grain, then treat the spoon with mineral oil or wax.
Dishwashing a wooden spoon isn’t ideal, either, he told Allrecipes.
“Common side effects that occur from running utensils through the dishwasher are cracking, surface roughness (raised grain), and leaching of color. I once ran some wood samples through my own dishwasher as an experiment. I used four woods that are naturally drastically different colors and ran them through 20 full cycles. The woods were hard maple (blond color), bloodwood (red), Mexican ebony (black), and jatoba (brown). After 20 cycles, none had cracked or warped, but they were all very rough to the touch and I could no longer even tell which wood they were! All of the samples were a washed out grayish white color.”
The right way to clean a wooden spoon
Allrecipes has five suggestions:
- Wash by hand with soap and water and air dry.
- Treat with oil. If a spoon is split, toss it. Use mineral oil, walnut, tung or linseed oil, not food-based oils that can go rancid.
- For a spoon that has buildup, soak in equal parts vinegar and water overnight.
- Treat odors by scrubbing with the cut side of the lemon or making a baking soda paste.
- Sanitize after washing with soap and water by sprinkling with a little hydrogen peroxide.
MarthaStewart.com says to replace your wooden spoon if it splits — common when washed in the dishwasher a lot. That invites food to accumulate and bacteria to form. If it’s just dry, oil it. Better still, prevent the dryness by oiling it lightly after you clean it.