Care instructions for food/beverage items with natural wood -as oppossed to acry

[oneleggimp]

I was wondering what you folks tell customers regarding care of various food and beverage related items that we turn and that have wood parts (rather than Acrylic).

For instance - what about bottle stoppers Obviously they should be advised that chrome finish bottle stopper hardware may be subject to pitting if left in a wine bottle for extended periods and that Stainless Steel is better for such service. What about washing the item after use? I would think that it would be inadvisable to put it in the dishwasher (machine) so probably just rinse under the faucet and dry. (wondering about immersing it in a sink full of dish soap and water (hot) as you'd do to hand wash spatulas, pans etc. What do you do in this case?

What about care for ice cream scoops and other similar implements with wooden handles?

For that matter what about razors, and shaving brushes with wooden handles


I'd be very interested in your customary procedures with these items.


Thanks in advance.:biggrin:

 

[Skie_M]

I would tell my customers up front that bottle stoppers (chrome) are for temporary (up to one week use) at a time, and stainless steel are for longer term (up to a month or so at a time).

I make my bottle stoppers so that the steel screw mandrel that fits into the wooden part of the stopper is glued into the stopper end so that the wooden part is removable for dishwasher safe washing of the stopper. The wooden part is sealed in superglue so that it is generally hand wash safe, but should be kept dry as much as possible.

For other things, such as razor handles, shaving brush handles, and other implements, my instructions would be the same. Hand wash only, and dry before putting it away.


For bowls that are made for holding/serving food items. They should be properly sealed with a food grade safe wax or polycoat that will protect the wood from any moisture. They should always be handwashed, if they are to be washed at all, but wax coated serving trays and bowls should generally just be wiped clean with a damp rag and never immersed. Cutting boards fall under this catagory as well, they should be wiped clean with a damp rag. The oil used to keep the cutting board microbe free should be refreshed every now and then, and you should never use the same cutting boards for poultry/pork/beef/vegetables .... keep separate boards for each type of food to avoid cross-contamination.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I tell my customers that my bottle stoppers are the most useless thing I make... generally gets a laugh and a sale. I only use the stainless steel inserts and the silicon one on my two different grades of stoppers. The silicon slips off the dowel for easy washing. The stainless steel, some are detachable, some aren't. I use multiple coats of polyurethane on my stoppers so the wood part is hand washable.

My wood stemmed wine glasses are also hand washable, just not with extremely hot water. Again the wood is sealed with multiple coats of polyurethane.

Most of my bowls are also finished in poly, so they are also hand washable.... you would be surprised at the number of times people ask "are they dishwasher safe?"... what's with dishwasher's anyway... I watch house hunters and house hunters International a lot and the buyers are always wanting a dishwasher... sometimes passing on a house because there isn't one?? There's only two of us in my house, we pulled the dishwasher out to make room for another cabinet... in 12 years of owning this house, we never ran it and I'm not even sure it was plumbed in as we had some re-plumbing done shortly after we got the house... it generally takes about 10-15 minutes to wash dishes.

I do tell people they shouldn't use the bowls for really hot foods... not sure what the heat would do to the poly.

I haven't started making cutting boards yet, but from my research, they can be washed just like the bowls, and periodically re-oiled. You can use the same board for meats and veggies, but should cut the veggies first, wash or rinse, then the meats. A good coating of oil will prevent any bacteria or cross contamination.

 

[Smitty37]

I tell my customers that my bottle stoppers are the most useless thing I make... generally gets a laugh and a sale. I only use the stainless steel inserts and the silicon one on my two different grades of stoppers. The silicon slips off the dowel for easy washing. The stainless steel, some are detachable, some aren't. I use multiple coats of polyurethane on my stoppers so the wood part is hand washable.

My wood stemmed wine glasses are also hand washable, just not with extremely hot water. Again the wood is sealed with multiple coats of polyurethane.

Most of my bowls are also finished in poly, so they are also hand washable.... you would be surprised at the number of times people ask "are they dishwasher safe?"... what's with dishwasher's anyway... I watch house hunters and house hunters International a lot and the buyers are always wanting a dishwasher... sometimes passing on a house because there isn't one?? There's only two of us in my house, we pulled the dishwasher out to make room for another cabinet... in 12 years of owning this house, we never ran it and I'm not even sure it was plumbed in as we had some re-plumbing done shortly after we got the house... it generally takes about 10-15 minutes to wash dishes.

I do tell people they shouldn't use the bowls for really hot foods... not sure what the heat would do to the poly.

I haven't started making cutting boards yet, but from my research, they can be washed just like the bowls, and periodically re-oiled. You can use the same board for meats and veggies, but should cut the veggies first, wash or rinse, then the meats. A good coating of oil will prevent any bacteria or cross contamination.

Not thinking specifically about turned handles, I have a number of knives with wood handles and a lot of wood kitchen implements spoons, salad forks, spatulas and etc. Some of them are used almost daily. I don't do anything special washing them going either by hand or in the dishwasher. Some of the knives we have had for a long time (like 30/40 years) my wife's favorite knife has a wood handle and get used and washed every day - the handle shows no sign of water having any impact at all. BTW the knife handle seems to be stained but has nothing I can detect to keep water out and water does not 'bead' on the handle.

 

[FourOaksCrafts]

I did a little research on this when I started making cutting boards. The type wood you use can also have a bearing. Closed grain hardwoods tend to be a little more impervious to water. But with cutting boards they don't recommend soaking them in soapy water.

I liked the idea of having separate cutting boards for meat and vegetables, but I suppose if you properly sanitize and re-oil (with food-safe oil) you could get away with using one board.

 

[Skie_M]

If I recall correctly, there's a Master Craftsman series video concerning "green wood" where they made spatulas from a piece of sycamore .... they mentioned that sycamore was often used for utensils because it was naturally antibacterial.