can i use cooking oil to care for my wooden spoons?

[qwerty78]

Can i use regular vegetable or olive oil to care for wooden spoons (and other wooden kitchen items)? i'd rather not have to buy mineral oil and I'm worries that they are getting too dried out.

also- and recs for the best wooden spoons? mine are from the dollar store and I wouldn't mind upgrading...

[ncmike276]

I don't think so. Veg. and nut oils go rancid, and that is why mineral oil - a petroleum product - is recommended. Mineral oil is cheap and a little goes a long way.

[c oliver]

I don't oil mine so can't advise about that. I have wooden spoons that are well over 20 years old and "work" fine. You're not putting them in the dishwasher, are you? I think the really cheap ones - the ones that come in a mesh bag - just feel like they would develop splinters. I'm guessing I've spent $3-4 each on any I've bought in the last 5 years.

[Caroline1]

Most day to day wooden spoons don't require oiling. But when you have wooden spoons or salad sets that do, olive oil is preferable to mineral oil. Every once in a while a new housekeeper (old and decrepit, not rich and spoiled '-)) puts a favorite cake server with a rosewood handle in the dishwasher. I used to get upset. Now I just get out the olive oil and deliver a lecture. Olive oil is good for all kichen wood that needs a new "dressing." Other salad oils work too. It's a matter of personal preference. I figure olive oil has been used for wooden cooking utensiles for several thousand years, so that makes it good enough for me. I put on a generous coat, let it sit for about an hour, then wipe it down with a clean paper towel. It's good for wooden cutting boards, breadboards and salad bowls too.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Qwerty,

There are two approaches to wood utensils. You can spend more and get quality wood utensils and make make them last. Olive wood is a good choice, like this:
http://www.amazon.com/HIC-Harold-Impo...
The other approach is to get 1-dollar utensils and throw them away whenever.

In term of oiling your wooden utensils. Well, there are many schools of thought on that. For 1-dollar spoons, you may consider not do anything and just throw them away when they go bad. If you want to prolong your wooden utensils, then there are two schools of thought there as well. One school of thought is to use oils which are stable and not go rancid, like mineral oil or walnut oil or almond oil. The opposite school of though is to use any cooking oil is fine because if you cook often, you will continuously renew/oil your wood utensils and therefore the oil will never get to sit in your utensils long enough to go rancid.

If you think you will use that wood spoon very often, then you can use cooking oil. Otherwise, mineral oil is probably safer bet. If you are interested in getting a collection of wooden utensils, then buying mineral oil is not a bad idea, considering mineral oil can be cheaper than olive oil.

[qwerty78]

thanks all- i should have clarified. i have a couple nice spatulas with wooden handles. I'd like those to last as long as possible. the dollar store wooden spoons i'd like to replace. That said i don't have much space right now, so I think i'll wait until i have more room and a real cutting board to invest the space and time to oiling everything.