Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <equipment>
Title: What are the different applications for differently shaped wooden spoons?
Question: A while back I got a set of wooden spoons that contained 5 differently shaped wooden spoons. Take a look at the following photo to see the different shapes.   I have mainly been using wooden spoon #1 because that is typically the shape I am most familiar with when I think of a wooden spoon. I have yet to figure out what the other wooden spoons can be used for.   Are there any specific applications that each shape excel at?

Answers:
sents: text: Number five is a folding spoon.
text: It is made for folding flour into light foams without overmixing, for example when making Genoise.
text: The big hole makes the mixing easy, and the shape is good for scraping the bottom of a round bowl.
text: As Dave Griffith already said, 3 and 4 are for stirring stuff in pans and skillets (making roux, cooking off the liquid in tomato or pepper puree for ajvar-like condiments).
text: They prevent the contents burning on the bottom, because they remove the very heated layer from the bottom and let cooler liquid flow in.
text: The slot in spoon 2 make it a poor replacement for a skimming spoon.
text: Normally, you want a bigger perforated spoon for that, with bigger holes.
text: Also, I think metal is a better material in these cases, it isn't so good to put wood in boiling water.
text: Number 1 is useless in cooking.
text: Historically, these spoons were made for eating.
text: When they were big enough, housewives just used an eating spoon for stirring, because this is what they had at hand.
text: Nowadays, people don't eat with wooden spoons, but the tradition persists in that they continue using the traditional shape for stirring.
text: This is a bad idea.
text: It has the wrong shape for flat-bottomed pans and curved bowls.
text: There is no use case for which the other spoons aren't a better fit.
text: Maybe getting flour out of a package into a bowl, but being much flatter than an eating spoon, it is inferior also for this use.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/4638/rumtscho
score: 8
sents: text: Great question!
text: Adding to the others: 4 and 5 appear to me home-made modifications of standard Chinese bamboo spatulas in order to use them for different purposes.
text: 4 is probably intended to be a wooden fork, which would be useful for tossing pasta (together with another wooden fork or spatula).
text: However, the homemade slotting is too narrow, and the "tines" to wide, to be really useful.
text: You'd want something more like this: 5 is, as rumtscho mentioned, a folding spoon for dough.
text: This one seems to be improvised out of a spatula, though; the more common shapes of folding spoons are like either of the below:
text: I think I might disagree with rumtscho about spoon #1 though.
text: I use wooden spoons all the time for cooking and mixing, especially in non-stick pans.
text: If what she's saying, though is that particular wooden spoon is not very well shaped, then I agree with her.
text: The bowl of the spoon is too shallow, and you'd want a round handle rather than a flat one.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/7180/FuzzyChef
score: 5
sents: text: Flat-ended spoons like 3 and 4 are for good for scraping the bottoms of skillets.
text: Spoons like 5 are excellent for stirring thick sauces, as they let you easily stir the bottom corners of pans.
text: As for the slots, I've never noticed them making a bit of difference, other than if you wish to taste the solid contents of a soup without making a mess with the liquid.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/3819/Dave Griffith
score: 4
sents: text: as you say normal wooden spoon (I have tonnes of these but can't off hand think what I actually use them for) sort of looks like a slotted spoon but the slots are too small imo.
text: That would be for stirring stews/soups.
text: is the sort I use for frying onions or aromatics or I use two of this sort together for stir frying.
text: I'm not sure about this.....
text: it's not a 3, or a fork, I'd use it with 3 for stir frying as you only have one of 3!
text: I use for anything that starts with a roux
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/2391/vwiggins
score: 2
sents: text: I use my wood spoon shaped like your #5 when I am cooking and stirring liquids such as for sauces or puddings.
text: It allows for a good stir without causing spills, and the flat bottom lets me be sure to scrape the bottom and corner of the saucepan as I stir.
text: Mine now has a crack in it
text: and so I am on the look out for another.
text: They're hard to find with a flat end on the spoon "bowl."
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/25531/sheila
score: 2
sents: text: Spoon #2 is perfect for snatching a piece of pasta (not spaghetti) from a pot full of boiling water.
text: It drains the pasta (let's say penne) and leaves the water behind.
text: Also cools the penne quicker so it can be sampled for done-ness.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/25778/treesa
score: 1
sents: text: Number 5 looks like a Girariso, a Risotto spoon designed for abrading as much starch off the rice grains as possible...
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/35312/rackandboneman
score: 1
sents: text: I believe 2 + 4 together might be salad servers.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/36197/Thomas
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
2 and 4 could be used as salad servers, 5 is for stirring and folding liquids or for cooking risotto, 3 and 4 are good for scraping the bottom of skillets and 2 is good for taking a piece of pasta from a boiling pot.
2 + 4 might be good as salad servers. 3 + 4 would be good for scraping the bottom of a pan. 5 looks like a folding spoon.