Say goodbye to the stick spoon: the risks of cooking with wooden utensils

Cooking is an art, a springboard to a pool of flavors and pleasure, but also a laboratory. And as such, certain precautions must be taken regarding the ingredients and materials used, because from genius to disaster, there may be a single spoonful.

It is also known that each chef has his secrets and tricks up his sleeve. And in many cases, magic begins with a particular element: the spoon with old and infallible stick. This carries generations in the family and which is used with the pride of an heir to the throne. There are those who even claim that it is she who gives him a special taste in his meals.

But be warned: if the secret behind this dish that leads you to success in every Tinder quote, for which you get applause at family gatherings, where you receive emails and DMSs begging you to give them the recipe; If the secret, we have said, is nothing more or nothing less than your wooden spoon, then read the following carefully, because your luck can change and not in a very pleasant way.

It happens that the wooden utensils in the kitchen are dangerous, and if they are not used correctly, washed or stored correctly, they could turn from cooking delicious preparations to agents of high risk for the health of all the diners. .

According to cook and science populariser, Heinz Wuth, wood is a “very fragile and porous” material, which mainly involves two risks: the first is that the utensil begins to break and ends up detaching some of its remains in the food. For this reason, says Wuth, “it is forbidden to use wood in professional kitchens”.

The second risk is that the use of wood increases the chances of causing cross -contamination. What is that? According to Óscar Barrera, nutritionist and professional chef, many foods have a natural bacterial load, especially live products. “If we use the same surface or the utensil to handle two foods of different types, such as chicken and an apple, there could be cross contamination and I end with salmonellosis.”

This is why it is important to wash the tools immediately after each use. “Don’t worry about cleaning them, it increases the risk of contaminating them. Or leaving them unwashed for a long time also increases the possibility of a greater bacterial load,” says Barrera.

In the case of wood, there is an additional difficulty: its porosity, which threatens to harbor food remains likely to generate cross-contamination, but also micro-organisms such as bacteria, which can be extremely harmful to health. . The wooden spoon, unfortunately, can increase the risk of contracting salmonellosis, listeriosis and even botulism.

You will wonder: “is it only with the spoons?”. The answer is: no, this applies to all wooden utensils: spoon, boards, bowls, ulelers, etc.

We all know it’s best to wash everything right after eating. But we all also know that those dishes and utensils will stay in the dishwasher until you feel like washing them. Something that often happens the next day.

This won’t be a problem for most tools, including metal forks, spoons and knives…unless they’re wood-based.

Yes, because any tool that contains this material presents a certain degree of risk, but if there is something that increases it even more, it is humidity. “What microorganisms appreciate most is humidity,” says Heinz Wuth. “If we cook and then leave the spoon dragged, wet or soaked, this is where we create a fertile ground.”

Wuth has associated scientific knowledge in cooking for over 10 years, either for its own benefit, or for that of third parties through courses, conferences, but also in its social networks . The most relevant, he says, is to keep the wood dry and places free of moisture. “I even recommended that after washing, dry inside an oven. The more dry the wood, the better. Thus, the risk of microorganisms and bacteria are decreasing.”

These are big, serious words: botulism, listeriosis, salmonella. These are some of the risks linked to the use of wooden tools in the kitchen, according to some international specialists. For Óscar Barrera, however, the odds are not so high. “Botulism is rare, it comes from poorly made preserves. And listeriosis comes mostly from unpasteurized dairy products.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of foodborne botulism worldwide is approximately one thousand cases per year. In other words, it is an infrequent disease, even if it puts life in danger, and its cause is generally associated with the consumption of foods which have not been properly transformed, as C ‘ is often the case with canned, canned or home-prepared fermented foods. .

In Chile, cases of foodborne botulism are also unusual. To get an idea, in almost ten years – between 2004 and 2013 – only seven cases were recorded.

Listeriosis, on the other hand, is considered a relatively “rare” disease (0.1 to 10 annual cases per million inhabitants, depending on the country and the regions), but also one of the most serious and deadly at the level eating. And those you need to watch out for, especially pregnant women, the elderly, and patients with weakened immune systems.

Among the foods most frequently associated with listeriosis cases, there are those which are preserved for a long time in the refrigerator as well as those which are consumed without any type of prior treatment which kills the bacteria. Dairy products (soft cheeses, non -pasteurized milk or ice cream), meat products (sausages, pâtés, smoked salmon, among others), prepared salads (with cabbage and cabbage), fresh fruits and vegetables, have been linked to these epidemics.

Contracting salmonella, on the other hand, is much more likely. The prevalence reaches 550 million cases per year worldwide. In fact, it is estimated that every year one in 10 people contracts the disease and 33 million years of healthy life are lost. Generally, it is transmitted by contaminated animal foods, although cases related to the ingestion of vegetables contaminated with manure have also been detected.

“A case of cross contamination can occur, for example, when cutting chicken on a wooden board and then a vegetable that will be eaten raw, or that egg shells contain chicken excrement and that leftovers stay on some utensils that don’t wash well,” says Barrera.

The first option, and the most radical, is to get rid of wooden utensils and change them in other materials. Heinz Wuth recommends opting for silicone utensils because they are “very little porous, resist high temperatures and drive so slowly, so as not to burn your hands by stirring something that puts out”. It would be different with a metal spoon.

A second option is polyethylene. “People do not know it by name, but rather see it as a plastic, but it is a thermal and bactericidal type. It is similar in this sense to silicone, only that polyethylene is still tough. This property, says Wuth, is very useful for denser, harder preparations, such as those typically found in baking.

Metal tools also mean less risk of cross -contamination and bacteria growth. If you opt for this material, WUTH recommends choosing monoblock utensils, because when made of two or more, food is generally gathered at the intersections. And if you’re not careful, we might have the same problem as with a wooden tool.

Now, if you want to insist on wood, bamboo has certain bactericidal properties that reduce the risk, but not at the rest of the materials mentioned.

It is not always easy to get rid of the wooden spoon. Some wooden boards are real relics, and not always because of their seniority but because of their price. The good news is that, according to those interviewed, there are measures that reduce the risks that wood entails due to its materiality.

In fact, Wuth says his galanwood table is over ten years old. How do you store it? “Every three months, I scrape the wood with an abrasive element, which can be a spatula, and I remove up to 10 millimeters of organic debris.”

In the case of utensils such as spoons, pots or bowls, they must not only be washed well, but also properly disinfected. “To clean is to wash it under a jet of water and with a detergent. Disinfect is to apply a high temperature, it can be with an oven, or apply alcohol, which is used to eliminate microorganisms, “explains Wuth.

An alternative, recommended by the specialist, is to use a light coating of 70% alcohol with a spray bottle. “Then, it must be allowed to be cleared in the sun, so that it evaporates. The tool cannot be used immediately: it must be let it stand until the next day so that it is volatilizing.”

A second option is given by Óscar Barrera: “Disinfectant solutions, such as chlorine, can be used by dissolving 10 cc in a liter of water. It is important to leave the utensil and then dry, to take effect.”

To these treatments must be added those already mentioned, such as not letting or keep wood utensils wet; On the contrary, always keep them dry and in environments without humidity. It should also separate the tools used for sweet preparations from those of savings. In this way, the risk of cross-contamination is further avoided.

And always, even if it costs, we must know how to say goodbye if necessary. “If a ladle is chipping or losing a lot of shavings, it’s best to remove it, because it can come out of nowhere,” says Wuth. “Wooden spoons can last for many years, but they don’t last forever.” And neither is luck, Ratatouille.

*The prices of the products of this article are in effect on August 17, 2022. Values ​​and their availability may change.