How to Care for Wooden Bowls and Plates

I love my hand-crafted wooden bowls.  But sometimes I think I love them too much as they end up all scratched and dry-looking after each use. Good thing someone told me about how to properly care for woodenware. So if you have the same problem, read on.

To clean and preserve the beauty of your wooden bowls, and to prevent them from warping or cracking,  coat them with ODORLESS cooking oil regularly.  I once used coconut oil for mine but the wood absorbed the odor, leaving the bowls smelling funky for weeks. So I now use olive oil instead.  I think you can also use mineral oil (but better double-check).

To keep your bowls looking pretty, follow the following steps:

1.  First, wash the bowls with gentle dish washing detergent and water. DO NOT soak the bowls or keep in water for too long.

2. Wipe off water from the bowls and let dry thoroughly.

3.  Once dry, you can now apply the oil.

4. Coat the bowls with oil by dipping cotton balls into the oil and briskly rubbing these against the wood to make sure the oil is absorbed by the wood.

 

5.  Leave the bowls for about 3o minutes, then blot off the excess oil using paper towels. Done!

  

Don’t leave food (especially the oily kind) in the bowls to keep them from getting rancid. Lastly,  if  you’re storing the bowls inside a cabinet,  take them out and air them from time to time to make sure they don’t get moldy.

The same care and maintenance may not be necessarily the same for other wooden kitchen tools. For chopping boards, check out a very detailed  guide here.

Did this post help you?  Share it! 🙂

 

Food for Thought:

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.

Keep sharpening your knife and it will be blunt.

-Lao Tzu