Spurtle

[Toddy]

I kept promising to get a photo of my spurtle, since it's a proper one and not a thing like a brushshaft that some greenwood worker thought could be made fancy to sell.
It's carved and it's shaped and smoothed, and is very worn, but no shame to it, it's over forty years old now

Porridge Spurtle

Something else for folks to practice making as well as spoons ?

M

 

[Robbi]

Mary....... you have a lovely Spurtle.

 

[Macaroon]

That's a grand looking spurtle indeed!

 

[Hunkyfunkster]

I like that a lot.

I use my spurtle often, but sadly it is just some brushshaft that some greenwood worker thought could be made fancy to sell.

Maybe I'll use this as inspiration to create something better than what I have




Alex

 

[Madriverrob]

Nice spurtle , I've just started my first one in cherry .

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Monikieman]

Well it looks like the start of a 'show me your spurtle' or 'I'll show you my spurtle if you show me yours' thread.

Personally, I'll have to make one first.

 

[Fraxinus]

Forgive me my ignorance please Toddy, most of the examples of Spurtles I have seen are rounded whilst yours has flat faces. Is there a "proper" or "traditional" design for them?
I ask as I want to make some items for my nephews wedding that also reflect on his brides Scottish lineage.

Rob.

 

[John Fenna]

That is a great Spurtle Mary!
I make hte odd one - but I get bored having to explain to folk what they are!

 

[Toddy]

Sorry about the brushshaft comment, but honestly, I'd never seen one like that until I was adult and had been shopping in a Tourist shop for a present for a friend abroad.

I actually asked the lady what they were

It's a stick spatula thing really. It's meant to get into the edges of the pot as well as across the base to stop the porridge sticking and going lumpy. It's not a big thing, it's a neat tool. It's good for custard too and polenta, and quinoa.
In the days when sawn timber took a lot of effort folks rarely made our modern cheaply purchased wide wooden spatulas for domestic use.
A bannock spade was made of metal usually, though the big bread ovens in big houses, etc., did have wooden ones.
Timber was not always freely available, and was never cheap in the UK, especially since fuel was at a premium. These little spurtles are easily carved from a small branch, a fallen stick or the like. Like the love spoons, it kept hands busy

M

 

[sandbender]

That is a fine looking spurtle Mary, I reckon mine must be about forty odd years old now too, not as pretty as yours though.

 

[Muddypaws]

Nice spurtle! It's good to see a traditional utensil, you described it before in a thread of mine when I made some lathe turned spurtle. Now I will have to make some like that (perhaps still using the lathe for the decorative bit, then cutting the flats with a few strokes of the drawknife)

 

[Joonsy]

get practicing now and you could even try to win the ''Golden Spurtle Trophy'' in October at the world porridge making championships in the cairngorms.

see link here http://www.goldenspurtle.com/

the winner gets this trophy but I think I prefer Toddy's.

 

[Toddy]

There are some beautiful lathe turned tools out there but there are some real clunkers that would only be of use in an Army Dixie load of porridge too.

Good idea Muddypaws I think that sounds very practical. My Dad just carved the wee thistle on the end for a bit of decoration, but I'm sure that a turned one would look good, look right, too.

M

 

[Toddy]

get practicing now and you could even try to win the ''Golden Spurtle Trophy'' in October at the world porridge making championships in the cairngorms.

see link here http://www.goldenspurtle.com/

the winner gets this trophy but I think I prefer Toddy's.

Does that not look like a mace ?

M

 

[Joonsy]

Does that not look like a mace ?

yeah it looks more suited to bashing someone over the head than stirring porridge I like your flat type much better.

 

[Muddypaws]

The world porridge making championships, held in Carrbridge, were for years repeatedly won by a local bloke, using local oats and local water from his own well. Makes me wonder why prospective porridge champions from all over the world bothered to turn up.

 

[Hunkyfunkster]

Ach, not to worry. My spurtle was bought from a tourist shop. It's a useful tool, but not quite right. I like the shape of yours. I might steal that idea. About time I picked up my whittling knife again

Sorry about the brushshaft comment, but honestly, I'd never seen one like that until I was adult and had been shopping in a Tourist shop for a present for a friend abroad.

I actually asked the lady what they were

Alex

 

[oldtimer]

I wish you had posted that before a French friend asked me to bring him some genuine Scottish oats next time out together with a recipe for preparing them. I asked if he had a spurtle and am still trying to explain what they are. He complained that his English/French dictionary didn't provide a translation. As I type this I note that the spellcheck has never heard the word either.

As southerner I find my understanding of Scots dialect has improved considerably as a result of reading posts on Bcuk.

 

[Toddy]

Sorry

I nearly made sweary words though….Look what they're charging for these shoe horn like thing they're calling spurtles !

http://www.poldersoldworldmarket.com/products/original-spurtle-set#

:yikes:

Lads, there's a business in this

M

 

[Totumpole]

All this spurtle talk reminds me of my mate doing his first bit of carving with a knife I gifted him. I wonder if said spurtle is still in use.