Spurtle

[Kepis]

Spurtle carved in a piece of scrap Hazel that i had hanging around, main carving performed with my TBS Wildcat, then fine carved with the small blade on my modified Victorinox Hiker, the spurtle is approx eight inches in length and has a scraped finish on the main shaft, the ring and topper are straight off the knife.

 

[scruff]

Looks dandy amigo!

 

[Muddypaws]

Nice! I love a good spurtle.

 

[forrestdweller]

Spurtle carved in a piece of scrap Hazel that i had hanging around, main carving performed with my TBS Wildcat, then fine carved with the small blade on my modified Victorinox Hiker, the spurtle is approx eight inches in length and has a scraped finish on the main shaft, the ring and topper are straight off the knife.

please forgive me my shocking lack of knowledge, but what is it used for?!

 

[Muddypaws]

please forgive me my shocking lack of knowledge, but what is it used for?!

It's a traditional Scottish stick for stirring porridge.

 

[Broch]

Nice work as always @Kepis - but I confess, I've never understood the Spurtle. My wife religiously uses one to make the porridge, but then you have to use a spoon to dish it out; why not just use a wooden spoon in the first place and save the washing?

 

[Kepis]

Got bored, so refined the topper a little, one time when that extra tinkering paid dividends

 

[Pattree]

I salute anyone who is able to carve with that degree of symmetry. Impressive.

I remember the cook at our bothy in Argyle (Mother McLugash) using a spurtle but it was more like a long spoon. Any porridge that we didn’t eat was levered out of the pot and dumped on the range hob top to make oatcakes using the spurtle.

 

[forrestdweller]

It's a traditional Scottish stick for stirring porridge.

ahh... i confess just using my spoon...

 

[Falstaff]

Nice work as always @Kepis - but I confess, I've never understood the Spurtle. My wife religiously uses one to make the porridge, but then you have to use a spoon to dish it out; why not just use a wooden spoon in the first place and save the washing?

The porridge oats stick to the inside of the spoon like glue when you are trying to mix and stir it. It also doesn't get it off the bottom of the pot as well when stirring. The spurtle usually has a fairly flat bottom and is easy to wipe off on the side of the pot 'tween stirs. When the porridge is ready you can tip it from the pot using the spurtle as a sort of lever, and wipe off the edge with it. No serving spoon required, and the pot is often deeper than a spoon.
I've made mine from a not-quite-square bit of pine batten and rounded the corners, so it's even easier to wipe off, and easier to scrape down the sides for the last delicous bits!

But Kepis has shamed me, I feel a bit inspired to try to decorate the top a bit.

 

[Brizzlebush]

Got bored, so refined the topper a little, one time when that extra tinkering paid dividends

Aye, ye'v nearly go' the thistle in therr laddie!

 

[stonepark]

Nice work as always @Kepis - but I confess, I've never understood the Spurtle. My wife religiously uses one to make the porridge, but then you have to use a spoon to dish it out; why not just use a wooden spoon in the first place and save the washing?

The porridge oats stick to the inside of the spoon like glue when you are trying to mix and stir it. It also doesn't get it off the bottom of the pot as well when stirring. The spurtle usually has a fairly flat bottom and is easy to wipe off on the side of the pot 'tween stirs. When the porridge is ready you can tip it from the pot using the spurtle as a sort of lever, and wipe off the edge with it. No serving spoon required, and the pot is often deeper than a spoon.
I've made mine from a not-quite-square bit of pine batten and rounded the corners, so it's even easier to wipe off, and easier to scrape down the sides for the last delicous bits!

But Kepis has shamed me, I feel a bit inspired to try to decorate the top a bit.

If you need to stir porridge when making it, may I suggest you are doing it wrong.

Put porridge and milk in pot to personal final consitency preference, (mine is so a tea spoon can stand up in it), add salt to taste, bring to just short of a very light simmer with lid on, turn off cooker but leave on warm ring and go have your morning shower (or wait 15 min).

Come back to delicious porridge, serve with jam, honey or cream as preferred.

 

[Pattree]

@stonepark
Are you sure you aren’t using hot rolled oats (like Quaker or Scotts)?
The spurtle is for milled oat grain.

 

[stonepark]

@stonepark
Are you sure you aren’t using hot rolled oats (like Quaker or Scotts)?
The spurtle is for milled oat grain.

My normal go to is large organic cold rolled oats.

I wouldn't touch Quaker or Scotts with barge pole.

 

[Broch]

My normal go to is large organic cold rolled oats.

I wouldn't touch Quaker or Scotts with barge pole.

OK, recommend a good brand for a Sassenach please
(well, technically not, I'm a Welshman )

 

[Falstaff]

Stonepark lives in a different world to me... you have milk, and time for a shower?
Mine is made with water, made up the night before on the last embers, stir to prevent sticking. AM. warm it up gently, maybe with a little more warm water, while stirring to get consistency and stop sticking/burning. A bit of salt if you like it, , turn it into a bowl, add in a bit of fruit if you have some. Eat. Pack rucksack & walk, or go to work.

As fed to me by my parents, and at a B&B in East Grinstead, who in the morning offered a simply superb pinhead oats porridge made the night before. (served with milk if you wanted it!)

 

[Pattree]

@Falstaff
Ain’t that the truth!
That is the definition of porridge.

You can get away with fine grind if you have time before breakfast but anything bigger is a supper time chore.

……And afterwards if you didn’t use a spurtle or equivalent then you’d better carve yourself a scraper.

 

[Stew]

Nice work as always @Kepis - but I confess, I've never understood the Spurtle. My wife religiously uses one to make the porridge, but then you have to use a spoon to dish it out; why not just use a wooden spoon in the first place and save the washing?

I use a spurtle for all stirring by preference. It’s just a better mixing device.

 

[Mesquite]

Nice carving as usual Mark

 

[Gabri]

Hazel wood is one of my favorites to carve—it's so satisfying to work with. The scraped finish must feel really nice to the touch. I’ve used a similar setup before, and your TBS Wildcat and modified Victorinox sound like they did a fantastic job.