Hi I've just started getting into spoon carving and was wondering which oil to use to season the spoons bearing in mind I will be using with food
Thanks for any information
Thanks for any information
Which oil do you use
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Walnut oil. Keep your eye open for a long thin jar like you get some posh jam in or olives, big enough to put a spoon in, soaking overnight saves a lot of rubbing in.
ATB
Tom
ATB
Tom
I have carved 70 spoons and 30 forks as kitchen prep tools. I got bored and quit.
They all got an oven baked, olive oil finish which takes more than several years to wash off, if you are so inclined.
The whole notion that olive oil will go rancid is smoke and hooey = when soaked down into the wood fiber.
You must re-heat my carvings to more than 350F to get the oil to move.
Sure, walnut oil will be entirely fine. My Dad used it in oil painting because it oxidized so rapidly.
Oven-baked, ought to be just fine.
They all got an oven baked, olive oil finish which takes more than several years to wash off, if you are so inclined.
The whole notion that olive oil will go rancid is smoke and hooey = when soaked down into the wood fiber.
You must re-heat my carvings to more than 350F to get the oil to move.
Sure, walnut oil will be entirely fine. My Dad used it in oil painting because it oxidized so rapidly.
Oven-baked, ought to be just fine.
Walnut oil does give a lovely finish. An alternative that avoids the nut allergy conundrum is flax seed oil (a.k.a. edible linseed oil). The latter has the added advantage of not going rancid over time.
walnut oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil - pretty much any of the oils used for food you can find in your supermarket depending on the colour/darkness you are looking for.
I make up my own mixture of beeswax and oil which is food safe and gives a lovely glossy finish when buffed.
I make up my own mixture of beeswax and oil which is food safe and gives a lovely glossy finish when buffed.
Walnut oil. Keep your eye open for a long thin jar like you get some posh jam in or olives, big enough to put a spoon in, soaking overnight saves a lot of rubbing in.]
I like that idea. I'm going to steal thatone of those 'why didn't I think of that!"
Oh I use walnut oil as well.
The oven baking process uses Charle's Law (gas physics).
Paint the wood with oil. Into a preheated 325F oven for 3'30".
Out to cool = done deal, good for years.
At room temp, the oil in wood can be pushed out by air expansion in hot soup.
Upon cooling, the soup gets sucked into the wood (the Charles Law Effect).
The subsequent decomposition makes very old wooden spoon appear blackened like a compost heap.
Paint the wood with oil. Into a preheated 325F oven for 3'30".
Out to cool = done deal, good for years.
At room temp, the oil in wood can be pushed out by air expansion in hot soup.
Upon cooling, the soup gets sucked into the wood (the Charles Law Effect).
The subsequent decomposition makes very old wooden spoon appear blackened like a compost heap.
Personally, I don't use any oils on the spoons I use and I tend to use most on a near daily fashion. I use them for mixing food in the pans, I wash them up in the sink after and I store them in a container on my kitchen top. Over time they wear down and I make new ones. Never oiled any of them and never had an issue.
i use a mix of beeswax and olive oil (=put in the oven after applying to "soak in") for spoons and a japanese varnish (sorry that i cannot tell you what's in it-i got it as a present from aformer workmate...; but it's food-grade and usually used for bowls) for larger objects....
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Regarding rancidity, olive oil is one of the most stable vegetable oils. Raw linseed however will go rancid very quickly!
As a herbalist I use both of these extensively - and only get linseed (flaxseed) oil or whole seeds in small quantities because they just don't keep!
Boiled linseed oil is another matter, stable and great for tool handles but not general food safe as it contains a drying agent.
Id agree with the chap who used olive oil and oven baked it into his carved items that need to be foods safe.
As a herbalist I use both of these extensively - and only get linseed (flaxseed) oil or whole seeds in small quantities because they just don't keep!
Boiled linseed oil is another matter, stable and great for tool handles but not general food safe as it contains a drying agent.
Id agree with the chap who used olive oil and oven baked it into his carved items that need to be foods safe.
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