August 21, 2014 - 7:42am
Dough whisks and stainless.
Growing up I had it drilled into me that you never use anything metal (Spoons, etc.) to stir in stainless steel vessels (Pots and bowls). My mother's reasoning being that you'll scratch it all up, needless to say when I left home this was one of the rules I broke, and still have a large stainless bowl that bears the marks of my transgression.
Do Danish dough whisks scratch stainless bowls? I've only used one a couple times, but found it much more effective than a plastic spoon.
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Make sure it is stainless if you don't want your SS bowl rusting.
Same thing using screws, use stainless steel screwdrivers with SS screws. :)
This article describes how stainless steel removes onion, garlic and fish odors from your hands by attracting the sulfur molecules (that cause the odors).
Why Stainless Steel Erases Garlic's Aroma - Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/13/eliminating-garlic-smell_n_1341413.html
So stainless steel reacts with some foods. Maybe there is something to the old saying about not letting sourdough touch metal? I hope it's not removing flavor or odor from sourdough, we usually want to increase that, not decrease it. ;-)
I wonder if the stainless steel is also removing some of the garlic and onion flavors from spaghetti, chili, etc? Something to consider, anyway.
between raw garlic and cooked garlic when reacting to stainless steel.
in a pot of spaghetti or chili. You don't say "where did the garlic flavor go?". But the must be some effect. I have a lot of stainless steel and use it for everything and will continue to do so. But I might keep my sourdough cultures away from it.
I have Stainless Bowls and one very large one which I like to use when I make a huge loaf of bread, I use my Danish Dough Whisk all the time and it is not scratching.
when I use my dough whisks with SS bowls.
Paul
I think that the first thing to consider is that just about anything would beat a plastic spoon for mixing dough. (I am envisioning here, a spoon from the cafeteria salad bar, but I assume you are using something a big more like a wooden spoon made of some resin).
Not that this is of any use to you, but when I use my Danish Whisk, it is always used in a wooden salad bowl. Probably because I don't have a stainless steel bowl big enough to allow me to mix my 2 kilos of dough.
The only thing I really wanted to say (so forgive the rambling), is have you tried mixing with your hands rather than a spoon/whisk? I thought I would use my Danish Whisk all of the time for making my bread dough. But, I find that I have to get my hands dirty eventually, and they do a better job of things than the whisk.
I also thought that I use my Danish Dough Whisk all the time but I must admit, I LOVE mixing by hand, I love feeling the dough come togethter and know when it is done for bulk fermenting...
Just checking before I wreck another bowl. I'm thinking maybe the stainless spoon scratched the bowl due to the spoon having a bit of an edge on it. Where as a whisk is made of round wire, no relatively sharp edges. If there was a problem PetraR or PMcCool would have seen it.
I agree that the plastic spoon probably isn't the best tool for the job, but the habit of stirring dough with a spoon was passed down by my grandmother. I switched to plastic due to dough sticking badly to wood. Where as plastic after the dough hardens, a gentle rub is all it takes to remove.
I have tried using my hands for the initial mix, but I find the dough clings excessively, even with oil/butter/flour/telekinesis. A dough scraper can remove most of the stubborn dough after, but even with that a lot ends up down the drain which I'd rather not do on a regular basis.
I get so much sticking to my hands even with just a straight dough. But I guess it depends on the formula, because even with my big whisk I can't actually complete the mix without getting my hands on it. I really have to remember to keep them wet though.
of a naturally used SS bowl. It's a user thing and it looks lovely reflecting the broken light. It shows history just like the burnished wooden bowl does.
About those wooden spoons, did you ever wash, sand them and rub them with mineral oil and heat them up? Just like cutting boards they need to be smoothened and sealed first before use. Dishwashers eat wooden spoons.
A naturally used look can be good, but an un-natural abused look is bad.
I've tried washing (drying) oiling and heating, but I've never gotten a spoon as high quality as my mother's.
What grit of sandpaper would you suggest to finish a spoon? That could be my problem right there.
like bamboo, oak, maple, cherry, black locust, fruit wood, ebony wood or... you get the drift, hardwood. Too many soft wood spoons out there! Get one with a fine grain and a thick neck and handle on it. Get it wet washing it and let it dry thoroughly. Then take fine sandpaper to it, depending on the roughness of the wood work start with a relative fine sandpaper and work up to a 400 or 600 if you have some. Wipe off dust with a clean towel and rub in some edible mineral oil or canning wax (USA-paraffin wax.) let the oil soak in especially on exposed end grains. I like to take a blow dryer to warm the oil or wax and make it soak up any excess or pop it into a hot oven for a few minutes. Rub lightly with a paper towel and presto! Ready for use.
Important stuff: Don't leave it soaking in water or cooking food. Rinse right after using to avoid having to soak it later. Keep it away from dishwashers. Anytime it looks dry, rub a tiny dab of oil on it.
Sometimes you can burnish the oiled wood to tighten up surface pores. Try rubbing on glass or polished surfaces like stone or metal. Rub with the back of a stainless spoon and see if you like what it does to the wood.
I used to have a wooden spoon that was one of my Grandma's.
It such a fantastic spoon, it was 70 years old when I got it and I had it for many years and LOVED it.
Due to all the usage it was like polished wood, hard to explain, it was just wonderful.
Sadly I lost it when we moved to the UK.