Spaghetti sauce and wooden bowls

[Jim Colombo]

Does anyone know what would happen if acidic items (like spaghetti sauce) were placed in wooden bowls?
Would the type of finish on the bowl make a difference?

[David DeCristoforo]

Um... er... uh.. well, yes, it would. You are going to eat the spaghetti aren't you? Any finish will migrate into the food, especially if it's hot food. And any edible finish would offer scant protection for the wood.

[Stew Hagerty]

Coat after coat of food grade oil, clean thoroughly after use and re-coat. If used repeatedly, the wood will darken. If you don't let the food sit in it for long periods, that should be all. I knew an old Italian Grandmother that used large wooden bowls for serving and hers actually looked nice. They looked "well used" and I thought it gave them character.

[Steve Kubien]

Well, I guess it depends. The bowl in this blog post was a reject because of its severe ugly factor. I never put a finish on it, it goes through the dishwasher, it soaks in the sink...about the only thing I haven't done is microwave it. Does it look like the day I made it? Nope. Is it the best, most beloved bowl in our home?

[Frank Van Atta]

Bad link, that.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use Mike Mahoney's walnut oil on mine. Been using them for 3 yrs now without a problem

[Allen Neighbors]

Frank, if you'll copy and paste that link into your address bar, it'll get you there.
Steve Kubien, that's the most interesting story I've read lately!! Thanks for posting that for us. It lends credence to what Mike Mahoney says about unfinished wooden bowls. And we'll no longer be choosy about what we put in ours.
Jim Colombo, I don't know the answer to your question right now. But I have a rough-turned Cottonwood bowl in my shop; and I am going to finish turn it, and bring it into my house to use. I will not finish it (I quit finishing our utility bowls after attending a demo by Mike Mahoney), but I will use it for everything that comes along, regardless of the foodstuff. We've been picky until now. But no longer will I hesitate to use it for anything we want in it... Gravy, beans, fried potatoes, or pasta.
After reading Steve's blog, aloud to my wife, we've suddenly gotten gutsy. :D

[Steve Kubien]

Thanks for the props Allen. I do not remember if I talked about "form" and "shape" when I wrote that blog but take a look at that bowl (I fixed the above link BTW). It's only around 2" - 2½" high...it's basically a deep plate! Handiest shape bowl we have for serving food. It fits the hand great so it's easy to pass around. Because it is shallow, it stacks easily in the cupboard. Now, I don't like tossing a making salad in it but I know I can because I have.

so, NOTE TO TURNERS...If you are making a bowl for your own home use, don't put a finish on it and try a less than "ideal" shape. You might really love it.

[Reed Gray]

To me, a surface finish is a no-no, unless you will never use it for anything. For daily use bowls, you want a soft penetrating finish. The spaghetti sauce will give the wood some red color, and some thing like Bar-B-Q sauce will also give some red with some scent. Blue berries will lend some purple to it, and so on. You really can put anything into them that will fit. I would never try the dish washer though. I don't like the soap applied with heat. Acid will not hurt the soft finishes. You can actually clean with table salt and a wedge of lemon or lime, which will emulsify oils and disinfect.

robo hippy

[Curt Fuller]

The spaghetti sauce will give the wood some red color, and some thing like Bar-B-Q sauce will also give some red with some scent. Blue berries will lend some purple to it, and so on. You really can put anything into them that will fit. I would never try the dish washer though. I don't like the soap applied with heat. Acid will not hurt the soft finishes. You can actually clean with table salt and a wedge of lemon or lime, which will emulsify oils and disinfect.

robo hippy

And if it should survive a hundred years or so and pop up on Antique Roadshow they'll rave about the "patina" and tell someone that it has an incredible value at auction.

[Steve Kubien]

Reed brings up a very good point... Food will discolour the bowl, especially things that are tomatoe-based, the aforementioned blueberries etc. Hmmm, I suspect it has something to do with the high acidic levels of these but I'm no scientist.

Also, please let me be clear that I am NOT recommending anyone put there wood items in the dishwasher. Bad things are bound to happen at some point. For me, well, it's an experiment and besides, I know where I can get another. :)

[Cathy Schaewe]

This thread has been very interesting, because I've been hesitant about what to put in my bowls. Does anybody think any particular kind of wood is better/worse/more or less resistant to whatever, or for that matter, toxic? :confused:

It is making me re-think what I'd do with all these bowls I'm making -

[Tim Rinehart]

I think a nice close grained wood like maple would lend itself well to this, but there is certainly no shortage of more open grained woods like walnut too...geez, I remember us using a walnut salad bowl as a kid.

I think sticking to most common domestic woods seems safe, but would be interested to hear if there are any "cautionary" domestic woods to avoid. I certainly wouldn't want to use anything with strong odor, like cedar, camphor, etc...or anything that ... well...stinks.

Great thread of info, especially part about 'doing nothing' finish wise. First I've heard of that.

What advantage is there I wonder to "doing nothing", over use of a coat or two of salad bowl oil?

[Steve Kubien]

I'm with Tim on this. Maple and cherry are the first two which come to mind as great for food use. I know Mike Mahoney has used a fair bit of poplar as well. Someone (may have been Mike M.) said they thought silver maple was perfect for utility bowls. Yes, silver maple, a softer maple. Birch is great and the birch around me is full of figure and amazing to work with. Personally, I also prefer tamed grain patterns for a food-use bowl. No burled woods for me as there is no way you will ever get all the nooks and cranny's clean. Curly figure is fine but avoid the burls. Having said that, soap and warm water will kill any bug out there.

As for what I sell, I will use an oil like Mahoney's walnut oil or even a thin danish oil like Watco because people like the tone of oiled wood. I do not believe it is needed but it is what folks want.

Come to think of it, I'm going to do a few bowls for my next show and leave them with no finish. I'll explain the reasons for it and see how it flies. Maybe I'll do well. Maybe I'll run home and slap some oil on them!

[Sean Hughto]

I, like Tim, want to know more specifically: what is the advantage of no finish over something like walnut oil? Is there something that makes no finish preferable? Even cutting boards and wooden utensils seem to appreciate some edible oil (walnut, mineral, etc., now and then to keep them up.

[Allen Neighbors]

This thread has been very interesting, because I've been hesitant about what to put in my bowls. Does anybody think any particular kind of wood is better/worse/more or less resistant to whatever, or for that matter, toxic? :confused:

It is making me re-think what I'd do with all these bowls I'm making -

Cathy, I don't know - scientifically - but I know what we have and use. People have said that Black Walnut is not good for utilitarian bowls. We have a set of three Black Walnut bowls in our kitchen, that we use quite a lot. And we have a set of three smaller black walnut bowls in our travel trailer - one of which I eat cereal out of nearly daily - and we've never had any problems with any of them. One of them is stained from using it while picking blackberries, so maybe we're getting a richer patina. :)

[Allen Neighbors]

I, like Tim, want to know more specifically: what is the advantage of no finish over something like walnut oil? Is there something that makes no finish preferable? Even cutting boards and wooden utensils seem to appreciate some edible oil (walnut, mineral, etc., now and then to keep them up.

Sean, there was a study done by some prof and his students at a univ in KY (I think) a few years ago. They put all kinds of 'bugs' on bare wood, and oiled wood. The germs lived on the oiled wood, and were dead on the bare wood in less than an hour. You might google it and find it...

Oil is a good medium for germs to survive in... bare wood isn't. That's a fact. Check out an oily cutting board, and one that isn't oiled, but is washed with soap and water.