Spoon Butter

I was intrigued as soon as I saw this post from Foods in Jars on my Google Reader. The picture of all her rich shiny wooden utensils made me want some for myself. Unfortunately, the only wooden cooking utensils I own are a PC tart maker and a wooden spoon. A trip to IKEA for some fun wooden pieces is in my future but to tide me over, I ran to the Dollar Tree and picked up a cheap 4-pack of spoons.

I already had the 1/4 pound of beeswax but didn’t have any mineral oil. In fact, I didn’t even know where to find it. A friend told me to try the pharmacy section. I looked all over where I thought it should be but couldn’t find it anywhere… Finally I broke down and asked. I would never have guessed that is where it would be. Obviously I had NO idea what it was used for. :o)

Then I went home and mixed up a batch of Spoon Butter.

First place a quart-sized canning jar in a medium saucepan about 1/3 filled with water. Place 1/4 pound of beeswax in the jar. Turn on to medium-high heat.

Melt the wax, stirring occasionally. When the wax is nearly completely melted slowly pour in 16 oz of mineral oil. Continue to stir until they are totally combined.

Remove the jar from the saucepan and let cool.

When it’s cool it has a lovely honey-butter color and smells sort of sweet and earthy.

Take a small bit of the butter in your hand and rub it into your wooden utensils.  Not only does it condition your utensils but also your dry winter hands.

Let them dry for a few hours to overnight.

  Then wipe off any excess butter from your spoons with a soft dry cloth.

I love the way my well-used ones look once they’ve been oiled. They have a dark, lovely sheen and it really brings out the grain of the wood. I can’t wait until they all look that way!