I am a wooden utensil and cast iron kind of cook. These reliable, wonderful tools don’t require electricity and they last a remarkably long time if cared for correctly. I especially love the butcher block, cutting boards, and wooden spoons my husband has made over the years, and it’s important to me to take care of them so they last. My dilemma for a long time was how to condition them. Vegetable oils like olive oil, grapeseed oil, etc. are wonderful, but are not shelf-stable and can experience “rancidification” over time, which can make wood smell funky and leave a bad flavor on chopped foods. The standard go-to oil is food-safe mineral oil, sometimes called liquid paraffin. But mineral oil is generally a petroleum product and I don’t care how “food-safe” it is; I don’t want to cut my home-grown vegetables on a board coated with a petroleum-based oil. So, obviously, I had to figure out a DIY way to get around this dilemma and take proper care of my wooden kitchen utensils.
Organic fractionated coconut MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil is made of coconut oil that has been put through a clean, solvent-free cold-extraction centrifuge process to create a clear, odorless, shelf-stable, food-safe liquid coconut oil. These medium-chain triglycerides are highly digestible, providing healthy fats and energy more efficiently to the body. For the purposes of my chopping block and kitchen utensils, the cold-extraction centrifuge process also makes this high-quality, food-grade oil shelf-stable when stored properly.
I discovered quickly that MCT oil alone, when rubbed on and left to soak overnight, is a very effective wood oil. This is actually a great way to oil a new, unseasoned board, butcher block, or utensil. Rub oil all over the board or utensil and put the item(s) on a sheet pan or some such to catch any dripping oil. The next morning, use a piece of clean cloth to wipe away any extra oil from the wood. Bonus: rubbing the oil on with your bare hands has the added benefit of being wonderfully moisturizing for your skin!
For regular upkeep of pre-oiled utensils and boards, I wanted to add just a little wax to help seal in the oil, provide extra protection, increase the lifespan of the wood, and make a less messy product to use and to store between uses. Turns out, the perfect consistency is really easy to achieve! I tried beeswax, vegan carnauba wax, and a combination of the two, and discovered they all work very well. Combining beeswax and carnauba wax is my top choice, mostly because I like the consistency while using it, but the end result in terms of how they worked on the wood was essentially the same with all three versions. I did find, however, that when using 100% carnauba wax, I needed to use slightly more wax-to-oil to achieve a good, workable consistency.
Makes about 1/2 cup.
Note: Alternatively, use 2 tsp. of beeswax alone.
Makes about 1/2 cup.
Directions
To Use
Pro Tips
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Herbal Gift Ideas, Recipes, Green Living
Heidi is an award winning freelance writer with a passion for urban homesteading. She has been honored to receive a number of literary prizes including the esteemed Pushcart Prize and an Individual Artists Award in Creative Writing from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. When she isn’t working in the garden, cleaning the henhouse, preserving food, crafting herbal formulations, or writing and editing content for really fantastic small businesses, you’ll likely find her with her nose in a book.
.jpg?width=1080&name=2023%20(1).jpg "Mountain Rose Herbs 2023 Impact Report")
I am a wooden utensil and cast iron kind of cook. These reliable, wonderful tools don’t require electricity and they last a remarkably long time if cared for correctly. I especially love the butcher block, cutting boards, and wooden spoons my husband has made over the years, and it’s important to me to take care of them so they last. My dilemma for a long time was how to condition them. Vegetable oils like olive oil, grapeseed oil, etc. are wonderful, but are not shelf-stable and can experience “rancidification” over time, which can make wood smell funky and leave a bad flavor on chopped foods. The standard go-to oil is food-safe mineral oil, sometimes called liquid paraffin. But mineral oil is generally a petroleum product and I don’t care how “food-safe” it is; I don’t want to cut my home-grown vegetables on a board coated with a petroleum-based oil. So, obviously, I had to figure out a DIY way to get around this dilemma and take proper care of my wooden kitchen utensils.
Organic fractionated coconut MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil is made of coconut oil that has been put through a clean, solvent-free cold-extraction centrifuge process to create a clear, odorless, shelf-stable, food-safe liquid coconut oil. These medium-chain triglycerides are highly digestible, providing healthy fats and energy more efficiently to the body. For the purposes of my chopping block and kitchen utensils, the cold-extraction centrifuge process also makes this high-quality, food-grade oil shelf-stable when stored properly.
I discovered quickly that MCT oil alone, when rubbed on and left to soak overnight, is a very effective wood oil. This is actually a great way to oil a new, unseasoned board, butcher block, or utensil. Rub oil all over the board or utensil and put the item(s) on a sheet pan or some such to catch any dripping oil. The next morning, use a piece of clean cloth to wipe away any extra oil from the wood. Bonus: rubbing the oil on with your bare hands has the added benefit of being wonderfully moisturizing for your skin!
For regular upkeep of pre-oiled utensils and boards, I wanted to add just a little wax to help seal in the oil, provide extra protection, increase the lifespan of the wood, and make a less messy product to use and to store between uses. Turns out, the perfect consistency is really easy to achieve! I tried beeswax, vegan carnauba wax, and a combination of the two, and discovered they all work very well. Combining beeswax and carnauba wax is my top choice, mostly because I like the consistency while using it, but the end result in terms of how they worked on the wood was essentially the same with all three versions. I did find, however, that when using 100% carnauba wax, I needed to use slightly more wax-to-oil to achieve a good, workable consistency.
Makes about 1/2 cup.
Note: Alternatively, use 2 tsp. of beeswax alone.
Makes about 1/2 cup.
Directions
To Use
Pro Tips
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Herbal Gift Ideas, Recipes, Green Living
Heidi is an award winning freelance writer with a passion for urban homesteading. She has been honored to receive a number of literary prizes including the esteemed Pushcart Prize and an Individual Artists Award in Creative Writing from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. When she isn’t working in the garden, cleaning the henhouse, preserving food, crafting herbal formulations, or writing and editing content for really fantastic small businesses, you’ll likely find her with her nose in a book.
