This week's One Simply Terrific Thing is brought to you by Simply Recipes Contributor Irvin Lin!
I cook with a lot of nonstick pots, pans, and well-seasoned cast iron skillets, and because of that I've accumulated a number of non-metal utensils to prevent scratching the surfaces.
The utensils I reach for most are often made of bamboo or wooden utensils, but when I was given an Earlywood Tera scraper a couple of years ago, it quickly became my new favorite cooking tool!
All the Earlywood wooden utensils are beautiful to look at, and highly practical.
In fact, I use mine for everything! The Tera scraper ($18) tends to be the utensil I reach for most when I'm stir frying or sautéing. It's very handy when I'm cooking aromatics like garlic and onions, but just as adept at breaking up ground meat and sausage. It even passes muster when I'm folding and creating the fluffiest curds for scrambled eggs.
The hard wood used in Earlywood's products means the utensils won't chip or break when you are scraping down the sides of the pan to get the fond (i.e. brown and caramelized food bits) to release for a pan drippings gravy. The shorter rounded handle brings your hand closer to the pan for more control and power, and the angled edge allows you to really scrape away at stubborn stuck pieces of food without worrying about damaging the surface of the pan.
I've even taken to using the scraper to add mix-ins to my cookie dough!
Once I've made my cookie dough, anything that needs to be mixed in (like chocolate chips, nuts or raisins) get added and are mixed in by hand using the wooden paddle. Thanks to the scraper's thick wood, I can easily mix even the stiffest cookie dough, while the sturdy, rounded handle end feels comfortable while I make sure the mix-ins are evenly distributed.
Who knew that a simple slab of wood would become one of my favorite cooking utensils?
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