Our old favorite wins again: Its smooth, medium-hard, reversible teak surface provided plenty of room to work, was a pleasure to cut on, and required the least maintenance. It was light enough to lift comfortably (especially since it had finger grips on the sides) but heavy enough to be stable for most tasks, though a few users noted that it wobbled occasionally. It picked up some knife scars but was otherwise highly durable, resisting cracking, warping, and staining, thanks to naturally oily resins that helped condition the board. And it's a stunner: Sleek, elegant, and richly colored, it was, as one tester noted, “less like a Toyota and more like a Corvette.” One caveat: Because teak contains microscopic bits of silica, it can wear down blades faster than other types of wood. But in our opinion, this fact doesn't detract from this board's stellar performance.
Our Favorite Wooden Kitchen Tools
Few kitchenwares match the beauty and versatility of well-maintained wooden tools.
We love this smaller version of our winning cutting board just as much as our favorite. It provides ample room to work, is a pleasure to cut on, and requires very little maintenance. Because it’s smaller, it’s also lighter to lift, making it especially easy to transport and clean. But it’s still fairly stable, only budging a little during especially vigorous tasks (pounding cutlets, for example). And it’s quite durable, acquiring a few knife marks over the course of testing but otherwise remaining intact and unwarped despite many washes.
Our longtime favorite boasts trenches on both sides that easily accommodate 1/2 cup of liquid. One side provides uninterrupted cutting space, while the other features a poultry-shaped well that steadied turkeys during carving but didn’t obstruct our knife. Midweight and moderately sized, it’s easy to handle.
Made of teak, this bar board is naturally slightly oily, so it required less maintenance than the other wood or bamboo boards we tested, and it stained somewhat less extensively. It was big enough to accommodate all the foods we cut on it though still highly portable. And it’s reversible, with a juice groove on one side that helped contain messes when we cut a lemon into wedges. It was the heaviest bar board we tested, so it stayed put on the counter pretty well, though rubbery grips would have provided some extra security. Finally, it’s quite handsome, making a beautiful small platter for serving cheese or charcuterie.
The best innovative spoon we tested, this “spootle” (a combination spoon and spatula), won fans for its light, maneuverable weight and shape; slim, long scraping edge and rounded bowl for scooping food; and tapered, rounded handle that was comfortable and easy to grip in a variety of positions as we worked. The cherry wood had a pleasantly smooth texture and resisted becoming overly dried out and rough, even after 10 dishwasher cycles. (Note: This spoon is available in right- or left-handed versions. We tested the right-handed model; despite this, two left-handed testers gave it high marks.)
Testers raved about this classic wooden spoon. Light, long, and maneuverable, it kept our hands far from the heat, and its rounded, tapered handle was comfortable and easy to grip in a variety of ways as we worked. It also suited both right- and left-handed testers. The slim tip of its nicely scooped-out oval bowl was easy to maneuver under food for turning and scooping, and when angled slightly, the head provided sufficient area for scraping fond. Made of teak, the wood resisted staining or drying out, retained its color, and never became rough to touch, even after 10 cycles through the dishwasher.
Dusted with a little flour, this solid wood peel did a great job of unloading pizzas and breads onto the baking stones. And it had a nice, thick handle that was comfortable to hold. Because its blade is thick, it isn’t great at rotating or removing baked goods; you’ll want to use tongs to help nudge food back onto it.
These sleek, sharp knives sliced effortlessly through even the toughest steaks, and their good-looking contoured rosewood handles were secure and comfortable to hold. Though the blades dulled slightly after many cuts, sharpening easily brought them back to life.
Despite a very slight deficiency in out-of-the-box sharpness, these bargain knives cut cleanly and easily, and their thick wood handles were lightweight and easy to hold.
This oyster knife (we chose the model with a stainless steel blade) is well crafted, with a simple, comfortable wooden handle that never budged in our hands. A slightly upturned tip was helpful when inserting the point into the hinge and was able to slice oyster muscle without damaging the meat. It’s the lightest knife that we tested; one shucker noted that it “seemed to disappear and become part of your hand.”
We’ve recommended this rolling pin for years—and it remains the best dowel-style model on the market. Dowel pins’ long, flat barrels make them a great choice for larger jobs such as rolling dough for slab pies or croissants. It’s 19 inches long, giving plenty of space to roll out doughs of all sizes. At 1.4 lbs, it was heavy enough to help us as we rolled, but not so heavy that it crushed the dough underneath. Because the wood is slightly rough, it held onto a dusting of flour and dough never stuck to it. The wood also gripped the dough more than pins made from smoother materials, helping the dough respond to our movements more efficiently so we never overworked it. It’s also sold by King Arthur Baking Company as the King Arthur Straight Rolling Pin.
Tapered rolling pins are slightly lighter, narrower, and more maneuverable than dowels, and this model is the best we tested. It tapered gently at each end and has the most usable flat surface area, 9.5 inches, of all the tapered rolling pins we tested, so it was easier to form dough into rounds. The rough wood gave the dough something to cling to, so it responded efficiently to the movements of the pin. There was no sticking because a fine dusting of flour clung to the pin nicely.