Written by Lara Yehia. Lara researches home and kitchen products for Cupindy.
Published and last reviewed October 30, 2026 · Cupindy is not affiliated with any brand on this page.
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Our quick pick
Woodenhouse 6-Piece Teak Set
Solid teak spoons and spatulas, enough to replace a drawer of plastic tools in one go.
See the Woodenhouse set on AmazonThe drawback: it says only “natural finish”, not whether that is oil or lacquer.
The short answer
The best wooden spoon is one piece of a hard, close-grained wood such as teak, olive, maple or beech, washed by hand, dried straight away and rubbed with food-grade mineral oil whenever it looks pale. Pick the wood and the head shape for how you cook. The brand matters less.
Are wooden spoons safe to cook with? Yes, if you look after them. Wood is porous, which sounds like a worry, but the best-known research points the other way: in the early 1990s, researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that bacteria put on clean wood were much harder to recover than bacteria on plastic. That work was done on cutting boards, not spoons, and it does not excuse a cracked, smelly spoon. We go through the research and its limits in our full guide to wood in the kitchen.
This page is about buying one. We looked at which wooden spoons for cooking sell on Amazon, read each listing for the wood, the finish and the care rules, and kept seven. Then we explain how to oil a wooden spoon, because that decides how long it lasts.
The 7 wooden spoons at a glance
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| Pick | Wood | Best for | Watch out for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodenhouse 6-piece (quick pick) | Teak | Replacing plastic tools in one go | Finish not named | See it |
| BICB 3-piece | Beech | A cheap first set | No care instructions; all 3 are one size | See it |
| Eddingtons olive wood spoon | Olive | One good spoon for every day | Single spoon | See it |
| HANSGO 3-piece | Not named | Deep pots, long stirs | The wood is never named | See it |
| ICSTI corner spoon | Teak | Pan corners, sauces, fond | Right-handed only | See it |
| OXO Good Grips 3-piece | Beech | Three sizes, small to large | Spoon lengths not given | See it |
| Woodenhouse 10-piece | Teak | A full drawer of wooden tools | Only 2 of 10 are stirring spoons | See it |
Wood, finish and care details come from each Amazon listing on October 29, 2026. We have not tested these spoons ourselves.
Which wood is best for a wooden spoon?
The FDA's model Food Code, which states adopt for restaurants, mostly bars wood from surfaces that touch food. It makes an exception for hard maple or an equally hard, close-grained wood in cutting boards and some utensils. That is a fair test for a spoon too. Teak, olive, hard maple and beech all pass; acacia is common on budget sets; bamboo is a grass, not a wood. Our guide to wood in the kitchen compares them in detail.
Different woods, different grain. A tight, even grain is what you want in a spoon.
The best wooden spoons, by what you need
Best overall: a solid teak set
If your spoons are mostly plastic or nylon, a matched set is the fastest way to change that.
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Our quick pick
Woodenhouse 6-Piece Teak Spoons and Spatulas
Six pieces of solid teak, a dense, naturally oily wood that copes with water better than most, plus metal hooks for hanging them. On October 29, 2026 it carried Amazon's Choice, sat sixth in Amazon's Cooking Spoons best sellers, and was sold by Woodenhouse and shipped by Amazon. Care is hand wash and dry.
Good for: cooks replacing a drawer of plastic tools.
The drawback: The listing mentions only a “natural finish” and never says whether that means oil or lacquer, so you will not know whether it takes oil until it arrives.
See the Woodenhouse set on AmazonBest on a budget: plain beechwood
Three plain spoons cover most everyday stirring.
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Best value
BICB 3-Piece Beechwood Spoons, 12 in
Three 12-inch (30 cm) spoons in European beechwood. According to the listing there is no lacquer, plastic or glue, only the wood, which is what you want on a spoon that sits in hot sauce.
Good for: sourdough, batters, soups and everyday stirring.
The drawback: All three spoons are the same length with the same head, so you do not get a small one for jars or sauces.
See the BICB spoons on AmazonBest olive wood spoon
If you would rather own one good spoon than a set, olive wood is a fine choice.
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Olive wood
Eddingtons Italian Olive Wood Cooking Spoon, 12 in
One 12 in (30 cm) spoon in Italian olive wood, made in Europe according to the listing. It is one of only two picks here whose instructions tell you to oil it: hand wash, and coat it with mineral oil from time to time.
Good for: the spoon you reach for every night.
The drawback: It is one spoon, not a set, so you pay more per piece than with any set on this page.
See the olive wood spoon on AmazonWooden spoon shapes and sizes
Head shape decides what a spoon is good at.
| Head | Good at |
|---|---|
| Round bowl | Stirring soups and stews, tasting, scooping batter |
| Flat edge | Scraping the bottom of a pan, lifting browned bits, risotto |
| Corner (angled) | Reaching into the corners of a saute pan or saucepan |
| Long handle, 12 in (30 cm) or more | Deep stockpots and Dutch ovens, keeping your hand off the steam |
| Short, 8 to 10 in (20 to 25 cm) | Mixing bowls, jars, small saucepans |
Flat edge, round bowl, corner head and long handle. Pick the shape for the pans you own.
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For deep pots
HANSGO 3-Piece Long-Handle Wooden Spoons, 12 in
Three round-bowl spoons on 12 in (30 cm) handles, for stockpots and Dutch ovens where a short spoon leaves your knuckles in the steam. Each one is cut from a single piece of wood with no joins, the listing says. On October 29, 2026 it carried Amazon's Choice and sat third in the Cooking Spoons best sellers.
Good for: stews, chili, jam and anything in a deep pot.
The drawback: The material is given only as “wood”. The species is never named, so you cannot judge how hard or close-grained it is.
See the HANSGO spoons on Amazon
For pan corners
ICSTI Teak Corner Spoon (right hand)
A teak spoon with an angled head that gets into the corner where a sauce catches. The listing says no glue or lacquer, a coconut oil finish, and no dishwasher.
Good for: pan sauces, scrambled eggs, scraping up fond.
The drawback: It is shaped for the right hand. Left-handed cooks need the other version.
See the corner spoon on AmazonHow to oil a wooden spoon
The short answer
Wash the spoon and let it dry completely. Rub a thin coat of food-grade mineral oil into every surface with a soft cloth, along the grain. Leave it a few hours or overnight, then wipe off whatever has not soaked in. Do it again whenever the wood looks pale or feels dry.
- Start clean and dry. Let the spoon air-dry fully after washing, so you are not sealing water in.
- Use food-grade mineral oil. Earlywood, which makes wooden utensils, recommends it because it is food safe, has no smell and never goes rancid.
- Rub it in along the grain. A few drops on a soft cloth or paper towel. Cover the bowl, the edge and the whole handle, including the end.
- Give it time. A few hours works; overnight is better. Earlywood leaves its utensils overnight, and John Boos, the cutting-board maker, gives its boards the night too.
- Wipe off the excess. Buff the spoon with a dry cloth. It should feel smooth, not greasy.
- Repeat when it looks thirsty. Pale, chalky or rough wood is the sign. For a spoon in daily use that means every few weeks; Earlywood oils every five or six uses for a like-new look.
A few drops on a soft cloth is enough. Work along the grain and do not forget the handle.
What a dry spoon looks like next to an oiled one.
If the surface has gone fuzzy, that is the grain lifting after it got wet. Earlywood rubs it once with a very fine scouring pad, then oils it as above.
Which oil to use, and which to skip
| Oil | Use it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Food-grade mineral oil | Yes | No smell, does not go rancid. FDA rules allow white mineral oil that meets its food-grade specification in things that touch food (21 CFR 178.3620). On the bottle, look for “food grade” or “USP”. |
| Beeswax blend or board cream | Yes, on top | A wax-and-oil layer after oiling. John Boos sells one for boards; Jonathan's Spoons makes a spoon wax. |
| Coconut oil | Some makers do | Jonathan's Spoons lists it as an option, and our corner spoon pick comes finished with it. |
| Walnut, tung, raw linseed | Sources disagree | Drying oils that cure inside the wood. Fine Woodworking says walnut oil dries and will not go rancid; the University of Kentucky's board advice rules out all nut oils. If you try linseed, use raw, not boiled, which contains metal driers. Skip walnut oil if anyone at home has a nut allergy. |
| Olive, vegetable, canola | Skip | The University of Kentucky's Robinson Center warns they go rancid. Earlywood is softer: not ideal, but fine in a pinch for things you wash often. |
Oil finish or lacquer: what each listing says
| Pick | Finish, in the listing's words |
|---|---|
| ICSTI corner spoon | No glue or lacquer, coconut oil finish |
| OXO Good Grips | Natural oil finish (the oil is not named) |
| BICB beechwood | No lacquer, plastic or glue |
| Eddingtons olive wood | Not stated; tells you to oil it with mineral oil |
| Woodenhouse 6-piece | “Natural finish” only; oil or lacquer not stated |
| Woodenhouse 10-piece | “Superb finish” only; oil or lacquer not stated |
| HANSGO | Not stated |
A lacquered spoon looks glossy and will not take oil. If you are not sure what you own, our guide to wood in the kitchen shows how to check.
Two more for the table, and one we left out
- Woodenhouse 10-piece teak set. The same teak as our quick pick, with more pieces. Only two are general stirring spoons, a serving spoon and a mixing spoon; the rest are spatulas, a pasta server, a ladle, a skimmer, a seasoning spoon and a salad fork. Buy it to replace a whole drawer, not for spoons.
- OXO Good Grips 3-piece. Small, medium and large spoons, each one piece of beechwood that OXO describes as FSC-certified, with a natural oil finish. No lengths are given, so you cannot tell how far they reach until they arrive.
- Left out: Riveira dark bamboo 6-piece. It was the number one seller in Amazon's Cooking Spoons on October 29, 2026, but it is carbonized bamboo, not wood, and its review count is shared with Riveira's teak and maple versions on the same listing, so it says little about the bamboo set alone.
Questions people ask
Can wooden spoons go in the dishwasher?
No. Earlywood and Jonathan's Spoons, both wooden-utensil makers, say keep them out; Earlywood blames the long cycles and the hot drying. Several of our picks say hand wash only. Wash by hand in warm, soapy water and dry the spoon straight away.
Are wooden spoons safe?
Yes, when they are kept clean, dry and free of cracks. University of Wisconsin research found bacteria were harder to recover from clean wood than from plastic, though it tested cutting boards, not spoons. Our guide to wood in the kitchen covers the research in full.
Why do wooden spoons crack?
Water, mostly. A spoon left soaking swells, then shrinks as it dries, and the wood can split along the grain. Wash it quickly, dry it at once and keep it oiled.
What oil should I use on a wooden spoon, and how often?
Food-grade mineral oil, left on a few hours or overnight and then wiped off. Oil it whenever the wood looks pale or feels dry, which for a spoon in daily use is every few weeks. Avoid olive and vegetable oil, which can go rancid.
Are wooden spoons good for nonstick and cast iron pans?
Yes. Calphalon lists wooden utensils among the tools to use on its Classic nonstick and ceramic pans, and Le Creuset recommends wooden or silicone tools on enameled cast iron. Lodge says any utensil is fine on bare cast iron, wood included.
What are the downsides of wooden spoons?
They stain and can hold strong smells such as garlic or curry, they need oiling, they cannot go in the dishwasher, and the edge is too thick to slide under a fried egg. For that last job you want a thin turner.
When should you replace a wooden spoon?
When it has a deep crack, a groove you cannot clean, or a smell that will not wash out. The University of Wisconsin's extension service gives the same rule for cutting boards, because cracks and grooves are where bacteria hide (its advice).
What a spoon ready to retire looks like: a crack running into the bowl.
Choosing other tools? Our spatula guide matches spatulas to each pan maker's rules, and this guide to non-toxic cooking utensils covers silicone and nylon. The same oil works on boards: see our cutting board guide.
How we chose
On October 29, 2026 we pulled the best-selling wooden spoons from Amazon's US Cooking Spoons list and search results, read each listing for the wood, the finish, the pieces and the care rules, and checked rank, sellers and stock through Amazon's product data. We left out anything with a low rating, too few reviews to judge, or a material that is not wood. The care advice comes from wooden-utensil makers, a cutting-board maker, two universities and the FDA, listed below. We did not test these spoons ourselves, and no brand saw this page before it went up.
Sources (opened October 29, 2026). Product facts come from each Amazon listing on the same date.
- Earlywood: Caring for your Earlywood utensils
- Earlywood: The ultimate guide to wood utensil care
- Jonathan's Spoons: Spoon care
- Fine Woodworking: Food-safe finishes
- John Boos: Board care and maintenance (PDF)
- University of Kentucky Robinson Center: Cutting board care
- eCFR 21 CFR 178.3620: Mineral oil in articles that contact food
- FDA Food Code 2022
- Alaska Science Forum: Chopping block (the Wisconsin wood vs plastic research)
- UW-Madison Extension: How safe is your cutting board?
- Le Creuset: Care and use, cast iron
- Calphalon: Cookware use and care
- Lodge: Cast iron myths
Brand names on this page belong to their owners and are used only to identify products. Listings change; check the listing before you buy.
