Care of Arbutus Wood Utensils: which oil to use that is food safe?

by Holly
(Kamloops, B.C.)

I love my new kitchen utensils made of beautiful arbutus wood. They are very special and are most useful for stirring mixtures in a pan, scooping up some rice or spreading garlic butter on buns. I have washed them by hand and dried them carefully. Can you please tell me what kind of oil is best to rub into the wood to enrich the wood and keep it from drying out.

Thank you.

Holly Adkins,
Kamloops

--------------

Hi Holly,

Thanks for the great question!
I use walnut oil because it is a drying oil. Put it on and let dry overnight. You can also use mineral oil (stomach section of pharmacies) which is cheaper than walnut oil (find in any health food store). But I use walnut oil on all my products because it is a non-synthetic oil.

Both are food safe oils.

You can also use the oil on all your wood cutting boards except meat chopping blocks which are best left without any oil finish.

Arbutus Ron