How to make a vintage rolling pin food safe
May 29, 2012 5:17 AM Subscribe
I bought a lovely heavy vintage rolling pin from an estate sale today. It's pitted and quite dusty and was living in a sketchy teardown house for decades. How do I clean it to make it safe for touching food?
The owner said it was possibly maple, if that makes a difference.
The owner said it was possibly maple, if that makes a difference.
Boiling hot water, plenty of soap. Then lemon oil the living shit out of it.
posted by timsteil at 6:08 AM on May 29, 2012
posted by timsteil at 6:08 AM on May 29, 2012
Response by poster: "Pitted" is probably too strong a word. It has a few nicks and gouges that look like knife marks.
posted by Lieber Frau at 7:27 AM on May 29, 2012
posted by Lieber Frau at 7:27 AM on May 29, 2012
Best answer: Avoid extremely hot water, long soaks, and the dishwasher. These will damage the wood.
Use tap-hot water and dishsoap and a scrubbing pad and clean it well. Use a toothbrush or fruit cleaner to get into any nicks. Rub it dry. See how it looks once dry. Smell it. If it smells okay and there's no visible rot or grossness, go over it lightly with some 200 grit sandpaper to take down any raised fibers from the scrubbing, then dust it with a slightly damp cloth, let it dry again, then season it with your choice of food-safe oil finishes and put it to work.
If it smells nasty after cleaning, then choose: turn it into decor, or restore it. To turn it into decor, let it dry for several days, then shellac it, which will seal in everything. To restore it, work with medium sandpaper to remove the outer layers of grossness, then once you get down to clean wood use finer and finer sandpaper to get to a smooth surface then food-safe oil.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:52 AM on May 29, 2012 [3 favorites]
Use tap-hot water and dishsoap and a scrubbing pad and clean it well. Use a toothbrush or fruit cleaner to get into any nicks. Rub it dry. See how it looks once dry. Smell it. If it smells okay and there's no visible rot or grossness, go over it lightly with some 200 grit sandpaper to take down any raised fibers from the scrubbing, then dust it with a slightly damp cloth, let it dry again, then season it with your choice of food-safe oil finishes and put it to work.
If it smells nasty after cleaning, then choose: turn it into decor, or restore it. To turn it into decor, let it dry for several days, then shellac it, which will seal in everything. To restore it, work with medium sandpaper to remove the outer layers of grossness, then once you get down to clean wood use finer and finer sandpaper to get to a smooth surface then food-safe oil.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:52 AM on May 29, 2012 [3 favorites]
Sand it back and then protect it with food safe oil.
posted by wwax at 8:07 AM on May 29, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by wwax at 8:07 AM on May 29, 2012 [1 favorite]
My four-step process for reclaiming old secondhand wooden kitchen implements:
1. Scrub thoroughly with a paste made from lemon juice and coarse salt. This will lift any old stickiness. Rinse.
2. Make a thick paste with baking soda and a little water. Smear heavily onto wood and leave it to sit for half an hour or so. This will pull out any nasty smells embedded in the wood. Rinse again.
3. Make up a bleach solution (I usually do about 1 tablespoon of bleach to 5 tablespoons of water) and soak the wood in it for a minute. Rinse really really well. I know bleach near food-making items isn't ideal but just the first time you get something and want to make sure it's not covered in Ebola I think the trade off is worth it.
4. Let dry completely. Condition the wood in whatever way you like - food grade mineral oil, beeswax, whatever you usually use.
All done! This is the routine I use on things like chopping boards I get from garage sales and so on.
Typing from my phone, please forgive any typos.
posted by DSime at 1:39 AM on May 30, 2012
1. Scrub thoroughly with a paste made from lemon juice and coarse salt. This will lift any old stickiness. Rinse.
2. Make a thick paste with baking soda and a little water. Smear heavily onto wood and leave it to sit for half an hour or so. This will pull out any nasty smells embedded in the wood. Rinse again.
3. Make up a bleach solution (I usually do about 1 tablespoon of bleach to 5 tablespoons of water) and soak the wood in it for a minute. Rinse really really well. I know bleach near food-making items isn't ideal but just the first time you get something and want to make sure it's not covered in Ebola I think the trade off is worth it.
4. Let dry completely. Condition the wood in whatever way you like - food grade mineral oil, beeswax, whatever you usually use.
All done! This is the routine I use on things like chopping boards I get from garage sales and so on.
Typing from my phone, please forgive any typos.
posted by DSime at 1:39 AM on May 30, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jon1270 at 5:42 AM on May 29, 2012