Inside: Learn how to clean a wood salad bowl with these easy tips. Clean, reseason, and remove the sticky buildup from your wooden salad bowl. They will look like new again!
Growing up we would go out for pizza every Friday night. We would get pizza, bread sticks, and my mom would often get a salad. I wasn't a big salad fan at the time but I always thought it was so cool that they served the salads in wood bowls. Still, to this day when I see a wooden bowl, I think of Noble Roman's Pizza.
I was so excited a couple of years ago when I got a set of wood salad bowls for Christmas. It came with a giant fork and spoon to serve the salad and is really fun to use. If you have a wood salad bowl set you will know the one downside to them is caring for them. Unlike a regular plate or bowl, you just can't put them in the dishwasher or even hand wash and let them drip dry. Wood salad bowls take a little extra care to keep them looking nice. Check out how to clean a wood salad bowl to keep your salad bowls free from sticky buildup and looking like new.
Most wood bowls today come pre-seasoned. You don't need to do anything special before you use them. When you are finished using them each time wash them out with a little dawn soap, water, and a sponge. The dawn soap will help clean off any of the oils in the salad dressing that may lead to buildup on the bowls. When you are done washing them rinse them in warm water and quickly dry. To avoid cracks never let the bowls sit and water and make sure you dry them by hand don't air dry.
Even with the best of care, your bowls may get some sticky buildup on them from oils and residue. To clean off any sticky residue you can heat the bowl up to loosen the sticky buildup. Heat your oven up to about 235-250 degrees. Then turn the oven off and set the bowl on a cookie sheet in the oven. The residue will start to loosen and you can wipe it away. Depending on how much residue you have it will take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to loosen it all up. Just keep checking on it and wiping away what you can.
Once you get all the residue from the wood bowl you can remove it from the oven and let it cool down.
To reseason or season the wood salad bowl you will want to apply a food grade mineral oil to it. Do not use an olive oil or vegetable oil. Those tend to go rancid over time and will make your bowls smell. Using a paper towel or old rag liberally apply the mineral oil to the bowl. Let the bowl sit for about 20-30 minutes so it can absorb the mineral oil and then wipe off any excess. Your bowls will now be ready to use again.
That's all there is to it. It's just that easy to clean and care for your wooden salad bowls. Keep them looking nice with these simple tips on how to clean a wood salad bowl.
Want some other cleaning tips? Check out some brilliant kitchen cleaning hacks that will save you time and money.
Leslie says
Good information, Julie. I've had a wooden salad bowl set for many years, but I didn't know the oven trick. Thanks!