Wooden bowls / wooden dishes from Swiss Pine

Wooden bowls made of Swiss pine in many sizes

What is the point of bowls and dishes made of Swiss pine?

Plastic or stainless steel bowls and dishes will do. But plastic is hygroscopic, it attracts dust. Stainless steel is cold and heavy. They are best suited for mixing dough. Wood, however, is much more pleasant to handle, comfortably warm for flour and people, lighter than stainless steel and, of course, like wholemeal flour itself. That is why wooden bowls are often used to collect the freshly ground wholemeal flour from the grain mill.

It's the wood that counts

There are light and heavier woods, open-pored and smooth woods, with drop-out knots and with tightly intergrown knots, strong and less strong "working" wood (warps easily and tends to crack), nice if it also smells good. The rustic Swiss pine, also called pine, pinel wood or Swiss pine, has all the positive characteristics for a wooden bowl.

It's best to make it from one piece

That is why wooden bowls made of Swiss Pine are turned from one piece. Often also made of lime with similar properties, but not as fragrant. Bowls made of other types of wood are only in small sizes (cereal bowls) made of one piece because they work too much (warp / deform more easily) and tend to crack more.

Various uses

Small Swiss pine bowls can be used well and good as cereal bowls, but also for other dishes such as salads etc.

The larger ones can serve as a collection bowl for flour, but equally well as a fruit bowl or bread basket.

You can wash them wet just like other vessels made of porcelain, stainless steel or plastic. The only thing they can't stand is the dishwasher with its corrosive detergents and salts. And you have to let them dry well ventilated from all sides to avoid mould.

When used frequently as a food dish, the finish becomes slightly bacon-y. If you don't like this, you can sand the wood with fine sandpaper (from grain size 120). This also reactivates the essential oils of the Swiss pine and the bowl smells like new again.