Wait, How The Heck Do You *Actually* Use a Honey Dipper?
- Honey dippers are wooden tools that can help control the amount of honey dispensed, with grooves that hold the sweet substance.
Let's talk about honey dippers. You've probably seen the elegant, spiraled wooden wands sitting next to the honey jar , but how many of us really know how to use one? One viral TikTok from creator @goldenhivemead which has amassed 3.4 million views, got us wondering about this sweet kitchen tool .
To help us out of this sticky situation we tapped a honey expert to figure out exactly how to use a honey dipper. Prepare to elevate your honey game and banish sticky fingers for good.
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How to Use a Honey Dipper
Taylor West, chief marketing officer at Wedderspoon honey company, says that honey dippers can be terrific tools for controlling the amount of honey you dispense, whether it's in your tea or drizzled over your yogurt .
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"If you submerge the dipper in honey and turn the dipper, it will collect a substantial amount of honey. By turning the dipper, you can prevent the honey from falling while you move it around. Then, by holding the dipper still above toast or tea, the honey begins flowing again. Turning the dipper slowly or quickly will then control how much honey you deposit," he says.
The magic of a honey dipper lies in the grooves, which hold lots of the sweet stuff. "But those same ripples can require a bit of work to thoroughly get the dipper clean," West says. "That can also waste a lot of valuable honey...when you remember that it takes 12 honeybees their entire lifetime to produce a single teaspoon of honey, it makes you want to savor every last drop!" (Read on for his honey dipper cleaning tips.)
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Okay, But Can't You Just Use a Spoon?
West says that while it's alright to use a spoon in a pinch, there really is some magic in using a honey dipper.
"A wooden spoon is perhaps the best tool for dispensing honey," he said. "While most stainless steel utensils should be safe to use with honey, it's preferable to use wooden utensils to make sure that you protect both your spoon and your honey. Honey is slightly acidic and can react with some metals."
West also notes that you want to avoid metal dippers because prolonged exposure (if you store the dipper with the honey) can potentially oxidize the metal dipper and contaminate the honey.
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How to Clean Honey Dippers
Cleaning these honey dipping tools doesn't have to be a difficult task either, with one commenter brilliantly suggesting using it to stir a whiskey sour to make sure none of that sweet goodness goes to waste. West says honey dippers can be "a bit of a pain" to clean because over-washing wooden utensils can cause them to soften and weaken, so storing the dipper in a dedicated honey jar is best, so you don't have to clean in between uses.
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