Wood Butter

Do you PIN?  I decided it was time to start making some of the items I've pinned to my boards.  This wood conditioner went on a board some time ago and I decided it was time to get busy.  You can see my result in the jars above.  It takes only two ingredients; mineral oil and beeswax. 

I use mineral oil to seal my soapstone counters and it's inexpensive and easy to find.  Look for it in the pharmacy section of your market/drugstore. I found beeswax locally at Jones Bees (a bee keepers supply store in my city) and they will ship to you, but if you can find a beekeeping store or a soap/candle making supplier nearby you'll save shipping costs.  One pound of beeswax cost $5.00 and I used 1/4 lb. (4 oz.) for the amount I made.  For $6.00, my batch produced 3-8 oz. jars of the butter; half the cost of the jar I purchased from Williams-Sonoma a while back.

Creative Culinary said she dedicated utensils to be used in making this wood conditioner, but I found that it was easy to clean out my glass measuring cups.  I simply wiped them clean with several paper towels while they were still warm and then washed them in soapy water and wiped them again.  Beeswax and mineral oil are both safe to ingest unlike soap/candle making ingredients so I felt good about re-using my containers.  I did use a disposable cake tin and plastic knife to mix the oil and wax together so there was hardly any mess to clean up.  I put paper towels under the jars (yes, I spilled a bit) but I used the paper towels to rub the spilled mixture on my spoon handles so I didn't waste any.  You could use a funnel to pour the conditioner into the jars, but I didn't bother.

 I conditioned this whole pile (every wooden utensil from three kitchen drawers) of wood using just the stuff that was on the outside of the jars and on the paper toweling.  Why waste it?  My utensils sucked the conditioner right up and they look great now.  When the spilled mixture was gone I used a clean cotton cloth to wipe the cake tin out and spread that on the handles.  Let the utensils dry for a few hours and then polish them again.  My hands are nice and soft, and as the butter smells faintly of honey, I got to enjoy the honey without the calories.  

This wood butter took very little time and I'll be making more jars to package up for gift giving (maybe Christmas?).  Be sure to label them as Wood Conditioner.  They smell like honey and though it wouldn't hurt anyone to eat it, You don't want a Kitchen Incident.

Wood Butter

(this mixture is food safe)

1-16 0z. jar of mineral oil

4 oz. of beeswax

Heat the oil and melt the beeswax in two separate containers set into a pot (or two small pots) of simmering water.  Do not let the water get into the oil and wax.

When the beeswax has melted, pour both the wax and the oil into the same bowl and mix them together.  Immediately pour the mixture into jars and let them cool.  (You can see that the butter starts to harden immediately.  Seal them with a lid.

Use on wooden utensil handles, spoons, and salad bowls. 

*This mixture is safe for use on food related items.