On 05 May 2005 06:55:00 GMT, "Peter.QLD" <a@b.c> wrote:
[color=blue]
>"mark thomas" <marycoy4@execyulinky.comy> wrote in
>news:kOqdnSnTCsJjB-TfRVn-tw@golden.net:
>[color=green]
>> Stupid question but...
>>
>> Why do the instructions say to use a plastic stirring spoon
>> instead of a wooden one? Does it really matter?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> --
>> MT
>>[/color]
>Wood is a lot more porous (however you spell that) and could have lots
>of bacteria etc. lurking where you can't wash them off. If you're
>stirring boiling wort it probably doesn't matter.
>
>peter[/color]

Hi

I remember reading somewhere some time ago that in cooking, wooden
chopping boards are more hygienic than plastic. Trying to confirm
this, I found the following article taken from "The New York Times"
regarding tests carried out by the University of Wisconsin's Food
Research Institute.

Quote:-

"The scientists, Dean O.Cliver and Nese O. Ak, stumbled upon the
finding while seeking ways to decontaminate wooden boards and make
them as "safe" as plastic. Much to their surprise, they found that
when boards were purposely contaminated with organisms like
Salmonella, Listeria and E.coli that are common causes of food
poisoning, 99.9 percent of the bacteria died off within three minutes
on the wooden boards, while none died on the plastic ones.

When contaminated boards were left unwashed overnight at room
temperature, bacterial count, increased on the plastic, but none of
the organisms could be recovered from the wooden boards the next
morning.

The researchers tested boards made from seven different species of
trees and four types of plastic and found similar results: wood was
safer than plastic, regardless of the materials used. Thus far,
however, the researchers have been unable to isolate the agents in
wood that make it so inhospitable to bacteria."



OK, we are talking wooden chopping boards used in cookery here NOT
wooden spoons used for brewing, but presumably the same thing holds
good.

Regards



KGB