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Can we talk about how much bench scrapers have changed since I started baking in 2009?
I started working at a small bakery in Portland back in 2009, and the only bench knife in the shop was a heavy steel one with a wooden handle that had been worn smooth by about five different bakers before me. You had to grip it hard or it would slip when you were cutting cold butter into dough, and the blade would get sticky after two or three loaves no matter how much flour you threw at it. Last month I picked up a cheap plastic-handled one at a restaurant supply place for $6, mostly because my old one finally split at the rivet, and I was honestly surprised at how much lighter it felt in my hand during a 4 hour session of shaping sourdough. I know it sounds silly to get worked up over a piece of metal and plastic, but the weight difference really shows up around hour three when your wrist starts to ache. The new one also has measurement marks stamped on the blade, which my old one never had, and I have been using them more than I expected for cutting butter blocks evenly. I still miss the feel of that old wooden handle though, there was something about it that made the work feel less like a job. Has anyone else switched tools after years of using the same one and had a hard time admitting the new thing was actually better?
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dianawilson19d ago
A bench scraper is a bench scraper. You are talking about a $6 piece of metal with a handle. If your wrist hurts after three hours of shaping, the tool is not the problem, it is the three hours of shaping. Wood handles look nice but they crack and hold onto dough and bacteria, so the plastic one is probably doing you a favor even if it feels cheap.
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