Kitchen Hack: Use a Bench Scraper to Transfer Chopped Food

Source: Kitchen Hack: Use a Bench Scraper to Transfer Chopped Food

Unless you went to culinary school or are an amateur pizzaiolo, a bench scraper like this OXO version ($10) might not frequent your kitchen counter - yet! While traditionally, this dull-edged, rectangular piece of stainless steel is used to portion out bread dough and scrape off persnickety pieces of dried pastry dough from countertops, there's an even more practical way to implement this tool.

Bench scrapers are indispensable when it comes to streamlining kitchen prep; I use mine on a near-daily basis, to neatly transfer chopped vegetables, fruit, or meat from the cutting board to an awaiting pan. After prepping an ingredient, hold the dough scraper with the left hand, so the blade end touches the cutting board at a 30-degree angle. Slide the dough scraper across the board, sweeping the food onto the top in one fluid motion. Use your right hand to help brush any errant items onto the scraper. As you move to the stove, cage the scraper with your right hand, so that nothing slips out and falls to the ground. You might have to return for a few trips in order to gather and move all the contents, but it's a clean and quick method that works for everything, from finely minced garlic to large onion dices.


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