Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | May 15, 2004 08:36pm | #1

   There are lots of different woods you can use for food contact pieces. If you're in North America, the default choice is maple.

   FWW #35 and #83 had articles on dough bowls, if you have access to back issues.

   
   

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   Edited 5/15/2004 1:42 pm ET by Uncle Dunc

2. 
   joinerswork | May 16, 2004 04:44am | #2

   Barney,

   Here in Va, many old bowls and trays were poplar.  Light weight, soft and  relatively easily carved out with adze, scorp or gouge. Nutting's Furniture Treasury shows a number of burl bowls of various species (ash, elm, walnut), obviously that wood was chosen for its beauty and resistance to splitting, not because it was easy to work.  Also, Early American Wooden Ware, by Mary Earle Gould, shows several examples.  Any close grained wood will do. I'd avoid resinous woods that might impart their own flavor to the dough as it rises (pine, for instance).As has been suggested, maple would be a good choice, or cherry. Have fun,

   Ray

3. 
   301 | May 16, 2004 04:48am | #3

   I think you would find that the preference is usally related to the region of the country in which they were made.  Poplar is the first choice hear in East Tennessee.