# Where/how do you accumulate spoons?



## veronporter (May 9, 2011)

I've recently started working in fine dining for the first time in my checkered career. Previous to this I've spent 5+ years working in more rustic kind of restaurants. In these places, tongs were the end all-be all utensil. Needless to say, it's a little weird going from tongs welded in right hand/side towel in left to working exclusively with spoons/fish spat's.

My main question is where do you guys score your plating/saucing spoons and what do you look for? Perhaps more importantly, I need a great spoon for quenelling Ice cream. I can make perfect quenelles with the right spoon but I struggle if I don't have a nice, deep, lengthy spoon. I usually borrow the sous-chefs quenelle spoon but he isn't always there. I'd also feel better about having my own gear. So what/where should I look at? Thanks.


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## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

I agree that quenelling ice cream needs just the right shaped spoon.  I like one with a nice bowl and a slightly elongated tip.  I have bought many spoons at Good Will for 10 cents each, just for general purposes, but my favorite quenelle spoon I actually bought at World Market.


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## twyst (Jan 22, 2012)

The "industry standard" (ie very good but overpriced) is the gray kunz sauce spoon, and the smaller version is very good as well.

http://www.jbprince.com/utensils/sauce-spoon-original.asp

http://www.jbprince.com/utensils/sauce-spoon-small.asp


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## coup-de-feu (Aug 4, 2010)

For quenelles, espeshlly icecream quenelles, I like to use thick, solid, heavy king spoons that are either plated in silver, or solid silver. Silver holds heat long enough for you to shape the icecream and is nonreactive with foods and could use it with cavair and such. They make smaller than tea spoons out of silver for making quenelles. I spent half an hour looking for this stuff on the French pages and the cheapest king spoon set I could find was 80 euros, the only caviar spoon I found was that was not mother of pearl (never seen mother of pearl spoons shaped for qunelles) was 310 euros! Sauce spoons are not too hard to find, can even use mini ladels. IMO just about any spoon that's around can work for saucing / decorating a plate.

http://www.everythingkitchens.com/rsvp-mini-ladle-set-m-ladl.html

The links Twyst posted are probably your best bet for a heavy king spoon, unless / untill you get lucky at the thrift shops.


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## chefinator (Dec 10, 2012)

Coup-de-Feu said:


> For quenelles, espeshlly icecream quenelles, I like to use thick, solid, heavy king spoons that are either plated in silver, or solid silver. Silver holds heat long enough for you to shape the icecream and is nonreactive with foods and could use it with cavair and such. They make smaller than tea spoons out of silver for making quenelles. I spent half an hour looking for this stuff on the French pages and the cheapest king spoon set I could find was 80 euros, the only caviar spoon I found was that was not mother of pearl (never seen mother of pearl spoons shaped for qunelles) was 310 euros! Sauce spoons are not too hard to find, can even use mini ladels. IMO just about any spoon that's around can work for saucing / decorating a plate.
> 
> http://www.everythingkitchens.com/rsvp-mini-ladle-set-m-ladl.html
> 
> The links Twyst posted are probably your best bet for a heavy king spoon, unless / untill you get lucky at the thrift shops.


Just purchased my first silver spoon from an antique shop. It was the perfect shape for a quenelle spoon, deep, long handle, and a very nice point. Only problem is I brought it home to test it out and the ice cream and sorbets seem to stick to the spoon when I go to slide it off. I never had this problem with any of my silver plated spoons. Can't figure it out. Only thing I could think of was that this spoon is really old and lots of tarnish or patina on it, doesn't feel as smooth as my newer/polished spoons. Was wondering if that could be the problem?


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## veronporter (May 9, 2011)

Are you rubbing the bottom of the spoon in circles on your palm before you release the rocher? It helps a lot.


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## alaminute (Aug 22, 2013)

A couple years later veron, what did you end up going with? This thread is right down my alley apparently, the only spoons in my bag that aren't silver are the kunz sauce spoons. I was even fortunate enough to inherit a couple sets of antique goldware from my mom after a soured relationship she had. My wife hated them and sold it but not before I cannibalized a full set of large spoons and sauce spoons to sit idly in a le crueset bane marie.


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## chefinator (Dec 10, 2012)

veronporter said:


> Are you rubbing the bottom of the spoon in circles on your palm before you release the rocher? It helps a lot.


Yeah, normally I only have to do it a few times. Now I do it like crazy and still doesn't come off smooth. I'm trying to get it to slide off but it just doesn't with this spoon. I've never had this problem before.


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## notswedishchef (Oct 24, 2013)

Kunz is the standard...Richmond (available from Chef Knives to Go) is a lighter weight copy. 

JB Prince offers all the standard options....slant tip, perforated..etc.

I have them stashed in my roll as I bought 250 large and 250 small spoons for plating purposes for the restaurant.  No more worry about cross contamination, hot water/ sanitzer bath..etc.  Every station has a bain of each size and the guys taste and dish it.


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## veronporter (May 9, 2011)

I was just diligent and patient with thrift stores/ebay/etc and ended up with a good amount of antique spoons; really nothing better for a rocher of ice cream. I was also gifted a couple great silver spoons along the way. I keep a couple of the larger kunz spoons only for basting but I use the antique spoons for everything else.


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## chefinator (Dec 10, 2012)

NotSwedishChef said:


> Kunz is the standard...Richmond (available from Chef Knives to Go) is a lighter weight copy.
> 
> JB Prince offers all the standard options....slant tip, perforated..etc.
> 
> I have them stashed in my roll as I bought 250 large and 250 small spoons for plating purposes for the restaurant. No more worry about cross contamination, hot water/ sanitzer bath..etc. Every station has a bain of each size and the guys taste and dish it.


Might have to try them, they don't look the normal shape I prefer and always see people talking about them. Just have to figure this out, I cannot let this spoon go to waste. Spent 25 bucks on it and it's the best shaped spoon I've seen.


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## passthegravy (Jan 9, 2014)

Dip the base of the spoon (once you've scooped) in warm water and wipe off the excess before plating, the ice cream should slip right off.

(forgot to quote, this is in reply to having difficulty getting ice cream off a spoon)


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