Last week, inspired by chef David Tanis’s simple, sculptural wooden potato masher in his Lower East Side kitchen, I went down a bit of a wooden potato masher rabbit hole. Turns out, the one-piece, carved design is an old one, originating in the Victorian era and still used in Scotland (where it’s known as a “beetle”). A wooden masher looks stately on the counter, and would also be rather good for muddling citrus for cocktails, tamping down preserved and pickled foods in jars, and macerating berries. Here are five vintage wooden offerings we like on Etsy (more options here), plus one modern, part-wood option, just in time for holiday cooking.
Above: A charming Antique Irish Potato Masher was found in a shop in County Wexford and dates back to the 19th century; it’s available for $85 from Etsy seller Weston Table. Above: We like the imperfection of this Antique Primitive Rustic Wooden Masher and think it would look charming on a kitchen counter. It’s $10 from seller Milkweed Vintage Home. Above: An Antique 1800s Wood Pestle is $19 from Etsy shop Page Scrappers. Above: Etsy shop Unearthed Salvage sells a variety of vintage wooden mashers and pestles. This one, an Antique Wood Primitive Masher, is $17 and has a “time-worn finish.” Above: A Primitive French Potato Masher dating from the 1950s “bears the ravages of use and time”; $17.09 from Etsy shop Machinea Brocantes. Above: For a modern take, we like the Potato Masher with Wooden Handle, €15.95 ($18.81) from Berghoff. More in kitchen tools:
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