Keep your stove cleaner and make your time in the kitchen less stressful with the wooden spoon on the pot trick! Here’s how to stop pots from boiling over.
This wooden spoon on the pot trick is an oldie but a goody. I’m sure a lot of people have already heard of this trick and maybe even use it on a regular basis. If you haven’t heard of this trick though, you’ve been missing out! This is one of those cooking tips that has been passed down from generation to generation because it actually works!
Here’s how it goes!
Start with a boiling pot of something on the stove. Especially something starchy like grains or pasta or potatoes. Something very prone to boiling over.
By the way, isn’t that just the worst sound ever? You know when you start something on the stove for dinner and then walk into the living room to tidy up and then suddenly you hear the starchy water splashing out and sizzling and burning onto your stove. The thought of that sound makes me shudder!
Luckily, we have a trick for dealing with that!
The Wooden Spoon on the Pot Trick Really Works!
Simply place a wooden spoon across the top of your boiling pot of something and go about your business! It works! The pot absolute won’t boil over!
Go ahead and try to make a pot with a wooden spoon over it boil over. Just go ahead and try. It can’t be done! 🙂
By the way, the stew in the pot in these pictures was a lentil and barley stew with apples and I think it was probably the best stew I’ve ever had. It’s so healthy and light and yet so filling and comfort food-y. Let me know if you think I should share the recipe for that! 🙂
Sadly, as you can see from these pictures, my stove does still get a little dirty, but nothing as catastrophic as what can happen with a boil over! If your stove does get really messy, here are my tips for doing a really good deep clean on a gas stove.
So that’s the wooden spoon on the pot trick! Have you been using this one for years or is this a new one to you?
Don’t forget to pin this idea for the next time you find yourself at risk of having a pot boil over!
MORE IDEAS LIKE THIS
- The Butter in the Glass Trick
- The Coin in the Freezer Trick
- The Lemon in the Jar Trick
- The Laundry Basket in the Trunk Trick
- The Creek Line House Homekeeping Tips and Tricks Archives
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.