Wacky Kitchen Utensils

Some kitchen utensils look like medieval torture devices, while others seem frivolous and silly. We’ve rounded up some funny utensils that once made their way into the kitchen in the hopes of making eating and serving easier.

Dessert
Have you ever heard of a cake breaker? If you’re taking online pastry courses you may have actually used this handy tool! It looks like a very big metal comb and is used to cut delicate egg-white cakes like angel food cakes without squishing them like a regular knife.

Before the ice scream scoop there was the ice cream slicer. Akin to an ornately handled butter knife with a larger and equally blunt blade, this utensil could actually be useful today if you are a fan of ice cream cakes. The thin metal blade would be perfect for slicing through the layers of chocolate, vanilla and that crunchy chocolate crumble that we all know is the best part. Dip it in warm water for a few moments before using and you’ll have an even easier time cutting through the frozen cake.

When bon bons were popular during the 1880s, they were a sticky mess if touched by hand. Instead, someone invented the bon bon scoop, an ornately decorated spoon that would save people looking for a sweet treat from getting their fingers all chocolatey.

The original spork is actually an ice cream fork. These spoons with three tines were created to prevent your everyday household spoons from bending backwards from the force used to scoop up the frozen dessert. We can see how these would be useful when eating or serving a particularly frozen batch of ice cream.

Breakfast
Butter used to be kept in large tubs and served shaved into little curls or balls for presentation’s sake. A butter pick was invented to carefully transfer those tiny servings without damaging their delicate shapes. Also available are butter curlers. They look like a serrated knife that has been bent into a circular shape with a handle. If you’re looking to get fancy with your butter, this is the gadget for you.

For the writer in your life, check out the keyboard waffle maker. According to This Old House, designer Chris Dimino had an old typewriter and a keyboard and made the two into a waffle maker that creates keyboard-shaped waffles. No mice needed.

Have you ever had a hard time getting bacon to stay on a fork when serving it? Try a bacon fork! According to Elle Decor, this utensil has eight or so tines to better grab the bacon with. The fork did not catch on with many people so there were never many manufactured. It was a good idea, people just didn’t think it was that helpful.

Lunch or Dinner
Some people shy away from eating chicken wings or ribs because they don’t like their fingers slathered in barbecue sauce. According to Bon Appetit, that is why trongs were invented. This tool looks and acts much like a staple remover. You grasp it with your thumb and index and pointer fingers and then use it to hold onto that messy chicken wing.