Review: Ikea RORT Spoon

Buying wooden spoons turned out to be harder than I thought. I was relying on one really old and small spoon that someone else bought for years. It held up very well. When I found wooden spoons for sale at Ikea for $2 a pop, I thought, why not? I got one, it didn't completely impress me. A couple months or so later, I decided to spend about $4 on another one at a different store. That one was unusable because it looked like it had been covered with lacquer. Something about throwing lacquer into a boiling pot of water with food that didn't sit well with me. Anyway, I ended up buying two more RORT spoons recently and learned to appreciate them.

Ikea RORT Wooden Spoons

Configuration
x1 - Ikea RORT Spoon, flat edge: US$ 1.79 (CA$ 1.99)
x1 - Ikea RORT Spoon, round edge: US$ 1.79 (CA$ 1.99)

Video
Quick Look: Ikea RORT Spoons

Assembly
Does taking the sticker off count?

Because taking the stickers off took 5-10 minutes a piece and another 10 minutes to scrub off the glue residue that remained. I had a meltdown trying to remove the sticker from the first RORT I got a while back. It didn't come off cleanly and required a lot of picking with my nails. That experience prepared me for the two this time around. The first one took about ten minutes to pick, the second one came off quicker and in one piece. One perk was that the adhesive appeared to come off with soap and water -- hope I got it all.

Funny thing, the spoon that I bought at a different store had a tag attached with a plastic cord to the hook-hole in the handle. That was easy to remove. The manufacturer also decided to put a small sticker on the back with the country of manufacture. It came off in one piece but left a ton of residue. I had to scrub that thing down for 10 minutes and it still didn't seem to come off completely.

Stability
The spoon doesn't run off by itself?

Expandability / Customizability
Buy more RORT spoons? They came in three flavors when I was at the store: fork, flat-edged spoon, and round-edged spoon.

Ikea RORT Wooden Spoon, well used, small crack on tip

How was it?
I've used one RORT spoon for at least a month, probably a few -- can't remember. The other two haven't seen much use yet. What can I say about the oldest one? It has worked fine so far for stirring and scooping. I've made an effort not to leave it in the pot if I'm not holding onto it (i.e. don't let it sit in pot to cook while I'm doing something else).

The older RORT hasn't been oiled or treated once after purchase. That may explain why a small crack developed on the edge of the spoon. It's only about half a centimeter long right now. Another appears to be developing along the body of the handle. They've been washed with soap and warm water regularly. Hoping that they last at least a year but at CA$ 2 each, I won't get too upset if they disintegrate.

What bugged me about the first spoon that led me to buy a different branded one was its finish. I found the spoon to be on the rougher side, like it could have used a bit more sanding. It didn't seem to have any surface treatment, and the RORT felt and looked like bare wood to me -- Ikea.ca website only mentioned "Solid beech, Oil." Then I bought a spoon that looked great and felt really smooth, but it turned out to be lacquered -- didn't realize this until I took it home, washed it, and threw out the tag and receipt. The lack of finish turned into a buying perk for the RORT.

Conclusion
They've worked so far. What I thought was a bad thing concerning finish turned out to be a good thing. As long as they hold up for a year or more, I'd be happy with them at CA$ 2 each.


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