Can You Put Toothpicks In The Oven: Things You Should Know About Toothpicks
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Over thirty billion toothpicks are produced and sold yearly worldwide. That tells you how important toothpicks are.
Toothpicks make it a breeze to prepare a wide range of dishes. You can use them to hold foods together, so they can retain their shapes before and after cooking.
Since you’re binding foods with toothpicks, they will surely end up in the oven. But most people are skeptical about doing this, given that toothpicks are made of wood. It’s easy to assume putting toothpicks in the oven could start a fire.
Now, here’s the tricky question.
Can you put toothpicks in the oven?
Yes, you can put toothpicks in the oven and cook your food safely. They won’t start a fire.
But let’s be clear on something here. The type of toothpick in use will determine if you need to worry or not. If it’s a wooden toothpick, you do not have to worry.
If you’re planning to use a toothpick with decorative elements, please abolish such a plan. It’s not safe in the oven. Why? The wood might be able to withstand the heat, but the decoration on it might not.
So, always remember that you can put a wooden toothpick in the oven. But the ones that come with attachments shouldn’t go near any heat source. You also cannot put plastic toothpicks in the oven.
Another thing to remember is to soak up the toothpicks before using them to bind your meats or foods together. This way, you’ll discover that the wood won’t dry up fast, and it won’t get burned.
Keep reading for more tips on toothpicks!
4 Ways You Can Use Toothpicks
Toothpicks have diverse uses most people might not know about. You can utilize them for cleaning your teeth, holding foods together, testing if your cake is done, and more.
Toothpicks are designed to clean the teeth. One or both sides are usually sharp and pointy to help remove food particles lodged between the teeth.
Furthermore, toothpicks are made from various materials. These include woods, plastics, bamboo, metals, and even bones.
Here are the numerous uses of toothpicks you should know.
#1: Serving hors d’oeuvres:
Toothpicks make grabbing and consuming these appetizers a breeze. They also make cooking them so easy.
#2: To eat different foods:
Eating with bare hands isn’t a good idea under certain scenarios. Your hands could get stained, you may not fancy washing them, or they could be dirty.
But with toothpicks, you can avoid all of these and consume your food. You can use toothpicks to eat seared tuna bites, cheese balls or meatballs, antipasto, cheese, meat, roll-ups, mini sandwiches, and others.
#3: Useful for consuming cocktails:
Cocktail toothpicks, also called cocktail sticks or cocktail skewers, are useful when drinking cocktails. You can use them to hold and fish olives or berries out from inside your glass.
#4: Testing cakes:
You can test your cake’s doneness using toothpicks. You can use any toothpick for this purpose, but the wooden ones are a better option.
A Handy Tip: Note that toothpicks can be extremely dangerous when swallowed. So, when using them to hold foods together, ensure they’re obvious.
What this implies is that the toothpicks holding the foods together have to extend out on both sides.
Is It Safe To Clean Your Teeth With Toothpicks?
Yes, it’s safe to clean your teeth with toothpicks. But you have to be extremely careful.
According to dental professionals, there’s nothing wrong with using a toothpick to remove leftover foods stuck in between your teeth. But only consider using toothpicks when you can’t find alternatives.
However, if there are no alternatives, use a toothpick to clean your teeth but be extremely careful. Why? Toothpicks can destroy your gum, giving room for infection.
Another reason to avoid rough or regular use of toothpicks is they can damage an existing dental work, such as veer or filling.
Have you also thought about the possibility of the toothpick breaking and getting stuck in between your teeth? It is possible. And while trying to remove the portion of the toothpick stuck in your teeth, you may damage your gums in the process.
A Handy Tip: Instead of toothpicks, you can use dental floss. It’s a good alternative for several reasons. One is that the floss can get to difficult places. Secondly, it will improve your oral health.
You would also not damage your gum and remove food particles from your teeth with ease.
Can You Put Toothpicks In The Air fryer?
Yes, you can use toothpicks to hold foods together and cook them in the air fryer. They won’t get burned but do their job of holding the food together perfectly.
As you already know, air fryers do circulate hot air around food particles. That’s how they work. So, there’s a chance some of the food particles might come off and start flying around. Thus, such foods might become uneven.
But you can make foods to retain their shapes throughout via the use of toothpicks. Your foods will always cook evenly in the air fryer, and you can turn them at will.
Examples of foods you can cook in the air fryer with toothpicks include shrimps, chicken breast, asparagus, etc.
Are Colored Toothpicks Unsafe For Food?
Colored toothpicks add some creativity to foods and can make your dining table more inviting.
But the big question is, are such toothpicks even safe to throw in the oven? Would the toothpicks’ color find its way into your food?
Well, yes, colored wooden toothpicks are safe to place in the oven. The colors used on such toothpicks are food-safe. So, it won’t leach into your food and become a health issue for you.
Being food-safe means the coloring or dye used on the toothpick will remain safe even when heated.
On the other hand, plastic toothpicks come in varied colors. And they have no business going into the oven. The plastic toothpicks will melt under heat, possibly making your food unsafe for consumption and starting a fire.
A Handy Tip: It is crucial to note the source of your colored toothpicks before using them. If you’re unsure, ask your supplier for clear details.
By the way, colored toothpicks are a bit pricey compared to the normal ones. And given that you may have to utilize many toothpicks when cooking for many persons, the normal ones are a better option.
Toothpicks Alternative For Cooking
You can run out of toothpicks when you least expect. It can happen to anyone. But then, not having toothpicks shouldn’t prevent you from cooking. In the absence of toothpicks, you can use other alternatives.
Now, what are the alternatives to toothpicks you can use for cooking foods that require toothpicks?
A simple alternative to toothpicks is dry spaghetti, the uncooked one. But avoid using angel hair spaghetti, as it’s too thin and brittle. Hence, it could break easily.
You can use dry spaghetti on boneless chicken breasts or other food items with ease. Just hold the foods together and gently thrust your dry spaghetti through them.
The good thing about using dry spaghetti is you can trim them on both sides after thrusting them through the food item. And you won’t even notice the spaghetti after cooking.
How To Find Out If Your Brownies Are Ready Without Toothpicks
The use of toothpicks is quite enormous. You can use them to check if your brownies or cakes are done to know when to turn off the heat source.
But then, what happens if you don’t have any toothpicks left to check your brownies? A simple alternative would be to use the thinnest blade around your kitchen.
If you have a knife set, you’ll notice that one is usually very tiny. Now, insert that blade into your brownie and ensure it lands in the middle.
Here’s how you determine if the cake is done or not. If you find crumbs on the blade when removed, you need to heat the cake for more minutes. If the blade comes out clean, you’re good to go.
Conclusion
Can you put toothpicks in the oven? Yes, you can, but have this in mind. Wooden toothpicks are safe in the oven. You can cook foods under any temperature, and the toothpicks won’t get burned.
Unfortunately, plastic toothpicks and those designed with decorative elements are not safe in the oven. We also mentioned that you could use colored toothpicks, as their dyes are food-safe.
But then, you have to be sure of the source of the toothpicks and ensure the dye used on them is food-safe. If you’re unsure, it’s better to avoid using such toothpicks.
