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Replacing forks and chopsticks with pincers
- 1MachineElf 4y agoI and the folks of chinese-descent in my family prefer wooden chopsticks over steel ones because of the better grip wood texture provides, so perhaps pincers are the future, but not the metal ones OP has. Wood might be more sustainable, too.
- ummonk 4y agoI think these pincers are textured to provide grip
- Jolter 4y agoWood is only more sustainable than metal if the wooden utensil is multiple-use.
- thrill 4y agoThere's also the energy of production.
- googlryas 4y agoIs that true? Metal chopsticks take much more energy to produce and ship than wooden ones, and need to be cleaned with soap, water, and energy after every use, compared to disposable wooden ones which could theoretically just be thrown in a hole on your garden. I wonder what the break even point is for reusable metal vs disposable wooden ones is? 10 uses? 1000? and if metal chopsticks actually make it to that stage before being retired/lost/broke. Not that merely environmental impact is the only question, I'm just curious if this analysis has ever been done.
- a9h74j 4y agoRelated: I once saw it claimed that wooden cutting boards had better-than-expected antiseptic properties (better than with plastic IIRC), despite knife marks providing locations to harbor debris.
- Jolter 4y agoPlastic also gets knife marks. I think the difference is the plastic goes in the dishwasher. But you’re right, I also read that news piece about wood being slightly antiseptic.
- googlryas 4y agoI don't know if it's just a folk theory, but I've also heard that using end grain for the surface of a cutting board is better than the surface being across the grain which is more common and natural. When you cut across the grain, there's no natural action to seal the cut, but when you cut end grain, the natural swelling of the fibers from moisture closes the gap in a sense.
- idbehold 4y agoI hate forks as much as the next person (compared to spoons and knives, forks are far worse at performing their primary job), but I'm not sure about these pincers. For one thing they look more difficult to clean (stuff would get stuck at the base).
- philote 4y agoBut forks can scoop, poke, and cut. I'd rather the versatility than multiple task-specific utensils.
- idbehold 4y agoSure, but if you also had a spoon and knife then the fork is really just trying to compete with the knife at cutting and the spoon at scooping. It loses both of those competitions and is relegated to being a poker. The fork is a jack of all trades and a master of none.
- oneeyedpigeon 4y agoDidn't you just define a superior use case for each of the three utensils? Why does the fork lose? I can't really think of any meal where a knife on its own is useful. If I could only pick one to eat all my meals with, I think the fork would be most useful.
- nkrisc 4y agoInteresting. If I had to pick one utensil to eat with in a domestic setting (of the typical Western three) it would be a fork. In a more general or survival setting I’d choose a knife.
- ghaff 4y agoIn a domestic setting, I'd argue a spoon is quite a bit more versatile especially in the context of scooping liquids. Anything you can poke and lift with a fork you can probably scoop and lift with a spoon instead. A fork is arguably most useful in conjunction with a knife because it's generally easier to hold foods for cutting with a fork than with a spoon.
- rockostrich 4y agoKitchen tweezers are more expensive and less durable to make than forks and chopsticks so I doubt this will ever happen.
- nomel 4y agoJust as with chopsticks, this only works if the food contains the cultural knowledge that it will be manipulating with two points of contact, or food will be tossed/shoveled from the plate/bowl held in close proximity to the mouth. Forks allow scooping! Perhaps a pincer where one tine has a semicircle, allowing it to be used as a spoon, when pinched? Regardless, surely the future of food is hallucinogenic flavor crystals, matching your desired flavor, texture, smell, and atmosphere!
- idbehold 4y ago>Forks allow scooping! Forks are awful at scooping! They're about as effective at scooping as a butter knife. Everything just falls off the sides. I admit the pincers also stink at scooping, but I just hate forks.
- codesnik 4y agowell, you can scoop green peas with fork with no trouble, for example. I'm sure there're asian people who can do it efficiently with chopsticks, of course, but I just can't imagine, how.
- mbg721 4y ago"I eat my peas with honey. I've done it all my life. It makes them taste quite funny, but it keeps them on my knife."
- WastingMyTime89 4y agoPeas are easy to eat with chopsticks. They are large and squishy. You can pick them a couple at a time. It actually goes quite fast if you are used to it. It’s easier than picking up the last few grains of rice from a bowl something people do all the time.
- pwinnski 4y agoForks aren't great at scooping. My Asian family members require only chopsticks and a spoon (large) to eat anything, and spoons are much better for scooping.
- SapporoChris 4y agoI have not tried pincers so keep that in mind. I appreciate that they are easier to use, however the economics come to play. Chopsticks, the disposable ones, the ones presented to most diners are incredibly cheap to make about 2 cents. Some diners prefer disposable cutlery for perceived sanitary reasons. So these pincers need to beat the economy of Chopsticks and consumer uptake.
- wongarsu 4y agoI wonder if disposable pincers made from cheap wood are viable? Obviously, they would have a more complex shape than chopsticks, making them a bit more expensive. But maybe still cheap enough that the economics could work out if somebody figures out the marketing.
- SapporoChris 4y agognicholas in another comment mentioned this. The pincers can only pick up items in a narrow range. Chopsticks are much more versatile. The limited range of motion is a drawback that exceeds the ease of use benefit.
- grahamplace 4y agoInstead of designing an entirely new disposable wood form, I wonder if you could just make an attachment like "Chopstick Helpers"[1] that worked with existing disposable chopsticks but had action more akin to pincers. That being said, I'm definitely still in the "might as well just use chopsticks then" camp [1] https://www.amazon.com/Inteliventor-6-FUNCHOP-Chopstick-Helpers/dp/B002IFNZYI https://www.amazon.com/Inteliventor-6-FUNCHOP-Chopstick-Help...
- noja 4y agoSingle prong pincers would not let me hold my food in position while cutting, it would need more than one tine on each side.
- gnicholas 4y ago> They make it so much easier to eat anything from sushi to chicken wings I don't see how one would pick up a sushi roll with the pictured pincers. It looks like their default opening is not large enough.
- bobthepanda 4y agoAlso, with sufficient experience, you can actually eat chicken wings, and many other foods with chopsticks. The only case in which chopsticks don’t work so well is where food is slippery.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- shostack 4y agoOr liquid.
- isitmadeofglass 4y agoYou just need hollow chopsticks
- purpleflame1257 4y agoThis is why in Korean cuisine the default dining set is spoon+chopsticks.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- adhesive_wombat 4y agoChicken wings are much easier to easy with chopsticks then with Western cutlery and avoid the awful sticky fingers issue entirely. Even more so for pig trotters and chicken feet which otherwise make your hands aggressively sticky due to the collagen.
- 4y ago
- yongjik 4y ago> The pincers have a good grip, are easy to manoeuvre and are the right size and weight. They make it so much easier to eat anything from sushi to chicken wings. Oh dear god, I'm both horrified and intrigued ... but mostly horrified ...
- andrewflnr 4y agoWhen you get past the horror, you may realize that chopsticks (or indeed pincers, I suppose) are a great way to eat all kinds of things you might normally eat with your fingers. It's nice to keep your fingers clean, sometimes. ;)
- crooked-v 4y agoEating Cheetos with chopsticks is an invention that, sadly, the West is too backwards to yet value. I'm sure by the time we get to the Star Trek era chopsticks will be the standard cutlery when replicating up some cheese puffs, though.
- andrewflnr 4y agoHaha, yep, Cheetos are exactly where I started, after seeing someone else in my office do it.
- ummonk 4y agoStill not as convenient as eating with your hands like we Indians do.
- moate 4y agoSouth Asia and Africa using starches/hands to eat is the biggest brain move.
- nkozyra 4y ago> They make it so much easier to eat anything from sushi to chicken wings. Easier than ... using your hand?
- 0xbadcafebee 4y agoIs this a parody? "Developer finds new tool -> is amazed -> thinks this is the future of X -> turns out it's not very useful outside one or two cases"
- taylodl 4y agoSadly, no. Developers do this all the time. They set out to "change the world" without first understanding why the world is the way it is in the first place. Their going-in assumption is things are the way they are because everybody else isn't nearly as smart as them and just can't figure it out. Developer delivers solution - it falls flat on its face. Some people respond to this repeated experience by learning to ask questions to better understand why things are the way they are and eventually those people may come to develop truly revolutionary technology. Others just become serial entrepreneurs.
- ynniv 4y agoThese are basically training chopsticks. If you find yourself using them a lot, you'll find it easier and more satisfying to use actual chopsticks. Chopsticks are cheap, easy to clean, versatile, able to be made from materials like bamboo, and more elegant than pincers. You can't make rudimentary scissors out of pincers, and those points look too narrow to hold anything heavy. The only problem with chopsticks is that they're harder to use, but if you use them regularly you'll be able to pick up heavy items using polished metal chopsticks in no time. https://marcosticks.org/best-learning-chopsticks/ https://marcosticks.org/best-learning-chopsticks/
- Jolter 4y agoDisposable utensils is very 20th Century. I know there are multiple use chopsticks but I’ve yet to run across such in a bar or other informal cuisine setting.
- skyyler 4y agoMetal chopsticks are pretty common in Korea.
- jefftk 4y agoDisposable chopsticks are both ridiculously cheap and not much worse than reusable ones (compared to how bad plastic forks are). So the crossover where we switch from disposable to reusable as a bar/restaurant gets nicer is in a different place with chopsticks vs forks.
- ynniv 4y agoDisposable chopsticks are a bit of soft wood or bamboo. Your processed and bleached napkin probably has a higher environmental impact. Compare that to a plastic fork, or even a metal fork that accidentally ends up in the trash. That said, most people have re-usable ones at home. Metal ones can be tricky, but easily last a decade or more. Bamboo ones are also common. Both are dishwasher safe.
- Jolter 4y ago
- mikestew 4y agoI'm just simple boy from the Midwest who learned to eat his steak and potatoes with a fork and knife, as $DEITY intended, and even I learned to use chopsticks well enough that I don't see what the pictured tool buys me. I understand that some have hand mobility issues, but the pictured solution reminds me of the chopsticks with a rubber band that my Asian immigrant neighbors used for their kids. Take my titanium chopsticks from my cold, dead hands!
- cocacola1 4y ago$DEITY may have been Satan. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/ten-surprising-facts-about-everyday-household-objects-180974566/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/ten-surprising-fac...
- nathias 4y agomaybe it would be even easier with an adjustable crescent wrench and pliers?
- a9h74j 4y agoAn electician, an electronics engineer, and a plumber walk into a sushi bar ...
- nayuki 4y agoI find eating western-style salads to be easier with chopsticks than with a fork.
- pwinnski 4y agoTell me you're bad at using chopsticks by praising training chopsticks.
- derefr 4y agoOther kitchen utensils you might not have considered using when plating and/or at the table: • Small silicone tongs (e.g. https://www.amazon.ca/Fuyamp-Kitchen-Cooking-Silicone-Grilling/dp/B07ZP4HGL1/ https://www.amazon.ca/Fuyamp-Kitchen-Cooking-Silicone-Grilli...) — great for "family-style" service of oily spaghetti, salads, etc. Much better grip on saucy foods than laquered wooden "salad hands." No need to wind pasta around anything; just pick it up. Works much better than a spoon/ladle for breaking up a mound of sticky sweet-and-sour pork — you're pulling and twisting, rather than pushing. • Kitchen shears — some foods (e.g. Korean short ribs) that are extremely annoying to slice/saw the meat off the bone of with a steak knife, can be scissored through with ease. Also work great for cutting open crab legs. • Handheld cheese wire slicer (e.g. https://www.amazon.ca/Cheese-Slicer-Stainless-Steel-Cutter/dp/B09HPWMGNV/ https://www.amazon.ca/Cheese-Slicer-Stainless-Steel-Cutter/d... — don't bother with the ones with a little roller in them for "depth of cut adjustment", it'll just get gummed up) — rather than pre-slicing your cheese for charcuterie snacking (and having it all dry out), you can just bring the block to the table and slice it as you need it. • A mini-sized silicone spatula (e.g. https://www.amazon.ca/HLMY-Silicone-Resistant-Baking-Essential-Gadget-21CM/dp/B074L6X25M/ https://www.amazon.ca/HLMY-Silicone-Resistant-Baking-Essenti...)... for spreading butter on toast. Yes, really. I just figured this one out yesterday, since I already had the spatula on hand from making eggs, and figured I may-as-well try. It works better than any butter knife I ever used; even the fancy wide-bladed "spreading knives." Much less butter left stuck to the utensil in the end. And it makes sense — buttering toast isn't all that different than icing a cake.
- crooked-v 4y agoWhy bother with the silicone tongs? Just get some plain Winco nine- and sixteen-inch tongs. They'll last forever in a home kitchen and you can use them with temperatures that would ruin the silicone cover.
- nkurz 4y agoYou would use the silicone tongs to avoid scratching your delicate non-stick pan. And since they are temperature safe up to 480F, you are not that likely to ruin them with heat unless you are doing something silly. Personally, I use kitchen-supply-story tongs like you suggest, but these might serve a niche.
- ugh123 4y agoI think the issue will be that not all pincers (and other similar kitchen utensils) are not all made the same. Some are much harder to squeeze than others. Some don't open as wide, so I may not be able to get it around a large chunk of sushi. With chopsticks I have neither of these problems (although chopsticks do vary in other ways).
- httpz 4y agoThis reads like a Jr engineer's argument on why some text editor is better than vim after only learning a couple vim commands. Pincers have a lower learning curve but chopsticks are so much more versatile if you're skilled with it. Here's when chopsticks are more useful than pincers. * Grabbing something wide like a large meatball. * Slicing soft food like tofu. * Separating bones in a chicken wing. * Eating noodles (you have to go in wide, close, keep parallel)
- irusensei 4y agoHow do I quit chopsticks? (sorry it had to be made)
- ynniv 4y agoChopsticks are non-modal. Like emacs.
- Hello71 4y agoafter reading a reddit thread a few months ago about why forks are better than chopsticks, I realized that food and the utensils used to eat it are actually highly culturally intertwined. for example, a key argument in favor of forks was that fork and knife is vastly superior to chopstick and knife when eating steak. Asian cultures simply don't have this issue, because they don't eat steak, because they don't (historically) have huge pastures for free cattle grazing. in Asian cuisine, meat is served pre-cut, not in large chunks for the diner to cut themselves. therefore, Asians don't have the problem of cutting steak at the table. similarly, Americans rarely eat soft tofu; although tofu is gaining popularity in the US, mainstream grocery stores and restaurants selling tofu tend to sell firm tofu, probably mainly because it's closer to meat in texture. firm tofu is usually served pre-cut, for various reasons including that firm tofu is usually served with stronger and more uniform flavoring. therefore, Americans don't need to cut their soft tofu at the table. chopsticks are also useful for taking individual bites out of a shared plate without disturbing the remaining contents. consider taking one bite of a shared salad using a fork: it's impossible to do so without either slightly crushing the remainder of the salad, which is impolite, or using the fork as a spoon, which is highly inefficient (salad falls off easily). Americans don't have this problem because they generally take a large portion of salad using a spoon or tongs, then use the fork to take bites from their own plate where it's acceptable to slightly crush the salad.
- Animats 4y agoPincer-type serving utensils are common and useful. Salad bars use them. They seldom make it to the table, though.
- Tade0 4y agoYears ago on our first anniversary I took my SO to a sushi place as she'd never been to one. The waiter told us that outside the regular cutlery they offer a middle option for those who want the chopstick experience without the hassle. I opted for that and the guy fashioned a set of picers from chopsticks and rubber bands on the spot. Guy looked like he did that every day.
- pipeline_peak 4y agoBetween sticks with prongs, sticks with mouth shaped bowls, and sticks with sticks, unless culinary art sees major advancements I think we’ve got it covered for the next 1000 years lol. Of course according to the Onion, Yum Corp will being dumping Taco Bell nacho grande chees-oid solution into our troughs. ;^P
- granshaw 4y agoEating Panda Express style Chinese food with rice and a couple of stir frys? Try putting it in a plate, and use a fork and spoon to eat. Fork pushes components+rice into spoon, spoon goes into mouth. No more stuff falling off like when only a fork is used. Fork also used to stab when needed and spoon used to slice when needed. Thank me later
- tracker1 4y agoThe spork will not be challenged!
- jehb 4y agoSince so many of the comments here are about chopsticks, I'm curious what folks think the proportion of people in western countries who can use chopsticks is? I assume it follows roughly the introduction of Asian foods into the locales where people live? I learned in my late teens; prior to that, there was really only one Asian restaurant around where I grew up, and it was more of a buffet-style Chinese restaurant where most of the entries were variations on General Tso's chicken or other Americanized menu items. My parents did acquire a taste for Asian cuisine, but never learned to use chopsticks. But we also have relatives of a similar age who literally have never tried Asian food at all, and I'm assuming have also never tried to use a pair of chopsticks.
- LesZedCB 4y agomy guess is proficiency is 30%.
- tornadron 4y agoreminds me of the snactiv's from sharktank: https://snactiv.com https://snactiv.com :)
- djmips 4y agoFood tweezers.
- aaron695 4y ago
- Grothendank 4y agoI have summarized this comment section in a meme that I titled "Chop-Cels be seething over Pincer-Chads." Url: https://imgur.com/a/dxgI1Mx https://imgur.com/a/dxgI1Mx Of course, this is needless. Pincers don't threaten chopsticks, nor will they replace them. Pincers are an opportunity to learn to stuff the face in a new way. If I get pincers, I anticipate they will be fun to learn, and I will gain unique food handling skills with them, like I did with chopsticks, forks, knives, and other food tools.
- ajmurmann 4y agoThese are actually plating tweezers. When I visited a lot of modern restaurants in Spain about ten years ago, these were pretty common to appear at three table for a course or two. So these have been around for a while now and haven't spread much outside the kitchen. I have some of these, but rarely use them to eat. In a regular kitchen these are really great for stuff like getting pickles or anchovies out of a jar
- madelyn 4y agoI'd actually quite like these. I have fairly poor manual dexterity (I struggle to use a spoon sometimes!) due to tremors. Chopsticks are really, really hard to use for me, and "trainers" make them about on par with a fork or spoon for my situation. A solid piece of metal would be easier to clean.
- agiacalone 4y agoI've consider myself fairly proficient with chopsticks, but this got me thinking: would reverse pincers be an improvement? Ones that have a spring to hold closed, versus holding open. My one beef with chopsticks is that it requires somewhat more holding strength to retain something between the two ends than a fork.
- NathanielK 4y agoSo food grade needle-nose pliers?
- yellowapple 4y agoWith these pincers you lose multiple degrees of freedom v. chopsticks, and while those degrees of freedom make chopsticks harder in some respects, they also allow chopsticks to grip large and irregularly-shaped items with which pincers would have a much more difficult time.
- animal531 4y agoTo me the difference comes in with the knife, not the fork. In the west we get for example large pieces of meat/veg that you need to cut yourself, vs for example in Korea where everything once prepared is already made into bite sized pieces.