All Hail the Bench Scraper
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 4:00AM 
If you’re a cooking newbie, chances are you don’t own a bench scraper. Perhaps you’ve never even heard of such a thing, and unless you’re a closet baker, why would you have? The simple, but highly utilitarian tool was conceived by and for pastry chefs, who use the thin metal blade to cleanly portion bread dough, gently lift the edges of a sticking pie crust and scrape up the pesky scraps from their kneading surface. For these functions alone, I would highly recommend the $8 investment to any budding baker.
But take into account the everyday culinary tasks for which my compact little bench scraper has become indispensable, and it soars up the list of kitchen must-haves.
Top 5 Uses for a Bench Scraper (intended and otherwise)
#1. Scooper: Once you’ve chopped up that onion, how do you get it into the pan? By hauling the entire cutting board to the stove and hoping the pieces all land in the pot? Or by gathering the onion into a pile with the edge of your knife, dulling its blade, then precariously transferring batches of onion on the knife’s flat side, hemorrhaging pieces along the way? The transfer of cut-up ingredients is one of the most routine cooking tasks revolutionized by the use of a bench scraper. Cupfuls of sliced stuff can be easily shoveled onto its surface and transported across the kitchen with no great feat of balance. Also excellent for sweeping scraps into the garbage.
#2. Cutting Perfect Squares: I can never get brownies to come out in nice, even squares when I use a knife; bench scraper to the rescue! First, block out your cutting lines by lightly indenting the surface of the brownies with the scraper, keeping it parallel to one edge of the pan. Adjust any slanted lines, then cut along them by pressing straight down with the bench scraper. You’ll get even, clean-cut brownies with none of those crumby, jagged edges left in a knife’s wake. Also great for lasagna, fudge, cornbread or any bar cookies.
#3. Portioning Pizza Dough: or biscuit dough, or cinnamon buns or…you get the gist. Most often I find myself using a bench scraper to evenly divide pizza dough. The wide surface makes it perfect for bisecting a 1-pound ball in a single motion and even better for cutting into sixths for individual pizzas.
#4. Stuck-on Sides: From baked goods to meatloaf, it can be a nightmare trying to separate your beautiful creation from the sides of its baking dish. The thin, deep bench scraper is ideal for loosening stuck-on edges.
#5. Measuring: Most bench scrapers serve double duty as rulers; perfect to have handy when a recipe calls for 1/4-inch slices or 1-inch balls.
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