Why Every Kitchen Needs a Bench Scraper

I firmly believe in having the right tools for the job, but I’m not one for cluttering my kitchen with every fancy, expensive gadget out there. However, there’s one affordable, unflashy tool that I truly believe will make your kitchen work easier, safer, and more efficient: the bench scraper.

Simple in design, a bench scraper is just a flat metal blade attached to a handle, often made of wood. It might look unimpressive at first, but trust me, it's an essential tool that you’ll wonder how you ever lived without.

What is a Bench Scraper?

True to its name, a bench scraper is perfect for cleaning your countertop or cutting board. (The 'bench' in its title refers to the workbenches bakers used for centuries to prepare dough.) When handling sticky dough, the bench scraper makes it much easier to lift, fold, and work with.

The advantage is that you’ll need less flour, as dough sticks less to the scraper than it does to your warm hands. This helps preserve the dough’s hydration (the balance of water to flour), giving you that perfect texture and airy structure that we all love in artisanal bread.

Ways to Use a Bench Scraper

Dividing

One of the most common uses for a bench scraper is to divide dough. Whether you’re cutting dough into halves, thirds, or even twelfths for rolls, the scraper makes this process easier and more precise than a knife. Plus, it gives you perfectly clean cuts.

Transferring Ingredients

One of the worst habits for your knives is scraping them across your cutting board. Every time you chop onions, garlic, or any of the other ingredients you handle daily, and then use your sharp knife to scrape them into your bowl or pan, you quickly damage the blade's edge.

The larger surface area of a bench scraper, compared to a knife, allows you to move more ingredients at once, making the process faster and more efficient.

After kneading, cutting your dough, or easily transferring chopped ingredients, you can also use your bench scraper to clean your board or counter, effortlessly sweeping up scraps and moving them into the compost or trash without any risk to your knives.

Cleaning

Here’s one final tip that rounds out the reasons to keep a bench scraper in your kitchen: when using the 'dump and sweep' method for measuring ingredients like flour and sugar, the sweeping part is key.

Nothing clears a surface as efficiently and thoroughly as a bench scraper.

A bench scraper is truly essential. Your knives will stay sharper, and your homemade bread will have the perfect crust. Plus, your knife will be in top shape to slice through that loaf, all while keeping your fingers safe.