10 Uses for Tongs

There are lots of different tongs out there, from light plastic ones to heavy metal and rubber ones. We have a few different kinds of tongs - a small bamboo set, a plastic set, and a heavy metal set.

10 Uses for Tongs

1. Turn a dish without removing it from the oven. Because the tongs have a long handle, you don't have to pull the dish the whole way out of the heat. It will cook more quickly, and you won't burn your fingers.
2. Toss a salad.
3. Bake potatoes. Wrap the potatoes in foil and cook them directly on the oven's rack. Use tongs to pull the hot potatoes from the oven without burning your hands. Using an oven mitt is unwieldy and leads quickly to dropped potatoes, so the tongs are perfect for this one.
4. Remove corn on the cob from boiling water. There's no easier way to remove large items from a pot of boiling water than tongs. Lobster, corn cobs, boiled potatoes, boil-in bags, and more. Pull them right out of the water with tongs.
5. Toss a stir fry. Obviously, this will only work with heavy duty metal tongs, but you can use them in place of a spatula, making it easy to toss the veggies right in the stir fry pan.
6. Turn meat in a pan or on the grill. Did you know that spearing food with a fork allows the juices to run out, leading to dried out burgers or chicken breasts? Using a spatula is a good way to drop them. Tongs allow you to get a good grip on the food without losing any of the juices.
7. Pull toast out of the toaster. Take the hot toast from the toaster to a plate. No more burned fingers!
8. Let little ones eat Chinese food. When everyone else is using chop sticks, give the kids a pair of small tongs. They won't feel left out, but won't get as frustrated with tongs as they would with chopsticks.
9. Extend your reach. Can get to the top shelf of your spice cabinet without a step ladder? Use tongs to reach the jar you're stretching for.
10. Play with them! Allie at No Time for Flashcards has posted all sorts of ideas for playing with tongs and tweezers. My favorites are the sensory tubs.

When I was writing this post, Joe chimed in with "Tell them to use tongs to pick up the dead rodents their cats drag in during the night."

I'm thinking he's done that before.

I shudder to think of it. I hope there was bleach involved afterward.

What do you use your tongs for?

Please don't say you pick up rodents with them. That totally grossed me out.

Have you seen the rest of this series?