Cloths

Kitchen cloths. www.bmstores.co.uk / flickr / 2019 / CC BY 2.0

Cloths are used in almost every aspect of feeding us.

They have applications in many aspects of cultivation including covering plants while growing to protect from insects and too-direct sun, as well as covering equipment, etc. Baskets of harvested food may be covered in cloth to protect them during transportation. Oiled cloths were used to help protect preserved foods in storage.

We use cloths to clean kitchens before and after food preparation.

We use cloths for food preparation: cheese cloths to hold food together, jelly cloths to strain.

We use cloths to cook in. Puddings were cooked wrapped up in cloth long before pudding bowls came around. Bread is often covered in a cloth while rising.

We use cloths to wipe our hands; we wrap cloths in the form of aprons around our waists to keep our clothes clean while cooking.

Cloths are now made from a variety of materials in a variety of ways. Some are meant to be single-use and then discarded; others are meant to be used almost forever until sheer use wears them out and it’s just time for a new one.

From growing our food to storing it to cooking it to keeping our food preparation work areas sanitary, cloths have always played and continue to play a vital role in keeping us fed.

Types of cloths

Bread Couches

A bread couche is a bed made of stiff fabric for shaped bread dough to rise in. It is used for bread that is baked free-standing, not in pans. It helps the dough keep its shape while proofing and rising.

Butter Muslin

Butter muslin is a finely-woven unbleached cloth used as a cooking tool. Its original purpose was to drain butter. Cheesecloth is coarser.

Cheesecloth

Cheesecloth is a loosely-woven cotton cloth that is used to wrap cheese in. In the kitchen, it is used for straining and draining, and for making small spice bags.

Oshibori

Oshibori are the hot, damp cotton towels that are given to you before a meal on airlines, in Japanese restaurants, and in a few of the more expensive Chinese restaurants, etc. They are for washing your hands at the table.