Review Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 
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- Set of 2 tongs for use while cooking or serving at the table
- Made of burnished bamboo, a renewable resource
- Stronger than wood; will not swell or absorb moisture
- Dishwasher-safe; hand washing recommended
- Large tongs measure 13-1/4 by 1-1/8 inches; small tongs measure 11-3/4 by 5/8 inches
See more technical details
"May Gift" 2010-06-10
By PMD (Pelham, NH USA)
This was a gift for my daughter's boyfriend and I was told that they were great. He especially liked the tongs for taking the toast our of the toaster. He never knew they made something like this. He was very glad I purchased this for him.
"made with good quality bamboo, but a bit pricey when compared to competition" 2010-04-14
By fatmav
This is actually two tongs of different sizes, with a smaller one that can be nested inside the larger one if you want to store them. They are both made of good quality bamboo (no large blemish on mine) and the edges and surfaces are all nicely smoothed. Overall I am happy with these tongs and have been using them in my kitchen. I wouldn't use them on spaghetti since they offer little control on the grip strength and may break the spaghetti, but for fried chicken they are superb and free me from the thought of chemical melting due to high oil temperature.
I must note that I received them through the generous Vine program and so I didn't pay for them. In this regard I find them a tad expensive at the time of this writing when compared to another bamboo tong that I got from a very large supermarket at quite a bit less than half the price of this set of two. This makes it difficult for me to recommend this set, even though I still think it is a five-star item in terms of quality.
"Great quality! Great on NonStick." 2010-03-18
By Kevin Barmish (Seattle)
These tongs are great for cooking. I especially love using them on my non-stick wok (Great for flipping shrimp!)! They are also great for reaching into the toaster without burning your hands. These tongs also look quite nice and work well as a serving tool as well! I always handwash them- so I cannot speak to the durability after any number of dishwasher cycles.
"Beautiful but not practical" 2010-03-08
By Zack Davisson (Seattle, WA, USA)
In most cases I am all about the bamboo. Every since getting my first Totally Bamboo Kauai Cutting Board and changing over my wooden spoons to bamboo, I have been on the lookout for things in my kitchen I can replace with bamboo.
Not only is it ecologically friendly, I find bamboo to be beautiful and just as useful as any other wood. (although bamboo is technically a grass and not a wood). Some of those expensive olive wood spoons look fantastic but you can buy a full set of equally-beautiful bamboo spoons for the same price.
Unfortunately, while bamboo might replace other woods, apparently it doesn't replace metal. Because these "Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2" just don't work very well as a set of kitchen tongs.
You get two tongs in this set, one wider and flatter and the other longer and narrower. The tongs are fairly stiff, being a flexible wood rather than being hinged. There is no lock function, and it does take a bit of effort to manipulate them and keep them closed. As expected, they look absolutely beautiful, but are just not useful enough.
Because of the stiff action, I had trouble using the tongs to navigate more delicate items. They were fine for gripping something solid, like flipping a steak, but I had a more difficult time picking up my deep-frying tofu and keeping it intact. Anything that can be mushed will be mushed by these tongs.
Cleaning them is also a pain. The "griping" action is achieved by a series of grooves on the bottom of the tongs, but anything grooved gets packed with food pretty quickly when cooking. Not only does this reduce their ability to grab food while cooking, I had to take a knife to the grooves in order to clean them out. I have since heard that a vegetable brush could do the trick, and that sounds useful, but still an extra cleaning step I don't really want to take.
For non-stick pans or places where you don't want to scratch with metal tongs, these might serve as a viable replacement. But there is no way they will become the primary tongs in your kitchen allowing you to toss the other ones out.
"Lovely tongs" 2010-03-08
By Aderyn (Small-Town Michigan, USA)
I really like these tongs. Between the pair, they are long enough to handle pretty much any tong task, yet manageable enough to be used deftly. I think they would do fine in the dishwasher, as I have bamboo cooking spoons that I wash that way regularly, but as suggested, I put them in with my hand-wash dishes to make sure they stay nice. Because they are so attractive, I have used them only for salads, veggie trays, and other table-service tasks at this point (I have metal tongs to use for cooking), but they are very well finished, smooth and with nicely rounded edges, and I think they would do fine with hot foods and cooking, as well. They do not open as widely as my metal tongs, a potential drawback but not one I will downgrade them for, as they are not designed to do so (it would be kind of like downgrading a paring knife because it wasn't as big as a chef's knife). Like many who enjoy cooking, I love nice kitchen gadgets, and these are a very welcome addition to my utensil drawer.
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Review Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2
Buy Cheap Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 From Here Now! Readmore Technical Details
- Set of 2 tongs for use while cooking or serving at the table
- Made of burnished bamboo, a renewable resource
- Stronger than wood; will not swell or absorb moisture
- Dishwasher-safe; hand washing recommended
- Large tongs measure 13-1/4 by 1-1/8 inches; small tongs measure 11-3/4 by 5/8 inches
See more technical details
"made with good quality bamboo, but a bit pricey when compared to competition" 2010-04-14
By fatmav
This is actually two tongs of different sizes, with a smaller one that can be nested inside the larger one if you want to store them. They are both made of good quality bamboo (no large blemish on mine) and the edges and surfaces are all nicely smoothed. Overall I am happy with these tongs and have been using them in my kitchen. I wouldn't use them on spaghetti since they offer little control on the grip strength and may break the spaghetti, but for fried chicken they are superb and free me from the thought of chemical melting due to high oil temperature.
I must note that I received them through the generous Vine program and so I didn't pay for them. In this regard I find them a tad expensive at the time of this writing when compared to another bamboo tong that I got from a very large supermarket at quite a bit less than half the price of this set of two. This makes it difficult for me to recommend this set, even though I still think it is a five-star item in terms of quality.
"Great quality! Great on NonStick." 2010-03-18
By Kevin Barmish (Seattle)
These tongs are great for cooking. I especially love using them on my non-stick wok (Great for flipping shrimp!)! They are also great for reaching into the toaster without burning your hands. These tongs also look quite nice and work well as a serving tool as well! I always handwash them- so I cannot speak to the durability after any number of dishwasher cycles.
"Beautiful but not practical" 2010-03-08
By Zack Davisson (Seattle, WA, USA)
In most cases I am all about the bamboo. Every since getting my first Totally Bamboo Kauai Cutting Board and changing over my wooden spoons to bamboo, I have been on the lookout for things in my kitchen I can replace with bamboo.
Not only is it ecologically friendly, I find bamboo to be beautiful and just as useful as any other wood. (although bamboo is technically a grass and not a wood). Some of those expensive olive wood spoons look fantastic but you can buy a full set of equally-beautiful bamboo spoons for the same price.
Unfortunately, while bamboo might replace other woods, apparently it doesn't replace metal. Because these "Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2" just don't work very well as a set of kitchen tongs.
You get two tongs in this set, one wider and flatter and the other longer and narrower. The tongs are fairly stiff, being a flexible wood rather than being hinged. There is no lock function, and it does take a bit of effort to manipulate them and keep them closed. As expected, they look absolutely beautiful, but are just not useful enough.
Because of the stiff action, I had trouble using the tongs to navigate more delicate items. They were fine for gripping something solid, like flipping a steak, but I had a more difficult time picking up my deep-frying tofu and keeping it intact. Anything that can be mushed will be mushed by these tongs.
Cleaning them is also a pain. The "griping" action is achieved by a series of grooves on the bottom of the tongs, but anything grooved gets packed with food pretty quickly when cooking. Not only does this reduce their ability to grab food while cooking, I had to take a knife to the grooves in order to clean them out. I have since heard that a vegetable brush could do the trick, and that sounds useful, but still an extra cleaning step I don't really want to take.
For non-stick pans or places where you don't want to scratch with metal tongs, these might serve as a viable replacement. But there is no way they will become the primary tongs in your kitchen allowing you to toss the other ones out.
"Lovely tongs" 2010-03-08
By Aderyn (Small-Town Michigan, USA)
I really like these tongs. Between the pair, they are long enough to handle pretty much any tong task, yet manageable enough to be used deftly. I think they would do fine in the dishwasher, as I have bamboo cooking spoons that I wash that way regularly, but as suggested, I put them in with my hand-wash dishes to make sure they stay nice. Because they are so attractive, I have used them only for salads, veggie trays, and other table-service tasks at this point (I have metal tongs to use for cooking), but they are very well finished, smooth and with nicely rounded edges, and I think they would do fine with hot foods and cooking, as well. They do not open as widely as my metal tongs, a potential drawback but not one I will downgrade them for, as they are not designed to do so (it would be kind of like downgrading a paring knife because it wasn't as big as a chef's knife). Like many who enjoy cooking, I love nice kitchen gadgets, and these are a very welcome addition to my utensil drawer.
"Lovely, but less useful than I anticipated" 2010-02-28
By Julia Rietmulder-Stone (Harrisburg, PA)
As other reviewers have noted, these tongs are beautiful. Unfortunately, I haven't found them as useful as others have, due to their stiffness/narrowness and difficulty cleaning the little ridges at the ends.
I'm trying to reduce the amount of plastic in my kitchen, and I thought these would quickly become a staple for using with my non-stick and enameled pans that could be damaged by metal. They've now been in my kitchen for about a month, but haven't caught on in the way I thought they would.
The first use I found for the large set was while braising short ribs in an enameled pot. They were *almost* perfect, but because they weren't quite wide enough to fit all the way around the meat, part of the meat ended up falling off the bone. Boded well for dinner, but not for presentation. :-) Some of the browned meat also got stuck in the grooves, and was difficult to get out. Another reviewer suggests a vegetable brush, which I think sounds like a good idea, and I'll try that next time. The next use was for serving kale out of a non-stick pan. Even the large tongs are capable of serving up modest amounts at a time, though, and were too thick to get the last bits out (maybe because of the rounded edges?).
Since those initial two uses, I've probably reached for them a handful of times or so, and every time I've felt like they were *close* but just not quite the right tool for the job. Tom Douglas has two recommended uses for them: serving bread and serving dumplings. Well, we usually serve bread with our hands, and I don't know the last time I made dumplings. I can easily see, though, that they'd work well for those purposes, so if that's what you're looking for, this is a beautiful and very attractively priced set. Otherwise, they might have a place in your kitchen, but they aren't quite a perfect solution.
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Cheap Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Low Price Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Best Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Order Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Good Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Lowest Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Save Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Discount Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Purchase Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Shop Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Buying Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 | Where Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2
Review Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2
Buy Cheap Tom Douglas by Pinzon Bamboo Tongs, Set of 2 From Here Now! Readmore Technical Details
- Set of 2 tongs for use while cooking or serving at the table
- Made of burnished bamboo, a renewable resource
- Stronger than wood; will not swell or absorb moisture
- Dishwasher-safe; hand washing recommended
- Large tongs measure 13-1/4 by 1-1/8 inches; small tongs measure 11-3/4 by 5/8 inches
See more technical details
"multi uses for bamboo tongs" 2010-02-10
By Ed (Surprise, AZ United States)
I have lots of kitchen utensils like most cooks do...mostly metal or Teflon, except for the wooden spoons! I counted my different tongs - 4 metal, 1 small bamboo for toast. (Not counting the BBQ!) My collection should be complete now with the addition of the very nice Tom Douglas Pinzon, set of two tongs! I really like the feel and weight of the bamboo, and am happy that they stay cool when working with hot food. They wash up easily with soap and water. The large one will probably be used more for stir-frying, turning meats, and veggies, etc. The small one can be used for more delicate items such as shrimp, or smaller bits of food. I have found that the wooden tongs work very well to pull out the small rack in my toaster oven in order to remove a casserole, etc. (always have a problem separating the two with bulky pot holders or oven mitts). The only downside was the large tongs do not open as fully as I would like - hence the 4 stars.
"Satisfying look and feel, multiple uses" 2010-02-02
By Diane Kistner (Georgia)
I've fallen in love with bamboo. While I don't think I'll put these tongs in the dishwasher, I probably could based on my experience with the Joyce Chen 3-Piece Burnished Bamboo Stir-Fry Set (my first bamboo utensils that I don't think I could live without now). Given that bamboo can be used with non-stick pans you'd normally have to protect, I can use these for cooking as well as for their intended use as tongs.
The large tongs are especially nice for wok cooking. They are also good as salad tongs (although they will frustrate the impatient and greedy because they don't open very wide). For serving shredded steamed cabbage and other cooked greens, they are better than a slotted spoon, IMO. The smaller tongs are great for removing toast from a toaster or toaster oven (no more burning my hands on that darned oven), for fishing out olives or artichoke hearts from a jar, or to remove/squeeze a tea bag--although you should probably not try to use them for anything oily if you use them for tea.
So far, I've just been rinsing the tongs off under hot water and allowing them to air dry, and that's working well. Then I just stick them into my utensil crock where they are always at hand. They also nest, with the smaller tongs inside of the larger ones, so they fit nicely, flat, in a drawer if that's where you want to keep them.
"Not so great for pasta" 2010-01-28
By FatOrangeTabby (Lansing, MI)
This set is lovely. The wood is nice and smooth and the tongs seem very well made. I would agree with most of the other reviewers that you would not want to put these in the dishwasher. I can see myself using the larger tongs more often then the smaller tongs. The larger ones are perfect for salads and turning meats and seafood. They are easy to clean unless you use them to serve pasta, which I mistakingly did. The pasta got stuck in the grooves on the ends and was kind of hard to remove, and I ended up waiting for it to dry and picking it out with a knife. Great for more solid foods, not so great for soft, stickier foods. For this reason I can't see them replacing my stainless steel.
"Beautiful and practical kitchen tools" 2010-01-28
By S. Harrison (Clements, CA United States)
These bamboo tongs are beautiful, nicely finished and absolutely smooth to the touch. They have the right amount of give - it doesn't take too much pressure to pinch the sides together. The gap between the sides is just about perfect for cooking. The large tongs might work for a salad, but I don't think they really are designed for that purpose.
I checked them out closely for any rough edges, and the only roughness to be found is in the scored areas on the inside surfaces. Obviously, that area needs to be rough in order to get a good grip on the food. All other surfaces and edges are smooth as silk.
I also really like the fact that bamboo tongs will not transfer heat like metal tongs do.
After checking these tongs out carefully, I was not hesitant to use them when cooking a shrimp and veggie stir-fry in a non-stick pan. Even very small pieces of food are easily picked up and turned over with these tongs. Whether you want to use the large tongs or the small tongs for cooking stir-fry probably would be a matter of individual choice.
I found that the small tongs worked great for taking food out of a bamboo steamer, and the big tongs were absolutely perfect for serving up spaghetti. (Good! Now I don't need to buy a new nylon spaghetti server!) Just for fun, I also tried picking up individual rice krispies, and there was no problem doing so with either the large or the small tongs.
Food did not stick to the tongs, and they washed up easily by hand. I don't think I'd want to put them in the dishwasher. Whether the non-stick quality will persist is another matter. The product description does not say anything about keeping the tongs oiled to maintain water resistance.
Bamboo is extremely dense, and I don't think that there should be problem with food contaminating the wood as long as the utensil is thoroughly washed promptly in hot soapy water.
I very pleased with these tongs!
Update: After using the tongs for a few more meals, I did notice that some softer food gets stuck in the grooves on the tongs. I solved that problem by washing them with a vegetable brush with a few drops of dish detergent on the bristles. The tongs have to be washed anyway, using the vegetable brush is not inconvenient, so my overall assessment of the product has not changed.
"Two are Better Than One" 2010-01-27
By M. Hill (Colorado)
This handsome set of bamboo tongs is part of the Tom Douglas Pinzon collection of kitchenware. I am particularly taken with the smaller tongs and recently used them to fish a tortelloni out of boiling water to test for doneness. The bamboo does not conduct heat like my metal tongs which should make this set perfect for hot applications. I will definitely be using this set with my carbon steel wok where the use of metal utensils may scrape off the hard-earned pan seasoning. They are also attractive enough to be used as serving pieces on a buffet table.
Although the item description states they may be washed in the dishwasher, I'd like to maintain their appearance as long as possible, so I'll be washing them by hand with a liquid dish detergent that cuts grease well - there are many brands.
A useful yet inexpensive gift for any cook, the bamboo tong set is packaged in its own long sturdy brown box -- perfect for wrapping -- and no one will guess what's inside.
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