What kind of wood to make a lefse stick? (big home, move)

[kuan]

Sorry but I cannot find the info anywhere. Can anyone answer please?

[TravisW]

Most of the ones I've seen were pine.

[kuan]

Thank you. Can I go to home depot and get some and make one then or do I need some special wood?

[TravisW]

Just use pine. For the most part, everything in Norway is made of pine, birch, or oak. The secret is in the cook and the potatoes, not the stick.

[kuan]

Yep I have plenty of practice already. Been going over to my neighbor's for lefse in the morning. Thanks. I just didn't want to get poisoned by the wood that's all.

[stilltyping]

The best stick my Mom would use was the wood you find in a window shade...you know the stick in the old-fashioned roll down white shades....She would whittle the end to make a thin rounded point...it was perfect for lefse

[Doug H]

I have made good Lefse sticks out of alder and birch. I agree that a nice smooth pine would be fine and probably traditional. Ash is a nice wood for wooden kitchen utensils. Basically what you want is a fine grained wood that does not tend to splinter or crack. Fir tends to be splintery - particularly the wide grained Douglas Fir that is commonly available.

You could make it out of almost any wood, although you should avoid woods like Oak and Mahogany that have open pores. I personally like a hardwood that takes a nice natural polish - like birch or beech.

If you are shopping at a big home improvement store, your most economical choice would be their 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch "whitewood" (which might be pine, white fir or spruce). You can get 8 feet of this for about $2. Pick one that is very fine grained and feels smooth when you run your hand along it. You will have to rip it down to about 1/4 inch or so on a table saw or band saw and smooth it with a plane or sanding block to the tapered shape you want. One of these is enough to make lots of Lefse sticks - so experiment with shapes until you find the one you like best. While there, pick up a birch dowel and see how you like a round Lefse stick. They are very easy to roll out from under the soft uncooked Lefse without stretching it. If you don't have access to a saw, they probably have some thin Poplar in the "project wood" section.

All of the sticks I've seen on-line are flat. I modeled mine after some made by a friend's Norweigian Grandfather. One was flat (about an inch wide). The other was round (5/8" dowel) Both of them had tapered ends and were sanded very smooth. I used the round one to lift and move the uncooked Lefse and the flat one to turn the cooking Lefse.

[Doug H]

I was at Home Depot today and their "Whitewood" didn't look anywhere near as good as the last time I looked. Anyway - forget the whitewood. In the molding aisle they had nice clear 1/4 inch thick pine "lattice" in 1 1/8, 1 3/8, and 1 3/4 widths at $.66, $.74 AND $.96 per lineal foot. On the other side of the aisle they had `1/4 inch poplar. I bought a 1/4 inch thick 2 inch wide 2 foot piece of poplar for $.95 to make a new stick.

[sugarbeet]

Is there a reason why you want to make one when you can just buy one with a pretty painted handle for $3?

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(v5...rce=GoogleBase

[roneb]

Originally Posted by sugarbeet

Is there a reason why you want to make one when you can just buy one with a pretty painted handle for $3?

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(v5...rce=GoogleBase

Pride of producing your own? Family tradition? Seems like it can be a great activity to do with kids.