How to use wooden BBQ tongs
Updated: 22 October 2026
The tongs are already in your hand and the kettle is hot. How to use wooden BBQ tongs comes down to where the timber may go, how you keep raw juice off food you are about to eat, and how you dry the wood. This page does not rank the five listings. The [wooden barbecue tongs comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/barbecue-tongs-wood) is the ranking. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Peter F. used listing care lines and public UK guidance on 20 October 2026, not a cook we filmed.
The tongs are already in your hand and the kettle is hot. How to use wooden BBQ tongs comes down to where the timber may go, how you keep raw juice off food you are about to eat, and how you dry the wood.
The tongs are already in your hand and the kettle is hot. How to use wooden BBQ tongs comes down to where the timber may go, how you keep raw juice off food you are about to eat, and how you dry the wood. This page does not rank the five listings. The wooden barbecue tongs comparison is the ranking. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Peter F. used listing care lines and public UK guidance on 20 October 2026, not a cook we filmed.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Head | Wash | At the grate | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Extodry Extodry (9 in and 12 in) | Stainless steel | Field says yes; reviews disagree | Steel on the grate, oak in the hand | 8.6 | about £9.97 | View offer |
| Best value |  Maywe Tanso Maywe Tanso (12 in) | 430 stainless steel | Field says yes; no UK cycle note | Steel tips, oak grip | 7.8 | about £8.99 | View offer |
 Dan&Co Dan&Co (45 cm bamboo) | Bamboo | Hand wash | Keep tips out of the flame | 6.8 | about £8.99 | View offer |
On this page
Where the tong may touch the heat
Use a steel head on the grate and keep timber out of the flame. Extodry and both Maywe listings are stainless tips with oak grips. Dan & Co says to avoid prolonged flame on the 45 cm bamboo pair, AIUHI is teak throughout, so do not rest it across a coal bed.
Do not soak bamboo. The 900°C and 315°C lines are sales text. If the length feels wrong, use the length page. If the tip is the wrong material, use the bamboo or stainless page.
One tong or two at a barbecue
One pair can turn a sausage that is already cooked. It should not turn raw chicken and then the salad. The Food Standards Agency's point still holds at home: clean the utensil after raw food, or use a different one, before ready-to-eat food. Juice in the grain is harder to see than juice on steel.
Extodry's two lengths make that split easier if you assign the 9 in pair and the 12 in pair and do not swap them. A single pair means you stop and wash. If you only own the bamboo pair, keep it for thin food that is already cooking.
Wash, dry, and the oil that is actually named
Warm water, washing-up liquid, a rinse and a dry cloth match Dan & Co and the AIUHI bullets. Extodry says dishwasher safe, and two UK reviews say the wood may suffer. Both Maywe fields say yes, with no United Kingdom review here that the oak survived a cycle. If the grips are why you bought them, hand wash.
Do not finish bamboo with cooking oil. A US bamboo-care page warns that it goes rancid. The oil named in this set is the food-grade mineral oil on the AIUHI teak. Skip that wipe on Extodry and Maywe. If a slider jams, hang the tongs open or lay them flat once they are dry.
When to stop using them
Stop when the joint snaps, the tip cracks, or the arms will not close. A UK review of the AIUHI pair says they broke on first use. Consumer Rights Act 2015 section 22 is the short-term right to reject. Keep the pieces if the retailer asks, and speak to the seller within 30 days. Do not glue a food tool.
Charred tips or a smell of scorched timber mean that bamboo pair is finished. If every cook needs timber in the flame, that is a buying problem, not a soak.
Common questions
Can bamboo tongs sit in the flame?
No. Dan & Co says to avoid prolonged direct heat and flames, and a UK review says the 45 cm pair still burns if you hold it under a direct flame. Use them for a brief turn of food that is already over the grate, with the timber tips on the food rather than in the fire. Resting them across the coals is the way they scorch.
Should you soak them before a barbecue?
No. A soak is a reviewer tip, not the care line. Wet timber swells, and a wet grip over a kettle is a worse hold. Wash after the cook, then dry. The brand page also rules out the oven and the microwave as a way to speed that dry.
How do you wash oak-handled tongs if the listing says dishwasher safe?
Prefer a hand wash with warm water and washing-up liquid, then a full dry, if you want the grips to last. Extodry's field says yes, and UK reviews still say the wood may suffer or that they have not used a dishwasher. The Maywe fields say yes too, without a UK review in this file that confirms the oak after a cycle.
What oil is named on the teak listing?
The AIUHI bullets name a food-grade mineral oil already on the surface, and they say there is no glue or lacquer. They also say hand wash, rinse and dry. Do not substitute olive oil or another cooking oil. A US bamboo-care page warns that cooking oil goes rancid as a utensil finish.
Can one pair turn raw chicken and then the salad?
Not without a real clean in between. The Food Standards Agency's utensil rule is a different tool, or a wash, after raw food and before ready-to-eat food. Wood grain hides juice. Extodry's two lengths can be assigned one to raw and one to cooked. A single pair means you stop and wash.
What do you do if they snap on the first cook?
Stop using them. Do not glue the joint and put it back over food. A UK review of the teak pair describes a first-use break and a refund. Section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the short-term right to reject. Contact the retailer while you are still inside 30 days, and keep the pieces if they ask to see the fault.
How do you store a spring tong that will not lock?
Dry it first, then hang it open or lay it flat. Do not force a jammed slider. Extodry reviews include a missing clasp, a jam, and arms that spring apart in storage. A pull-ring that still works, as the Maywe bullets describe, is the version you can lock and hang. A perished rubber loop is retired. The tong is not.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- Regulation 1935/2004, Annex I (food contact, wood) (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- General Product Safety Regulations 2005: Great Britain (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Food Standards Agency: cleaning effectively (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Smoke & Soil: the BBQ toolkit (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Dan & Co: 45 cm bamboo kitchen tongs (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listing B08LQCXBV4 (Extodry set) (retrieved 21 October 2026)