One Of Julia Child's Favorite Kitchen Tools Wasn't Fancy, But It Was Definitely Reliable

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Julia Child was known for her no-frills approach to cooking, often recommending all-purpose kitchen items or even repurposing other household items for use in the kitchen. She even once suggested that viewers bake bread on an asbestos tile to achieve an extra crackly crust. Aside from that example, however, many of her tips still prove useful today. One of her favorite kitchen tools, though far from fancy, was definitely reliable and can still make modern food prep easier. The item in question? A Foley fork.

Child regularly used a Foley fork on her cooking show, "The French Chef." The utensil, also called a Foley blender or gravy fork, is a vintage kitchen gadget that not many remember anymore. It was invented by the Foley Manufacturing Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and manufactured between the '40s and '70s, and Child purchased many of her cooking utensils from the company. 

The utensil looks like a large fork, but it features six curved tines resembling a miniature garden rake. Its long handle, also slightly curved, makes it perfect for whisking and blending ingredients in mixing bowls. It is a highly versatile, durable tool designed to quickly emulsify ingredients like fats, oils, and eggs so that they can be mixed into dry ingredients. It is also sturdy enough to break up ground meat, mix sauces, whip potatoes, and whisk flour and other dry ingredients together.

You can find modern versions of the mixing and mashing fork from many different kitchen utensil companies, for example this silicone example from GreenLife, or you can look for a vintage original from the Foley company at a thrift store or antique shop. The Norpro Grip-EZ Fiskie is a budget-friendly version of the Foley fork at only $6.28 on Amazon. This vintage kitchen utensil is also worth picking up secondhand, and you can find original six-tine Foley forks for between $15 and $25 on ebay.

This charming vintage kitchen tool is still popular today among home chefs and amateur bakers. It's inexpensive, and original versions prove it's designed to last for decades without needing to be replaced. Because the Foley fork features six sturdy prongs that are slightly curved, it makes blending wet ingredients into dry super easy and fast. While a whisk can be used to beat eggs or mix together fats and oils, the curved tines of the Foley fork are perfect for blending butter into flour to create a breadcrumb-like texture when making dough without overworking the ingredients.

Its long handle makes it an ergonomic tool, and you might find it less tiring to mix dense batter and dough or whip egg whites or cream for minutes on end. Its sturdy, curved tines are also ideal for whipping mashed potatoes and heavy cream. You can quickly integrate air into the ingredients while mixing, giving your potatoes or whipped cream the perfect light and fluffy consistency. Its curved design also means that you can rest it in a mixing bowl upright while working on other kitchen tasks without having to worry about it slipping down into gooey batter or raw eggs. 

The Foley fork is also a small, multipurpose utensil that is easy to store and doesn't require any batteries, won't need to be plugged in, and can be cleaned easily. If you're looking for ways to be more sustainable in the kitchen and don't want to waste money on appliances or tools that are designed for obsolescence, the Foley fork may have a place in your kitchen.