h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I rarely do it but when I am using a wide variety of ingredients and wash my hands a lot it's useful to have there as well as drying any utensils.

Of the four men I lived with so far - one German, one Dutchman, and two Americans - every single one did it! And the towels were/are usually moist, too, which is quite icky if you want to give the cook a quick hug...

Better than a squashed rabbit.

.. I have a towel near the stove .. not over my shoulder ..

surely when preparing meat you want to wash your hands .. wash the blood off .. or .. something .. whatever .. and cooking with wet hands is not done. Now the alternative for a towel would be to dry hands at the socks, which is perfectly reasonable .. but while cooking I prefer a towel to dry hands.

Dry hands at the socks?

Just to take it exceedingly seriously for a moment:

When I worked Food Service for more years than I care to mention (being of the male persuasion, mind) I wore an apron. When it was a big thing (a few hundred rib-eyes with all the trimmings, for example) I would shove a couple of bar wipes into the apron string as extra coverage.


Over the shoulder? What's the point of that?

Of course. Doesn't everyone hang 2 socks on a string around their necks when they're cooking? As well as being good for drying hands, they're handy for keeping herbs, tasting spoons and knives in.

I must be in that rare 5% then - I've never done this that I can remember.

I do however tend to wear an apron - so that might replace the need for a tea towel largely

Don't do this and I am male and cook for my family most nights.

I leave it hanging on a hook.

If I did do this, it would mean if I picked up the baby he'd have his face in a tea towel, which is probably a good reason not to do it as any.

sprout

Why does my Hubby insist on using my good/new/best teatowels for lifting trays from the oven, when the perfectly good oven gloves are on the worktop?

http://www.sjc.com/manbeef/

My ex ruined most of my good linen tea-towels that way... when he wasn't using them for cleaning up oil spills and other nasty things... the stains never came out... definitely grounds for divorce!

Never draped a teatowel in my life. And I'm the household cook. (And a damned good one, I'll have you know!)

I've had to train her indoors to use oven gloves rather than teatowels

Yep.. as for mopping up spills etc.. Why does he always grab the good ones, and not those that are dull/thin/already stained?

He's even had to pull them from the bottom of the pile in the drawer!

Jaysus! A teatowel's a teatowel, surely? Why are you keeping some for best? Are you expecting the queen to call?

OK, this is an odd one...

When I cook at home, the teatowels and hand-drying towels are conveniently located on a rail immediately behind me in the kitchen, so I can easily dry my hands after washing them after cutting raw poultry etc.

At HI's place, however, there is no such rail, so I often carry a hand-towel for drying my hands. When I need both hands on deck, as it were (holding a sucepan handle whilst stirring conntents vigorously) I sling the towel over my shoulder.

RF

Typical man!

Ooops.. Simpost

I remember Mr Bean also using socks to spin his lettuce dry.



All my sons cook without the draped teatowel, but our kitchen is quite small so there is always a towel within reach.

In the same vein, why do men always hunch their shoulders when holding a baby - is it because they don't want the teatowel to slip off?