It started the way many kitchen mysteries do: with a dusty tin, a curious shape, and a question nobody in the room could answer.
I was rummaging through my grandmother’s old baking bin—past cookie cutters in the shape of stars and bells, past a rolling pin worn satin-smooth with age—when I spotted it. A U-shaped metal frame. Several parallel metal blades stretched across the open end. A sturdy wooden handle attached at the top. It looked, at first glance, like some kind of medieval gadget. Or perhaps a strange set of culinary brass knuckles.
But this humble-looking tool is far less menacing—and far more useful—than it appears.
It’s a pastry blender, sometimes called a pastry cutter or dough blender.
What Exactly Is a Pastry Blender?
