How DIY are you?

January 17, 2023 by
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It stands to reason that people who are cookbook lovers have at least a modicum do-it-yourself tendency, because few things in this modern era are more DIY than cooking foods from scratch. We’ve discussed this before in the context of making your own pantry staples like ketchup or mayonnaise, but for some the DIY concept goes even farther. For instance, Epicurious recently reported on what it takes to make your own beeswax food wraps.

Beeswax wraps are a great alternative to plastic wrap, but they have a downside of being rather pricey. Since beeswax and cotton fabric are relatively cheap, so there is incentive to make your own. It doesn’t sound terribly difficult, but it seems as though the homemade wrap won’t be quite as flexible as the store-bought stuff, which is one reason I will pass on this concept for now.

It’s not that I am anti-DIY, as any of my friends will attest (I did a lot of work on our kitchen remodel, for instance). However, I seem to have a gut-level cost/benefit calculator for DIY stuff and the beeswax wrap isn’t pegging that meter for me. I’d rather spend the time baking bread and making homemade preserves to slather on it rather than making something to wrap it in, even if it does save money.

There’s another issue that has plagued my interest in DIY projects like this. A couple of years ago I stitched together a few aprons but I discovered that I rarely used them, mostly because I didn’t want to “ruin” the adorable items that I spent so much time making. They’re still pristine while several of my shirts have been irreparably stained, which rather defeats the purpose of making the aprons in the first place. (They do look nice hanging in my pantry.)

Where do you stand on the DIY spectrum? Are you down with making your own beeswax wrap, or will you let the pros handle this task? I still have a stash of adorable kitchen-themed fabric and several bars of beeswax, so I won’t rule it out completely. If you’ve tried this and have any suggestions, please let me know.

Category: Antipasto

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10 Comments

  • eggplantolive  on  January 18, 2023

    I DIY foods that I can purchase such as condiments, non-dairy milk, spice blends, homemade bread, candied peel, and the like. I leave the non-food items to others. It’s not as enjoyable, and I need to save some time for DIY-ing what I do enjoy.

  • Fyretigger  on  January 18, 2023

    Even though I live 2 blocks from an Indian market, I make my own ghee. It’s easy and takes little hands on time and niter kibbeh too. And I’ve made my own spice blends likes berbere and za’atar and so on.

    I leave phyllo dough, puff pastry, tortillas and dumpling wrappers to the professionals.

  • ellabee  on  January 18, 2023

    I guess a lot depends on how you cook and how many beeswax wraps you need, but even with my recently acquired heightened sensitivity to prices, the $20-25. range for a starter set of several wraps doesn’t tempt me to diy. I have been thinking of trying some out, as I’m near the end of what I hope is my last roll of plastic wrap.

  • ellabee  on  January 18, 2023

    There’s a roll of the brand-name stuff for $30. That seems like the best buy, and should last me the rest of my cooking life. With the DIY element of custom cutting for the tasks I’m most likely to use it for: covering stored or rising dough, fridge-marinating ingredients, and bowls of prepped ingredients on hold.

  • Indio32  on  January 19, 2023

    Remember reading a book that sort of said these are the things it’s worth doing at home for cost or much better quality reasons and these are the things that are better left to the professionals. Can’t quite remember what it was called but Don’t sweat the Aubergine seems to be stuck in my mind.

  • TeresaRenee  on  January 19, 2023

    My favourite DIY is turning old t-shirts into rags by simply cutting them into dishcloth sized pieces. So easy and so useful.

    My DIY threshold depends on:
    1) How much I will enjoy the activity and if I have time/supplies to do it
    2) Whether my DIY is better than what’s commercially available
    3) How difficult to obtain and expensive the alternatives are

  • rmardel  on  January 19, 2023

    I’ve thought of DIYing beeswax wraps but the price doesn’t seem onerous enough to offset the trouble. I do DIY things that I cannot easily buy, and some that I can. I ferment a lot of things and have been exploring making Asian condiments, even long fermented ones, because gluten is an issue in my house. I make ghee even though I can buy it, because it is so little trouble, the same for mayonnaise because I can control the oils I choose to use and mine tastes better. I DIY labneh because I prefer it made with sheep’s yogurt, which I can buy, but I can only buy cow’s milk labneh locally. I suppose that I wouldn’t have known I preferred some of those things had I not tried making them. It seems I like playing in the kitchen and am willing to DIY foodstuffs more than tools.

  • SKidd  on  January 20, 2023

    I purchased my first set of beeswax wraps so I’d know what they were supposed to be like and if I’d use the,. I could see DIYing the next batch if I use them enough or want an unusual size.

    A lot of kitchen DIY comes from being out of something and not wanting to go out to get it! (Aka spice blends). I made flour tortillas a few times for this reason and now they are easier/faster and taste so much better. It’s always a combo of time/cost savings. Not everything sticks or becomes a habit.

  • Rella  on  January 20, 2023

    I love the frugality of cutting up any old COTTON rags for use in kitchen (and elsewhere). Making homemade bread is my favorite DIY, using many different grains; I keep sliced bread in the freezer as well as cutting some crusts off for croutons’ use. Loving the fact always having on hand homemade olive tapenade. But most-of-all, I have made and substituted cashew milk instead of milk for years now. (allergies to milk, butter, eggs, etc.)

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