Product Design

Help Us Design the Third Product in Our Line!

by:
June  8, 2018

It’s time to reveal Product #3, and it’s one we know you’ll be opinionated about (in fact, we’re counting on you!): classic stoneware mixing bowls.

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Many of the best mixing bowls out in the world are found at vintage shops. They’re made of stoneware, a timeless material because of its weight (heavy enough to stay put while you’re beating sugar into butter) and durability (the reason those bowls are still hanging around vintage shops). We like designs with a thick rim, which is great for gripping when you’re mixing something heavy or whisking, but rimless styles with steeper sides are useful, too. Check out some images from Pinterest that inspired us:

Why stoneware over steel or glass? Stoneware, a gray or brown pottery fired at high temperatures, is scratch-resistant and sturdy. A beautiful stoneware bowl can be used as a display piece, or kept on the counter to do double-duty as a fruit, onion, or potato bowl. Amanda piled hers with skeins of yarn when she went through a knitting phase; Merrill relies on hers for DIY steam baths to treat her kids’ colds.

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We thought it was time to create the next generation of stoneware mixing bowls—bowls that we hope will turn up at vintage shops decades from now. Or maybe your great-grandkids will still use them, and know that you helped design them.

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Traditional bowls from France and England are our inspiration for the overall design, because we like the vibe of vintage bowls but want to give them a modern shape and color palette. Some older mixing bowls came in just one medium-to-large size (think: an egg cup that could fit a watermelon), but we’re considering a set of varying sizes. This is where you come in!

Join The Conversation

Top Comment:
“wow, well i think mixing bowls for one are so much more specific to each task. When making cupcake or cake batter it needs to be somewhat lightweight to account for holding the bowl up to scrape out contents. A pour spout seems useless without a handle and that seems to specific. My preference would be a beautiful, modern interpretation of the stoneware with glossy glaze, just go ahead and let it be heavy and be that bowl that sits out on the counter. Please not too much of a "foot" on the bottom, if I'm saying that right, because that's where dry pockets of flour or mix get trapped. might be nice to fit them with silicon tops for overnight batters, raised waffle batter, or for serving something like a marinated tomato salad that you mix the night before. : )”
— Stephanie
Comment

Take our quiz below and let us know how you feel about sizes, rim styles, colors, and more. Complete it by 5pm EDT on Friday, June 15th, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win one of three finished mixing bowls. Keep an eye on our Instagram stories for more questions there, too, and follow along with #f52byyou.

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Amanda Hesser & Merrill Stubbs, Co-founders




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P.S. A note about our product line doings: We’ve moved quickly from one to three products. This is to kickstart some items into production—and keep you on your toes! The pace will ebb and flow over time.

P.P.S. Very soon, we’ll be sharing the {NAME} of our line. We've worked hard to come up with one we love, and we're excited to share it with you.

No time for a quiz? You can still enter to win here. For rules and regulations, click here.

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • A.E.
    A.E.
  • DMStenlake
    DMStenlake
  • Stephanie
    Stephanie
  • Steven Williamson
    Steven Williamson
  • Suellen Nelson
    Suellen Nelson
Food52 (we cook 52 weeks a year, get it?) is a food and home brand, here to help you eat thoughtfully and live joyfully.

27 Comments

A.E. October 16, 2018
Excited to see these! I agree with the Pintrest photos. Some of those had unglazed rims. My mother & grandmother had those bowls and used the rims to sharpen knives! Love that! I am always vhecking bowls I find, they're always smoothed from sharpening. But maybe your new bowls will allow me to sharpen my knives?!
 
DMStenlake July 15, 2018
Made in USA!
 
Stephanie June 11, 2018
wow, well i think mixing bowls for one are so much more specific to each task. When making cupcake or cake batter it needs to be somewhat lightweight to account for holding the bowl up to scrape out contents. A pour spout seems useless without a handle and that seems to specific. My preference would be a beautiful, modern interpretation of the stoneware with glossy glaze, just go ahead and let it be heavy and be that bowl that sits out on the counter. Please not too much of a "foot" on the bottom, if I'm saying that right, because that's where dry pockets of flour or mix get trapped. might be nice to fit them with silicon tops for overnight batters, raised waffle batter, or for serving something like a marinated tomato salad that you mix the night before. : )
 
Steven W. June 10, 2018
Honestly, the bowl I use 90 % of the time is the 8 cup batter bowl from those house ware parties. They recently changes their design and it's not as good. It's big, heavy glass, has a handle and a spout and while It may not serve for a double bach of bread, it works for a hundred other things.
 
Suellen N. June 10, 2018
No spout, pale color, semi-gloss to gloss , shaped like cream vintage stoneware bowls with deep sides, wide rim, 10x5 in size.
 
PMJ June 9, 2018
Should be ceramic or stoneware and 4 qts in size. White, not yellow or brown, etc. A handle would be nice like the old batter bars used to have. I actually use my 8 cup measuring cup as a batter mixing vessel.
 
Debbie S. June 10, 2018
Love a nice rim to grip. Prefer deep sides for bread rising but shallower sides for cakes and cookies. Found a more oval bowl 🍲 n a thrift shop once and it was excellent for things that needed whisking. Like a matte finish. Colors???? Nothing bright....
 
Smaug June 8, 2018
Not strictly relevant maybe, but I've always liked the way the Kitchenaid bowl works- a sturdy stainless steel bowl which attaches very easily to a heavy base- and wished I had something like it that didn't have a mixer head in the way. Stainless steel is so convenient and easy to store- a nesting set could be made to go with one base.
 
BerryBaby June 9, 2018
I agree completely! I have a stainless nesting set that I acquired in 1978 and they look as good today as when I first got them.
Ceramic is beating to look at, but way too heavy for me to use. I have a few decorative pieces.
 
BerryBaby June 9, 2018
Ceramic is BEAUTIFUL to look at...auto correct changes my words when I don’t want it to.
 
Tracy W. June 8, 2018
Found my favorite - Green's gripstand - 10 1/4 diameter, made in England. I used to have three of these, down to two now. It has a beveled cut on the bottom so you can sit it flat on an angle. Wide bowl, easy to mix. Dishwasher safe. This one's over 30 years old and still hanging in, but I desperately need one or two more!
 
702551 June 8, 2018
For better aesthetics, look to the East, specifically Japan.

Something like a traditional suribachi (but without the grooves) would be a great candidate.

Like this:

https://www.nipponboutique.com/en/2761-japanese-suribachi-bowl-911-5-75.html

but with a smooth interior.

The Japanese have a long tradition of making attractive stoneware bowls.

Of course, the sky's the limit in terms of colors, patterns, designs, etc.

I'd take a Japanese bowl over any of the items pictured above. No contest.
 
Smaug June 11, 2018
My knowledge of pottery verges on nonexistent, but what I've seen of Japanese bowls have tended to considerably more delicacy of line than these show.
 
Jackie L. June 8, 2018
Got it... cutting board and kitchen mats....
 
Matt June 8, 2018
If it can't go in the dishwasher, it's useless.
 
Jackie L. June 8, 2018
What are Poducts #1 and #2?
 
Kathy C. June 8, 2018
Would like to see an ineterstIng but subtle pattern.
 
Sam June 8, 2018
Four years ago Cook's Illustrated published a test showing side to side whisking was best for everything, while stirring (circular) was ineffectual at everything. So a straight-sided Cambro like square container would be the best design. But you're looking to design something that looks pretty, not one that is the most functional. *smh*
 
Smaug June 8, 2018
I wouldn't put too much faith in a Cooks Illustrated test anyway, but anyway you stir in a square bowl the corners are going to be a problem.
 
Sam June 8, 2018
It's better than a circle. And while CI is not infallible, in this test they are correct.
 
Lobstr89 June 8, 2018
I agree..
 
Lobstr89 June 8, 2018
Square bowls cause corner problems for sure.
 
Smaug June 9, 2018
The advantage back to back stirring would have over circular is that it involves changing direction; I have never seen or heard of anyone simply stirring in a circle, which would indeed involve pushing stuff around the edge of the bowl. It is a motion generally used as part of a pattern to clear the sides of the bowl, which of course side to side will never do. I don't see any particular reason why side to side would work better in a square bowl anyway. There is also a great deal of difference between stirring with different implements- whisks, spoons, scrapers, chopsticks, all have quite different properties.
 
Sam June 9, 2018
If you've never seen a seen or heard of a person "simply stirring in a circle," you have now. I managed over 60 restaurants in my career & I had to retrain dozens of prep people who stirred in only one way. Using a whink properly was one of the first things we taught.
 
Sam June 9, 2018
*whisk*
 
Smaug June 9, 2018
Well, you're probably right, I've taught people in various activities over the years and they do find extraordinary ways to do things badly. If you want to stir something, you need to change directions and motions frequently and above all, pay attention to the results of whatever you're doing. But I don't think you could get much done by simply stirring back and forth in a square bowl- for starters, a wavy line would be more efficient than a straight line, leading to some really strange bowls. But the real question is, WHEN is Food52 going to come up with an edit function?
 
Sam June 9, 2018
A lot of sites could use edit functions! I mentioned Cambros in my first post & they are a staple in the foodservice industry. Whether by luck or design, all of our products mixed in Cambros were well stirred. lol