Remember Spit Tests

Do you remember the “Spit Test” of the past? No, this test had nothing to do with DNA or drugs. I am sure that wasn’t even thought of in past generations.

A friend recently made me a gift of a “sad iron,” assuring me that it might be just what I needed for shoulder therapy after my surgery. I decided to take that with a grain of salt, but it did make me think of how often I would see my grandmother and mom do the spit test, checking to see if the iron was ready to be used. This was done by dampening your finger with spit (at least in my world, some may have just spit on the iron), touch the iron and watch the response of moisture on a hot iron. I understand that those spit beads were quite fascinating to watch if they had the occasion to land on a wood stove. What can I say, except that young boys come to my mind.

I am also remembering that this same type of “test” was used for other things, like cooking. Oh, heavens, not the spit test, but same principal,using drops of bacon grease on the griddle to see if it was hot enough for those pancakes to be cooked on. And bacon grease can be another story. Oh, just a little personal [note] here, but that was before the days of waffles from the freezer to the toaster.