Wooden cutting boards

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
C

chris1237

Sous Chef
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
680
Location
pa
Guys, I am looking for a nice wooden cutting board for veggies and fruits. When I cut stuff on the plastic one I am using now the food seems to slid around and I am guessing the wood would be better for my knives. I plan to keep the meat on the plastic.
Are there there any brand out there that are better than others? Also what wood types are good? Do I need to treat the board with any oil and if so how often? What do I have to do to clean it? Those of you that wood do you find them better than plastic?

Thanks for the help,
Chris
 
Try plugging the term "hard rock maple cutting boards" into Google and see if you don't get a few hits. From whut I have gathered over the years its the best available. Sure you get some conflicting opinyawns on how best to care for them thangs. Think I even own one myelf and have had it for years. I just wash it with Dawn and hot water..scrub it with a bristle brush..rinse and dry it with a towel then set it on edge between the clothes dryer and the wall to let it finish air drying..never have oiled it that I can recall..but then I am whut is called a lazy boy. Sure there is mo betta ways to do it. From talking to an old butcher pal..at one time the health goons insisted all the commerical type folks use plastic cutting boards..cuz they was supposed to be easier to sanitize but then they figgered out all them shallow cuts which come with the plastic can be hard to sanitize whereas real wood has some inherent anti microbial properties and the bugs which work their way into cuts in the wood tend to die when the cutting board drys out. So think things have come about full circle on the sanitation aspect of the situation. Now the health goons still dont like the wooden knife handles I dont think. Just a few thoughts to get the ball rolling here till the exspurts show up:)

bigwheel
 
University studies showed that wood is mo safe and bacteria free. I always suspected my plastic board was dulling my knives. Any closed grain wood, like maple, ash, hickory, would work well. Oil does not belong in ANY wood. Oil is not natural to wood. It softens it and tries to make it mushy. Just scrub it with hot water and soap without soaking and dry well.
But then again, what do I know. :LOL:
 
Rag said:
University studies showed that wood is mo safe and bacteria free. I always suspected my plastic board was dulling my knives. Any closed grain wood, like maple, ash, hickory, would work well. Oil does not belong in ANY wood. Oil is not natural to wood. It softens it and tries to make it mushy. Just scrub it with hot water and soap without soaking and dry well.
But then again, what do I know. :LOL:
Click to expand...

Actually TUNG OIL is and is highly reccomended for wooden
counter tops, wood cutting boards and wooden chopping blocks.

It is an oil that is cold pressed from the TUNG tree nuts... they are mostly
found in China now, but used to be very abundant in the Southern
states of the U.S.. There's a few left down there, but not many.

I've heard of using linseed oil also... but to find PURE linseed oil
without any chemical additives is a tough thing to do.
 
I won a maple cutting board in a drawing on another board. It was recommended to me by the person who hosted the drawing as well as several professional chefs to use mineral oil on it before using it. Every time I go in looking for mineral oil, they're sold out. Must be a lot of bound up people in this area. lol

Here is the advice I was given:
Wooden cutting boards should be maintained with mineral oil. You can buy it as such (often called butcher block oil) and pay big bucks. Or just go to the drugstore where it is sold with the laxatives.

Normal schedule on a new board: Once a week for two months. Once a month for the next six months. Once every six months after that. If the board has gotten exceptional usage (as in a restaurant), more frequent oiling may be called for.

Do not, repeat, NOT put a wooden board in the dishwasher!
 
Started to mention that Tung oil..had it on the tip of my Tung so to speak :LOL: but was aferred I would missspell it. I prob call it tongue oil. Watched a guy building wooden eating untensils on Channel 13 TV one time and he mentioned that tung oil was very good for cutting boards..wooden bowls and spoons and such things. Smart thinning.

bigwheel



Smokey_Joe said:
Rag said:
University studies showed that wood is mo safe and bacteria free. I always suspected my plastic board was dulling my knives. Any closed grain wood, like maple, ash, hickory, would work well. Oil does not belong in ANY wood. Oil is not natural to wood. It softens it and tries to make it mushy. Just scrub it with hot water and soap without soaking and dry well.
But then again, what do I know. :LOL:
Click to expand...

Actually TUNG OIL is and is highly reccomended for wooden
counter tops, wood cutting boards and wooden chopping blocks.

It is an oil that is cold pressed from the TUNG tree nuts... they are mostly
found in China now, but used to be very abundant in the Southern
states of the U.S.. There's a few left down there, but not many.

I've heard of using linseed oil also... but to find PURE linseed oil
without any chemical additives is a tough thing to do.
Click to expand...
 
There was also someone on this board who's father makes them. Can anyone remember who that person is?
It realy sucks getting old. I forget to remember to forget lately.
 
Bill The Grill Guy said:
There was also someone on this board who's father makes them. Can anyone remember who that person is?
It realy sucks getting old. I forget to remember to forget lately.
Click to expand...
Scotty's Dad I think ;)
 
All finishes are food safe. A myth was started by marketing people claiming to have "food safe salad bowl finish". All finishes are safe after the dryers evaporate. Most all Tung oil finishes are varnish. Varnish needs to have oil as an ingredient and the Tung oil part is about 5%. Pure Tung oil, like other oils, never really dries.
So, "food safe finish" is really just varnish, which is fine, and not toxic when cured, but unappetizing when cut up on a chopping board and ingested, which still is not toxic.
I say use hot soapy water on wood items and let air dry.
 
Rag said:
All finishes are food safe. A myth was started by marketing people claiming to have "food safe salad bowl finish". All finishes are safe after the dryers evaporate. Most all Tung oil finishes are varnish. Varnish needs to have oil as an ingredient and the Tung oil part is about 5%. Pure Tung oil, like other oils, never really dries.
So, "food safe finish" is really just varnish, which is fine, and not toxic when cured, but unappetizing when cut up on a chopping board and ingested, which still is not toxic.
I say use hot soapy water on wood items and let air dry.
Click to expand...

Pure Tung oil is just that.... cold pressed pure oil from the nut of the tree....
it's just pure oil of the Tung nut. And you are correct......
"it never dries"

Plus I think the whole purpose of using a pure edible type oil on it
IS because you DON'T want the wood to dry... and for that reason the
oil used needs be food grade.... the purpose of the oil is to keep the
wood from drying out between uses
Kinda like keeping cast iron cookware oiled

I would never use or reccomend anyone to use a varnish style
finish on a food surface planning on the harmful chemicals will
evaporate. If the chemicals in a varnish are strong enough to
dry and harden an oil and are 95% of the mix like you say, I'd
have to think that any part of it that may "come loose" when in
use, would have to be toxic....

Fresh out of High School many many moons ago, I worked for
5+ years at a place about 8 miles from me called
"Nichols and Stone" (a maker of very fine furniture) I worked in
the finishing room spraying and applying many a type of finish
to many a type of woods, and unless it is PURE Tung, Mineral,
or Walnut oil.... I wouldn't use it on a food surface.
Even Linseed oil I'd be leary of because it is tough to find
"Unboiled" Linseed oil, the so called "boiled" Linseed has nasty
additives.

Just my $.02 and experiences :D

 
Here are the highly recommended cutting boards from Cook's Illustrated January & February 2008 issue page29.

Totally Bamboo Congo
Butcher-block-style bamboo
$39.99
http://www.cookware.com/View-All-Totall ... gQod8BpHYQ

Snow River Utility
Wood-laminate composite
Dish Washer Safe
$16.99
This looks like the one.
http://shop.organize.com/1/1/1633-15-x- ... river.html



J.K. Adams Takes Two
Hard rock sugar maple
$32.00

https://www.jkadams.com/cgi-bin/shopper ... n&key=TWO-

Architec Gripper Nonslip
Polypropylene
Dish Washer Safe
$14.99
http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?sku=186311

There were thirteen that were tested. The four listed are the highly recommended ones. The top two receive 3 stars (perfect scores) in all categories...cutting, durability, cleanup, and user-friendliness.

The websites were not in the article I just did a search for each one and these looked like what was pictured in the article.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
When I cut mango it sounds like velcro
Replies
2
Views
394
Silversage
Silversage
C
What is the best material for cutting boards?
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
CharlieD
CharlieD
W
Is it cheaper to be a vegetarian?
Replies
8
Views
442
caseydog
caseydog
dragnlaw
Flop again.
Replies
7
Views
374
Aunt Bea
Aunt Bea
K
KFC Chizza Review....
Replies
1
Views
558
Aunt Bea
Aunt Bea

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom