How Do You Clean a Wood Cutting Board?

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Yeah, I like my plastic ones for the same reason as they can go into the dish washer with no problem but the largest one also is used as a base for my laptop computer when I take it into bed with me------my technut kid has yelled at me enough times about putting a laptop on the covers of the bed and that it's not good for the laptop so it gets used a a laptop support base as well.......
 
Buck made me a beautiful butcher block cutting board many years ago, but I've been using plastic/composite for so long, the "beauty" has been delegated to the back of the pantry. I see it nearly every day but rarely use it.

Now I'm happy with putting my plastic boards into the dishwasher or scrubbing them down with bleach and soap.
 
I use a watered-down bleach solution and rinse it well. And like you, I never use meat or dairy on it; that is strictly done on plastic. In fact, I rarely use the wooden cutting boards any more, even though it feels so much better. I just find plastic so much easier to clean, and I know I can sanitize it safely without damaging it.

So now the wooden cutting board is more for display :)

I just have to bring this up again :) Several studies have shown that plastic cutting boards are the ones that harbor bacteria in the nicks, even after going through the dishwasher. Wood cutting boards are safer because (I read in another study I can't find now) the dryness of the wood sucks the moisture out of the bacteria, thus killing them, much as salt would do. Oiling the board seals it and so ruins this antibiotic effect.

On the Chopping Block, Alaska Science Forum
UC-Davis Food Safety Laboratory: Cutting Board Research

HTH.
 
I just have to bring this up again :) Several studies have shown that plastic cutting boards are the ones that harbor bacteria in the nicks, even after going through the dishwasher. Wood cutting boards are safer because (I read in another study I can't find now) the dryness of the wood sucks the moisture out of the bacteria, thus killing them, much as salt would do. Oiling the board seals it and so ruins this antibiotic effect.

On the Chopping Block, Alaska Science Forum
UC-Davis Food Safety Laboratory: Cutting Board Research

HTH.

(gulp) - I didn't oil my board just yet. I'm definately doing some more research on this. The rough sawn wood alone was near $300 for my island.:ermm:
 
I put mine in the sink with hot soapy water and some bleach then let soak for 1/2 to 1 hour. then use a scrub brush on it and all clean. let dry on a rack- flat. reoil w/ mineral oil -------Had them for years without any problems

I did have one when I was first married, that warped a lil, soak it and then put it on a flat surface and weighted it down with some heavy cast iron pans. It straighten out, but I never got to use it. I checked on it and thought I would leave one more day, welllll Hubbie thought it was just a chunk of wood under some pans and threw it out.
 
Wood warps when one side has greater moisture than the other. I use wood cutting boards, and when they start rocking, I simply store them other side up on the counter for a while and let them warp back the other way. Count me on the side of those who believe that wood cutting boards are safer than plastic. Wood has been used for centuries with no ill effects. Professional chopping blocks are vertical grain wood, and the Japanese use slices of tree trunks. I am very sensitive to the taste of soap, and do not use it on my boards as the board will absorb the taste. Mine are scraped with the blade from an old turner, and washed in hot water. If they get too greasy, I rub them down with salt and leave overnight. A lemon salt mixture should work as well.
 
What Bigjim said--if you wash a board and lay it on the counter while it is wet, the top side of the board will dry and shrink, while the bottom side will swell from the water--causing the board to warp.

Fix it like bigjim says, and henceforth, after you wash it with soap and water, dry it either standing on end, or on a rack, so both sides dry the same.
 
I am not too sure about the use of mineral oil as a board finish. For one thing, there are food grade and non food grade mineral oils around. Food grade mineral oils are used as a lubricant for preparation machinery, and there are prescribed limits of exposure. Another thing, mineral oil is sometimes used as laxitive. I don't want that on my kitchen ware. I have not research this fully, but I do remember that mineral oil was not an approved finish for wooden food containers such as salad bowls years back. Mineral oils are a byo product of petroleum products. If anyone has any information on this subject, please post it. Data above from a very quick glance at Google and my memory from years ago.
 
Just looked at my bottle of mineral oil, which I use for sharpening stone oil. Lists it as a lubricant laxative, Warning list includes children under 6, the aged, pregnant, longer than one week, not with meals, breast feeding, others. Think I'll pass on its use as a cutting board finish.
 
.... Warning list includes children under 6, the aged, pregnant, longer than one week, not with meals, breast feeding, others. Think I'll pass on its use as a cutting board finish.


Those warnings are for taking mineral oil as a laxative. The 'longer than one week' is more than likely the maximum time to take it to assist in pooping.

Thing is, if someone is coating their cutting board so heavily as there to create a situation where there is so much transfer a laxative effect becomes an issue they may want to cut down the application of the oil just a little. Seems to me it would be a bit unsafe to use a board so coated with slick-um.

The oil is suppose to be in the board, not coating the board.

As I have written else ware, on (a) hot summer day(s) I take my board outside, scrub it, let it dry completely then sop on an oil/ bees wax mix and let the mix soak in. I re-apply the mix till there are no 'dry spots'. Then I wipe and scrape the excess and the board is good for another year or so (with the occasional re-app of oil).


Warpage, wood warps. It's the nature of the beast. The board needs constructed with the wood grain in opposition.

I have started running my bread board through a commercial dishwasher. Soon as the cycle is done I scrape the board with a bench knife to remove excess water and let air dry. So far no ill effects.
 
I have a beautiful bamboo board, and I simply wash it with a sponge saturated in anti-bacterial dishwashing liquid, rinse it off, and let it air dry laid across my dish rack.
 
Just looked at my bottle of mineral oil, which I use for sharpening stone oil. Lists it as a lubricant laxative, Warning list includes children under 6, the aged, pregnant, longer than one week, not with meals, breast feeding, others. Think I'll pass on its use as a cutting board finish.

Ummmmm - it's not going to be so saturated ON your cutting board that it would pose ANY problem. The use of mineral oil is not an uncommon thing. It's used BECAUSE it is a food grade item and won't turn rancid like other oils can. It's not a "finish" - it soaks into the wood to keep it from drying out, among other things.

Also, one should always hand-dry their board right away.
 
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