Natural wood cutting board?

[kenny1999]

I've bought a cheap natural wood cutting board, yes, very cheap, only $1.

I'd like to know
1. Which kind of food is recommended to be used on a wood board and which kind of food is NOT recommended to be used?

2. When to throw it away? Any sign?

 

[taxlady]

I use a wooden cutting board mostly for cutting bread and for raw meat. Yes, I wash the board immediately after having raw meat on it.

I don't use wood for cutting foods that stain, like beets.

I haven't had to throw away a wooden cutting board yet. I suppose they sometimes crack or split.

 

[WhateverYouWant]

The Howard company makes a product called "Butcher Block Conditioner" which I use on my maple countertop and cutting boards. In addition to mineral oil, it contains beeswax (which does a pretty good job sealing it, preventing staining and making it pretty easy to wash).

A bottle of it is gonna cost about ten times the price of your cutting board, but it will keep it better than new almost indefinitely.

 

[dragnlaw]

Only wood boards I've ever thrown out have been cracked/broken.

I have thin ones, medium ones, super thick ones - never done anything other than wash. Most stains will leach out... eventually. I did buy some mineral oil with the intention of using but that was about 1 or 2 years ago. Bottle still unopened in the cupboard.

Have a set of 4 I bought at the dollar store. Come in very handy for under hot plates, or if friend(s) over and we are cutting multiply items at the same time.

 

[lastmanstanding]

Get it made from really hard wood, and you can use it for cutting anything on. Clean well after using and that's all. Throw away when it starts peeling off from knife cuts. That will be after years. I mean, don't throw away you can still use it for something else

 

[dragnlaw]

Kenny, diverging a bit here, but have you ever seen or wondered about those huge butcher blocks?

They start off with a completely flat top. Then they start to develop a 'dip' on top. The older they are the bigger the dip.

This is from the scraping they do when their blocks start getting rough from cutting meats. They use a mandolin type blade to scrap off all the loose cuts.

 

[jennyema]

Go to the drug store and get some food grade mineral oil to condition it.

I never ever use my nice wood board for meat.

 

[GotGarlic]

Go to the drug store and get some food grade mineral oil to condition it.

I never ever use my nice wood board for meat.

I use my wood cutting board for meat all the time. Its porosity draws pathogens to the interior where they die of dehydration within about 10 minutes.

 

[taxlady]

Go to the drug store and get some food grade mineral oil to condition it.

I never ever use my nice wood board for meat.

I use my wood cutting board for meat all the time. Its porosity draws pathogens to the interior where they die of dehydration within about 10 minutes.

Yup, that's why I use wood cutting boards for meat too. In fact, those are the only cutting boards I use for raw meat.

 

[kenny1999]

Hi all . I forgot to ask, can I clean the wood board with detergent?

According to the label it can be cleaned with dish-washing detergent but I am worried that it will stay in the board even after rinsing with water because wood doesn't look like to be completely impermeable...

Any comment on this?

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi all . I forgot to ask, can I clean the wood board with detergent?

According to the label it can be cleaned with dish-washing detergent but I am worried that it will stay in the board even after rinsing with water because wood doesn't look like to be completely impermeable...

Any comment on this?

That's not necessary. I clean my board with a mixture of 1 cup each of white vinegar, lemon juice and water and it's worked great for me for decades.

 

[dragnlaw]

Mine all go into the sink and get washed like any other dish. I do NOT let them sit there and soak. Have never had a problem.

 

[cookwewill]

I'm using ONLY wooden ones, for everything. Proper wash directly after the use, using basic dish-washing detergent... they last for years, as someone mentioned above, I only throw them away when they break.

 

[roadfix]

I’m about to order three butcher blocks, 18” x 30” by 2” thick to build an audio component rack. I already got a set of 2” diameter stainless steel legs for each tier.
I will apply dark stain and polyurethane.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Borax, vinegar, Hydrogen peroxide will all disinfect wooden cutting boards, and remove stains. Follow by treating with mineral oil, or mineral oil combined with beeswax/

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[AwesomeOpossum74]

My little contribution ... wood toxicity in cutting boards:
https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/woods-avoid-making-cutting-boards/

I personally like to use my bamboo boards because they are lightweight, and (I've heard) have natural antibacterial properties.

 

[Andy M.]

My little contribution ... wood toxicity in cutting boards:
https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/woods-avoid-making-cutting-boards/

I personally like to use my bamboo boards because they are lightweight, and (I've heard) have natural antibacterial properties.

It's my understanding that bamboo boards are hard on your knives' edges because the epoxy used with the bamboo is very hard.

 

[dragnlaw]

I don't find much difference in my boards. Hardwood may not mark/cut quite as easy as the bamboo but they both still mark to some extent. (as even plastic ones)

As to glue being hard on knives - shouldn't think the glue for bamboo would be any more hard/dense than one on maple. Especially the boards that are laminated across in multiple pieces (which seems to b popular lately).

But I don't pay attention to what makes my knives dull. I sharpen when I feel they need.

 

[taxlady]

I don't find much difference in my boards. Hardwood may not mark/cut quite as easy as the bamboo but they both still mark to some extent. (as even plastic ones)

As to glue being hard on knives - shouldn't think the glue for bamboo would be any more hard/dense than one on maple. Especially the boards that are laminated across in multiple pieces (which seems to b popular lately).

But I don't pay attention to what makes my knives dull. I sharpen when I feel they need.

I'm pretty sure that it's because there is so much glue with bamboo. Bamboo "wood" is made from thin strips of bamboo, laminated together.

 

[dragnlaw]

Can't really say I can see that great a difference in the laminated wood on these 2 boards. Yes, they are different widths but really, hardly enough to make that kind of a difference.