Cutting boards...

Hello,

Just curious what type of cutting boards everyone uses to cut meat and veggies. I have been using the plastic kind and the grooves that my knoife makes is starting to gett deeper and stained with the green from veggies. I was thinking that I am either using the wrong kind of knife or the wrong kind of board. Any help would be appreciated.

All cutting boards can be damaged by knife use. Sounds like your best bet is to get a new cutting board. A wooden cutting board could be planed and sanded to remove the grooves. But, unless you have access to the tools, its probably cheaper to buy a new board.

I'm a fan of plastic cutting boards. I like the fact that they are dishwasher safe. I recently got a couple of Kitchen Aid cutting boards with some rubber corners that keep the boards from sliding around. I really like them. When I use my larger wooden boards, I use a sheet of non-skid shelf paper to hold the board in place.

For veggies and the like I don't use anything but wood. I'll use plastic for raw proteins since it can go into the dishwasher. Personally, my favorite material is a good, heavy butcher block. I've made it clear to the bride to be that when we buy a house the first thing to be installed is a large BB counter top. In the meantime, last week I got to have a load of fun registering for kitchen stuff at BB&B. Of course I included the largest BB cutting board they offered.

Flip

I just wrote two columns on cutting boards for CHOW. One on plastic http://www.chow.com/stories/10452 - and the other on wood http://www.chow.com/stories/10467

At home I use The Gripper by Architec for light everyday use - if I'm going to be breaking down a lot of product then it's my Boos block.

I've gotten friendly with the guy who owns the Butcher Block Factory Outlet at the end of my block. He'll custom cut any size/thickness/wood you want. I had an inch-thick board cut to fit the top of my cube freezer--he even routed (sp?) a juice/liquid trough around the edges for me.

I'm also a fan of the plastic cutting boards. You can get uber-cheap ones at Wal-Mart and most Chinese markets. Just toss 'em when they start getting funky.

Butcher Block Factory Outlet
555 W 16th St
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 666-9144

I have a few plastic boards and i used to have nice hunk of a board made of oak or maple -- i always forget which.

However, i was given a very fine bamboo board about a year ago and it's incredibly nice -- it also seems to really hold up to knife work and and wear and tear.

Plus it's good for the environment!

Mostly I use plastic boards. I have a couple of thicker ones that have gotten stained over the years and I should probably discard (one got melted on one corner when it got shoved onto the cooktop and doesn't lie flat anymore), and some thin flexible ones I like a lot, but my favorite knife (a Shun "Alton's Angles") tends to cut right through it when I do fine chopping and mincing.

I also have this massive 15" square, 4" high block made of laminated bamboo that's a joy to use -- impenetrable and heavy. It also raises the countertop up to a more comfortable level for me. I tend to put one of the flexy mats on top of it when I cut proteins. Its biggest downfall is its weight and the fact that it has a gutter routed around the edge, meaning that I can't sweep crumbs, chopped herbs, etc, off the surface.

JoelF wrote: It also raises the countertop up to a more comfortable level for me.

Maybe this is why I've always preferred the butcher block? At the restaurant I'd always stack at least 2-3 boards on top of each other to prevent a hideous back ache.

Flip

Flip wrote:

JoelF wrote: It also raises the countertop up to a more comfortable level for me.

Maybe this is why I've always preferred the butcher block? At the restaurant I'd always stack at least 2-3 boards on top of each other to prevent a hideous back ache.

Flip

A common trick is to place a cutting board on top of a hotel pan - damp towel on the countertop, hotel pan, damp towel, cutting board.

Louisa Chu wrote:

Flip wrote:

JoelF wrote: It also raises the countertop up to a more comfortable level for me.

Maybe this is why I've always preferred the butcher block? At the restaurant I'd always stack at least 2-3 boards on top of each other to prevent a hideous back ache.

Flip

A common trick is to place a cutting board on top of a hotel pan - damp towel on the countertop, hotel pan, damp towel, cutting board.

I've done that too, but instead of the damp towels we had rubber mats to keep the pans and boards in place. To this day I always place a tamp towel under my boards to keep them in place.

Flip

Any cutting board recs? I would like to get one cutting board for meat and another one for fruit/veg/cheese. I don't know if I should try getting the plastic mats. I saw that the plastic mats might not be good enough if I am using a Shun knife to cut melons/pineapples.

I think cutting basically break down into three categories:

Poly/Plastic
Because they can be put in the dishwasher, they're the most food-safe. They're inexpensive, lightweight and durable. They can be hard on knife edges, though.

Wood
Wood is a decent mid-priced option and it looks great. Durable and attractive but often heavy. For longest life, they need extra care. They should be seasoned with a food-safe oil/wax at the outset and regularly, and should never go in the dishwasher. Within the wood category, edge grain will typically hold up the best because you'll be cutting against the grain when you use it and that incurs less damage to the board. It's worse for your knives than the alternate wood option: end grain. These are the boards that look like patchwork. They aren't quite as durable as end grain. Because you'll be cutting on them with the grain, they're more susceptible to physical damage and staining. They do less damage to your knives, though.

Soft Synthetic
Almost rubbery in their surface texture, these boards sometimes have lightweight wood cores. They're pricey and can stain easily. And they need to be washed by hand. But they're very easy on knives, which makes them most ideal for professional environments, where edge retention is generally most critical.

Also, think about size and weight. Will you be moving the board often? Will you need to fit it in your sink? Think about whether you want the convenience of a board you can use both sides of, or one with feet or a base, that will provide more stability but will likely wear faster. Lots of factors and attributes to consider.

If you cook a lot, you'll probably come to the conclusion that you need more than one (type of) board. Like any tools, they're designed to excel in certain situations and not all cooking situations are universal.

=R=

I have two workhorse boards that basically stay in place (my current kitchen set up is a peninsula, so I have two prep areas)—the large Food52 bamboo cutting board that stays on the peninsula because it’s pretty (https://www.nordstrom.com/s/five-two-by-food52-bamboo-cutting-board/5708534 and an even larger polypropylene commercial grade board that’s always next to the range. For meat/fish/chicken I use smaller, skinny plastic boards that I place on top of the “permanent” boards when I prep those items and those go in the dishwasher for sanitizing after each use.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize that there was some maintenance required for my bamboo cutting board.

shorty wrote:Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize that there was some maintenance required for my bamboo cutting board.

Very likely you'll get by for a time without it but the board will last much longer if care for it. CW with oil/wax is once a day for a week, once a week for a month and once a month for a year, and ongoing. If it gets cruddy, just sand it with some fine grit paper and start the process again.

=R=

I'm similar to above. A trusty wooden board and a variety of plastic ones for easy cleaning or putting in the dishwasher.

My only thing to call out would be to buy an ample sized board, if you have the counter space. Mine is 20x15 and that's typically sufficient but itd be nice to have a little more surface area.

I would recommend mineral oil, which you can get at any drug store, for oiling your wood cutting boards. I always give a bottle of oil when I give someone my homemade cutting boards.

lougord99 wrote:I would recommend mineral oil, which you can get at any drug store, for oiling your wood cutting boards. I always give a bottle of oil when I give someone my homemade cutting boards.

That cutting board is beautiful. Thanks for the tip.

The wood boards are beautiful but too heavy for me and I like to put mine in the dishwasher so I use mostly poly cutting boards. I like the ones that are darker in color such as gray as they don't show the stains. I have gotten some of the stains out with Soft scrub with bleach but I won't be buying any of the white ones any more.

I have a few nice/fancy/quality wood cutting boards that I use on occasion. Day to day its Oxo Good Grips bought with an ever-present coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond. The Oxos have unobtrusive feet, stick to the counter without a damp towel underneath and are cheap enough, especially with coupons, to replace as needed.
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/ ... ing-boards

When redoing our kitchen and after throwing out two designers who wanted to design a kitchen for themselves, I asked myself the question, why use cutting boards?
I then designed my own kitchen redo and had my contractor install the countertops, make new custom cabinets to my specifications and a custom rack to hold all the spice containers.
I had John Boos end grain 4” butcher block countertops installed everywhere except on either side of the Viking where I had Boos end grain installed due to the height.
https://butcherblockco.com/product/mapl ... ain-4thick
Now I use a large white poly board for fish on one of the countertops.
I did purchase a Boos cutting board with course pyramids specifically designd for holding and cutting large roasts. Has a drawer to catch juices for sauces.
https://butcherblockco.com/product/jo-u ... ving-board
-Richard

Richard - that's gorgeous, but a lot more than even the high end stone (saw some gorgeous fossil-laden stuff at Advantage Plumbing in Niles a while ago). For a small kitchen I can see doing that, but I've got three very long runs of countertop.