Cutting board

A cutting board, also known as a chopping board, is a kitchen utensil (see list of food preparation utensils), used as a flat surface on which to cut or slice things. Cutting boards are often made of wood or plastic. There are also chopping boards made of glass - they're easier to clean than the wooden or plastic ones, but are damaging to the knives.

Sanitation and Care

Sanitation with cutting boards is delicate, because bacteria can get into the grooves produced by cutting. For this reason, it is often advised to cut raw meat on separate cutting boards from cooked meat or vegetables.

A very dilute Bleach solution is best for disinfecting cutting boards.

A light food grade Mineral oil is a good preservative for wooden cutting boards as it helps keep water from seeping into the grain. Alternatively, one may also use a food grade drying oil such as poppyseed oil, tung oil or linseed oil. The first two dry much faster than linseed.

Wood boards should never be placed in the dishwasher, or left immersed for long periods. With proper care a wood cutting board can be handed down from one generation to the next.

When heavily or deeply scored, wood or plastic cutting boards should be resurfaced as scoring can harbor excessive bacteria, or mildew in the case of plastic boards. Wood can be easily resurfaced with various woodworking tools, such as scrapers or planes. Sandpaper is to be avoided however, as it leaves residual abrasives in the surface, which will dull knives. Resurfacing a plastic cutting board is more difficult.

Materials

Wood

Wood has the advantage over plastic in that it is somewhat self healing; shallow cuts in the wood will close up on their own.

Hard, tight grained hardwoods with small pores, such as hard Maple are best. Good hardness and tight grain helps reduce scoring of the cutting surface and seepage of liquid and dirt into the surface. Red Oak for example, has large pores so it retains dirt, even after washing, making it a poor choice for cutting board material.

Care must be taken when selecting tropical hardwoods for use as cutting boards as many contain toxins or allergens.

Although technically a grass, laminated strips of Bamboo also make an attractive and durable cutting board material.

Plastic

While theoretically more sanitary than wooden cutting boards, testing has shown this is not the case. However, antibiotics can be integrated into the plastic mix. Unfortunately plastic is softer than wood, and does not self heal. Mildew can even form in deep scoring. Semi-disposible thin flexible cutting boards take little skill to transfer their contents to container

Glass

Their main selling points are perceived to have easier cleanup, dishwasher safe and the fact that they are clear so the counter below shows through. While easier to clean than wood or plastic, glass cutting boards damage knives. Because they have a textured slip resistant surface, and are much harder than the steel of even the highest quality knife, they quickly destroy the edge of a knife. Serrated knives last longer, but are still heavily damaged. In short they are only suitable for use with cheap, poorly sharpened, unresharpenable serrated knives that are thrown away once dull.

External links

Cooking For Engineers's Cutting Boards Article