Preferred cutting board material and qualities?

[Spyderwebs]

We're due for a cutting board refresh and I'm wondering what people like in the low-mid price cutting board category?

We're trying to avoid plastic. Metal, glass, and ceramic are all bad for edges I assume. I hear Bamboo is surprisingly abrasive too?

Is end-grain wood the best (kindest) substrate for edges?
What cutting boards (brands or types) are a good value?
What specific wood species are preferable or should be avoided.

Edge-uacate me on the finer points of choosing a good cutting board!

[vivi]

I keep meaning to order myself a nice, wide, 1"+ thick end grain wood board.



But, I have a few of these san jamar cut n carry boards I got for free from restaurants I've managed that were getting new boards. Re-surfaced the one in my kitchen a couple years back and it's been doing great.

I'll be watching the responses too,and maybe finally get around to upgrading.

[Scandi Grind]

I know quite a few people on a kitchen knife forum that say end grain is best on edges, but they are typically expensive. I've never found a good cheap one. Right now I am using Teak Haas cross grain teak cutting boards which I got for a good price from TJ Max. They are pretty affordable and they were the only brand there that was actually flat. Many people say to avoid teak if you can because it does have high amounts of silica that will dull your edges faster, but their is a lot of variation in teak wood and Teak Haas seems to be pretty good on edges for being teak. I felt it was a pretty good balance of healthy, fair on edges, and well priced.

They are not super thick, so over time I have had them begin to warp a little, but nothing so extreme that I would hesitate to use them, unless I was using a knife that was dead flat. For maintenance I do wash them with castile soap every use, and am trying to get into a habit of spraying them down with vinegar on a regular basis to keep them better sanitized. I hear salt can also be good for more thorough cleaning, or of course bleach, but I'm always afraid I'm gonna get bleach on something I don't want to.

[Danke]

End grain

[VandymanG]

OK can someone clarify what end grain means. I can guess but I wouldn’t mind a better explanation if we have a resident expert here. I use a wood cutting board but I’m not sure if it is end grain or not. My wife uses plastic ones even though I’ve told her they’re not good health wise.

[zhyla]

Don’t forget rubber! That’s a big thing in Japan, shelling out big bucks for a big slab of rubber.

People making a big assumption that it matters. Obviously metal not good for edges and — shocker — is essentially not used by anyone. There’s not enough bits of HDPE or bacteria going into your food to matter. Buy what is convenient.

[kobold]

I use a bamboo and a wooden one for food. A white plastic one I use in crafts, not food, and another huge, unwieldy bamboo one is just hanging out unused for the time being. I also often find myself cutting up juicy tomatoes and such on a stainless steel or pyrex plate or tray to minimize mess and it's more straightforward to transfer the cut up pieces from a tray than from a board. The edge is not really damaged for the amount of cutting I do this way. Some of my steels are probably harder than glass anyway :-)

[wocket]

I use Epicurean cutting boards; I heard they're made out of Richlite. I just thought it was amusing cutting against a handle material. They seem to be gentle on the knives, and are dishwasher safe. Gouges are evident. One could resurface it with sandpaper... for when I run out of chores to do.

[Jesla]

Richlite…. Is a material that combines recycled and renewable forest products with a thermosetting resin.

Thermo setting resin…. Is plastic

So, richlite is plant fibers and plastic. I use bamboo, but I don’t really do much food prep. When I do, I use a paper plate on top of the cutting board. It rarely even gets wet during use.

Guess this an advantage of living alone…. Little to no food prep.

[Danke]

OK can someone clarify what end grain means. I can guess but I wouldn’t mind a better explanation if we have a resident expert here. I use a wood cutting board but I’m not sure if it is end grain or not. My wife uses plastic ones even though I’ve told her they’re not good health wise.

Edge-Grain: The wood is cut lengthwise, so the fibers run horizontally.
End-Grain: The wood is cut into cross sections so you can see concentric rings (like on a tree stump). Boards with this cut are also known as butcher blocks.

[VandymanG]

I got a question for any one that may be a butcher for a living. What do butchers use in the shop and what do they recommend?

[Ankerson]

I got a question for any one that may be a butcher for a living. What do butchers use in the shop and what do they recommend?

Here is a hint...

Next time you go to the grocery store look in the meat department and see what they use to process meat on.

[VandymanG]

I got a question for any one that may be a butcher for a living. What do butchers use in the shop and what do they recommend?

Here is a hint...

Next time you go to the grocery store look in the meat department and see what they use to process meat on.

I don’t go to a grocery store. I go to a butcher shop where they process all the meat in a back room. So I have no clue what they use and no clue what they personally recommend.

[Ankerson]

I got a question for any one that may be a butcher for a living. What do butchers use in the shop and what do they recommend?

Here is a hint...

Next time you go to the grocery store look in the meat department and see what they use to process meat on.

I don’t go to a grocery store. I go to a butcher shop where they process all the meat in a back room. So I have no clue what they use and no clue what they personally recommend.

Here is the typical, what i had seen personally for more than 25 years in that business.

[VandymanG]

I got a question for any one that may be a butcher for a living. What do butchers use in the shop and what do they recommend?

Here is a hint...

Next time you go to the grocery store look in the meat department and see what they use to process meat on.

I don’t go to a grocery store. I go to a butcher shop where they process all the meat in a back room. So I have no clue what they use and no clue what they personally recommend.

Here is the typical, what i had seen personally for more than 25 years in that business.

Thank you.

[VandymanG]

I’m still going to use my wood board because it looks nice. but I think I saw plastic regularly used in the video. So I’m not going to stress over a plastic versus whatever. I figure it’s pretty much out of my control unless I start buying and butchering my own cows. Not gonna happen. Thank you to all the butchers who get up way to early to do their jobs, grateful.

[Ankerson]

I’m still going to use my wood board because it looks nice. but I think I saw plastic regularly used in the video. So I’m not going to stress over a plastic versus whatever. I figure it’s pretty much out of my control unless I start buying and butchering my own cows. Not gonna happen. Thank you to all the butchers who get up way to early to do their jobs, grateful.

They pretty much all use plastic in grocery stores and other commercial meat processing centers.

It's VERY rare to see something else being used since everything has to be Food Safe Certified and is inspected on a regular basis.

You can literally eat off the floor after they clean for the day.

Hospitals aren't that clean.