Everything you need to know about boards!

Types of Boards

I like to think there are essentially three different types of cutting and serving boards you can buy.

You can have a plain board - just a slab of wood, maybe nice wood, sometimes it will have some live edge on the sides, lately there is a tendency to have a handle cut into the end. So far, I haven't made any of these.

You can take slabs, usually of different types of wood, cut it into small, long pieces, and glue them together to make "stripey" boards.

In both these types of boards, the grain of the wood is laying lengthwise on the board, we call this "edge-grain". If you use them as a cutting board, two things will happen - your sharp knives will cut across the fibers of the wood, this does some damage to the wood, and also dulls your knives. Think of a tightly bound bundle of toothpicks or wooden skewers laying down, and as you cut across the toothpicks repeatedly, eventually you cut right through some of them, and down to the next layer.

The best cutting boards are those that are endgrain boards made of hardwood. These will tend to have more of a checkered appearance and usually look like a whack of small blocks glued together. When you cut on these boards, you do much less damage to the wood. Imagine that same bundle of toothpicks and cutting down on the ends of them - you will do very little damage to the wood. And, you knives will stay sharper much longer.

How sanitary are wood cutting boards? VERY! A well maintained wood cutting board will actually harbor much fewer bacteria than a plastic cutting board. The pores in the wood are extremely small, wood has natural anti-bacterial properties, and as long as you wipe it down with warm soapy water after each use (never let it soak in the sink, or put it in the dishwasher - you go to woodworkers purgatory for that one!!) and rub it down with some board butter when it looks like it is starting to dry out a bit, your wooden cutting board will last you a lifetime.

Caring for your board - it's the same for all the types of boards

There are two things that will shorten the life of your board, and they seem contradictory - getting wet and getting dry. Moderation folks, its all about moderation. You can get your boards wet - don't worry about slicing tomatoes, or carving your roast on it, not a problem, you will need to wash them too - some soapy water is fine, but don't throw it in the sink full of water (or worse, the dishwasher!! , just use a wet cloth to wipe it down. To let it dry and to store it, stand it on edge. There is a tendency to wash the dirty side more than the other side - if the wood absorbs more water on one side than other, your board might warp and/or crack. So wet is fine, but very wet for a long time - bad.

Boards are typically treated with some sort of oil based product - the most common is food grade mineral oil (readily available from your pharmacy, likely in the laxative section - don't worry - you would have to eat multiple boards to get any of that effect!!), or some sort of "board butter" which is usually a combination of mineral oil and beeswax. When your board starts to show any sign of drying - or ideally before that happens, some say once or twice every month, others a few times a year - smear it with some mineral oil or board butter, let it soak in, then wipe it off after 10 minutes or so. Let it dry (and store it) standing on the edge. Click here for a more comprehensive description of care of your wood boards!