Cutting boards

[itryalot]

I see those gorgeous antique french ones yet I can't seem to keep one for more than 3 years.
Any favourite brands, do's and don'ts?
I don't use water to clean them.

Do you have a separate one for meats, etc?

[Carpenter Dave]

Richlite is a new solid surface, their website has cutting boards available. This stuff is AMAZING!!! They will ship you a sample for $3.00. Gets nice patina like wood, goes in the dishwasher.

[jrhsfcm]

I actually bought my wood cutting board from IKEA a number of years ago. It appears that they're selling significantly inferior products these days; however, the one that I got from them is made in the same manner as the Boos boards... though I only spent about $15 on it. It's rather heavy and very solid - no problems with it at all.

Anyone else come across these back in the day?

[Stack8]

I'll go for the Boo's as well.

[Lindy Lou]

I have a hand-made wood cutting board I bought in Vermont. I usually just wipe it clean with a clean sponge and water from my instant-hot faucet. If it's really dirty I'll use some
soap and water. It's important to dry it off and also oil it with food-grade mineral oil
butcher block oil (both can be purchased at Sur La Table) several times a week. Also NEVER use it to cut raw meat,
poultry, fish. For this I use plastic boards that I wash in the dishwasher. Lindy Lou

[itryalot]

Thanks. I will be purchasing a new BOOS cutting board and some mineral oil to go with it.

[applehome]

After washing and thoroughly drying wood boards, it's a good idea to rub in some mineral oil. Let the wood soak it in and wipe off well. This will keep the wood from drying out and splitting. If your board is warping, it's just a cheap thin board - get rid of it and get something decent, like a Boos Block. See link:

http://www.johnboos.com/residential/p...

[Carpenter Dave]

Make sure you wash BOTH sides of your board and dry it up on its side. If you wash 1 side, it will swell and expand, thus causing wet side to crown. If you wash both sides and lay it flat on the cnter when damp, the top side will dry faster and contract, thus causing the bottom side to crown.
My favorite is a 20 " round 2 1/2" thick BAMBOO job with a stainless band around the outside. LOVE IT!!!

[crawfish]

My understanding is that bamboo cutting boards contain tons of glue which is not good for your knives and potentially not good for you. Because of the hollow structure of bamboo many many pieces have to be glued together to form a cutting board. This is also why it is prone to splitting. Please anybody, offer another opinion because this all makes sense to me.

[crawfish]

I wash mine quickly with a soapie scrub brush and water and let it dry in the dish rack and I've never had a problem. I wash it pretty quickly after using it too so food doesn't dry on to the surface - and my husband doesn't come along and cut the bread in the chicken guck. I tend to use a plastic one for meat but I'm not fanatical about it.

A good wood chopping board should be pieced together from smaller pieces of wood like a batcher block, this minimises warping. If yours are warping just from using a little water it's a crappy board and I'd return it.

[illgastro]

antique french? like what a butcher block? or those thick round things? make your own find a nice piece of wood and roll with it. if you are in a restaurant your supposed to have a seperate one by law.how do u clean it if not with water? the way i ve learned is to put a about a 1/4 inch of kosher salt on it this helps to "cure" your cuting board by drawing out moisture which is what bacteria needs to thrive. also the kind of cutting boards used in most restaurant are not made of wood do to its porous nature.i dont know exactlly what material we use but ill find out for u

[itryalot]

Thanks. Yes, like those French thick round ones.
I would like more info on curing them. You sound like you know what you're doing.
When I used to use water to clean my first few, they warped like crazy!