WineLovers Discussion Group

I prefer a goodly sized wood cutting board, thick enough to keep my knuckles from hitting the counter (they do drag, though, when I walk).

The ones I really dislike are those thin, hard plastic ones with a rubber foot at each corner (it's like cutting on flexible glass). So many times when I'm helping at a friend's house, that's the only type available. Whenever I make a cut, the board flexes and I can't make a complete cut. Of course, the problem is compounded by the only knives available: those with curved bottoms and soooo sharp.

Interestingly, some years after wooden boards were phased out of favor, it was discovered that wood has antibacterial properties.

So, let's hear about your favorite cutting boards.

I have several cutting boards, all wood.

One of my younger brothers made me a gorgeous large square maple board about 20 years ago. I love it and use it a lot.

I have a kind of generic anybody's-guess-wood 8 x 12 or so board with a handle. I mainly use this for things like serving cheese.

I also have a 18 x 24 bamboo board that I like quite well.

Oh, and a turkey sized board with a groove around the edge to catch drippings.

I agree with you about the cheap plastic boards. However, at my workplace we have several quite large, thick commercial grade some-kind-of-plastic boards that seem to serve their purpose.

(All measurements in inches)

i use mostly my bamboo-bord (got in SF)



but also figured aut that it hurts my nail-going traditional japanese knifes like usuba and yanagiba quick, so i like to use the new soft-platstic bords from japan.

i like at the bamboo that it dos not take smell fast, and that it can be cleant with lots of water without bending or falling a part.

I haven't found my favorite one yet. I am using a round 15 inch bamboo cutting board right now. It is very pretty, so I put a white plastic board with a rubber backing on top of it. The plastic is awful because after all the use I have given it, I have to bleach it after chopping veggies. It stains terribly. I spray Clorox Clean-up on it until the stains go away, and then scrub it with hot water. I fell in love with the round 15 inch board, thought it looked really classy sitting on my granite counter. Now I wish I had something bigger, so I could also use it to store all my prep piles of food. I despise all those tiny prep dishes and took a hint from our beloved Rachel Ray who uses her board for all her little piles!
I wish I could find a large board that had two useable sides. One for chopping, the other for carving with a well to catch juices, both sides with rubber feet.

Two wood boards here, one for chicken, fish and meat, the other for everything else.

I love the look of the end grain boards, and have two in reserve. But for day to day use, I flat grain, and over time the nicks and cuts have given the non-meat board a wonderful battered look.

At CIA they taught us to use only wood because the wood has a natural antimicrobiolical agent[s].

A very useful article on keeping the three basic types of boards clean was written about ten years ago, but seems to still be current. See [url=http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Cutboard.html]THE MICROBIOLOGY OF CLEANING AND SANITIZING
A CUTTING BOARD, by O. Peter Snyder, Jr., Ph.D.[/url]

Regards, Bob

bob,

thanks for the link.

it only lacks of the difference between diferent wood.

the higher the % of tanic-acids the higher it will be his anti-bac. ability


@all:

a friend of mine has made himself a nice construction:

Does anyone have an opinion on the Epicurean cutting boards? We have a stationary wooden board that we love, but we have several plastic boards that we carry around the kitchen and are in need of replacement. These are laminate and they look and feel better than most plastic boards.

Epicurean

We are also going to take a discordant note here. We have recently changed from wood to heavy acrilic boards with gutters. Can find no difference in cutting ease or effectiveness, they can go out to the grill or smoker in all kinds of weather, and pop into the dish washer. The ones we have do not discolor, a have the heft one looks for in a cutting board.

ones we have do not discolor, a have the heft one looks for in a cutting board.

and make all knifes dull

I have a large plastic cutting board (never use it); a wood cutting board that cracked (use it rarely) and two Epicurean cutting boards that I just love. I am not a delicate cook and not particularly good at maintenance (hence my cracked wood cutting board), and find the Epicurean cutting boards perfect for me. I've had a medium size one for 1.5 years and it is light, sturdy, easy to clean and doesn't require any maintenance other than of course, cleaning it. It is my workhorse cutting board that I use every day. It's well worth the price in my opinion. I just got a little one for small jobs and so far haven't been disappointed.

No plastic here. Several wood cutting boards, primarily the one that came with the 25 year old Jenn Air that's in the house. It acts as a cover for the grill and turns it into a usable work space. When we remodel, I'll have a 6 x 3 hardwood prep surface that I'll feel free to cut away on. I also like those new plastic mats--not a cutting board but flimsy like a thick piece of paper, that one can use to cut on formica or any other otherwise hard surface one wouldn't put a knife to, and then pick up and fold to both move the contents elsewhere and funnel them into pan or bowl. Clever idea.

Karen/NoCA wrote:I wish I could find a large board that had two useable sides. One for chopping, the other for carving with a well to catch juices, both sides with rubber feet.

Karen, Williams Sonoma may have just what you want. They have reversible cutting boards that are essentially rectangles but rounded at each end for big bird duty, with channels on one side and not on the other. No rubber feet, but feet can break off or become uneven such that the board rocks--to create a nonskid surface, get some of that nubby rubber mat (I use it under rugs, and in the wine cellar between layers of bottles to keep them from moving in the event of an earthquake) that you can buy just about everywhere these days and keep a square of it underneath the board. Your board won't move.

Jenise wrote: I also like those new plastic mats--not a cutting board but flimsy like a thick piece of paper

These are very much like the "self-healing" cutting mats that have been around for about 20-25 years now for textile cutting with rotary cutters. I have several of those in various sizes and they are great. I was recently thinking about picking one of the kitchen ones up, but haven't done so yet.

Wood. Big. No feet. Thick.

I don't baby them, and have never had one crack or split or whatever else they might do. I mean, I don't soak them in a sink full of water but I do leave rather a puddle of bleach water on them from time to time before washing.

I have a friend who has a textured glass cutting board with rubber feet. She loves it, but is definitely not cooking-inclined. I don't like it. Isn't that terrible for knives, anyway?

I've used one of those somewhere. Yuck! They give me the willies--sorta like fingernails on a chalkboard.

After trying many different cutting boards I found my two favorites. One is a large soft plastic board that I use for meat. The other is a John Boos maple board that is 24"x18"x2-1/4" (http://www.johnboos.com/residential/products.cfm?category=jbc0002). It has a permanent place next to the sink and is large enough that I never feel cramped no matter how much I am cutting. We also have several small wooden boards that get used for quick jobs because they are simple jobs and fast clean-up or even double as cheese platters but the big board is the work-horse of the kitchen. I did try the bamboo and hard plastic boards and both dulled my knife blades too quickly.

bgbarcus wrote: The other is a John Boos maple board

Oooh! I've long desired one of those. Maybe that will be my next kitchen purchase.

Cynthia Wenslow wrote:

bgbarcus wrote: The other is a John Boos maple board

Oooh! I've long desired one of those. Maybe that will be my next kitchen purchase.

Sounds like you need to buy yourself an early Christmas present. Most people think I'm strange to be such a fan of a cutting board but that's because they don't have one of these.

We recently picked up a couple of softish plastic boards made by Kitchenaid. I really like them and I've been using them like crazy. When we do the kitchen remodel (you'll know when that is by the blue color the moon will take on) I'd like to get a Boos block.

Mike