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Wood Cutting Boards: The Topic

gweixel

By gweixel
in Kitchen Consumer

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blbskue

blbskue

Posted
Posted

What’s everyone’s preferred type of wood for an end grain board? Maple and walnut, and to some extent cherry, seem to be recommended for being a good mix of appropriate hardness and closed pores. 
 

I like the Boos and Boardsmith boards/blocks, but can’t find one in the size I want. Catskill has a 20”x20”x3” end grain that is perfect for my needs, but I think it’s birch and I can’t find anything about whether birch is a good choice. Catskill boards/blocks certainly are more affordable than Boos and Boardsmith.

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, blbskue said:

I like the Boos and Boardsmith boards/blocks, but can’t find one in the size I wan

 

I'm pretty sure Boardsmith will make you any size you want.

 

 

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, blbskue said:

What’s everyone’s preferred type of wood for an end grain board? Maple and walnut, and to some extent cherry, seem to be recommended for being a good mix of appropriate hardness and closed pores. 
 

I like the Boos and Boardsmith boards/blocks, but can’t find one in the size I want. Catskill has a 20”x20”x3” end grain that is perfect for my needs, but I think it’s birch and I can’t find anything about whether birch is a good choice. Catskill boards/blocks certainly are more affordable than Boos and Boardsmith.

I'm no expert, but IIRC birch is one of the harder woods. I seem to recall my father cussing it as he sharpened his chainsaw repeatedly.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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blbskue

blbskue

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, chromedome said:

I'm no expert, but IIRC birch is one of the harder woods. I seem to recall my father cussing it as he sharpened his chainsaw repeatedly.


It’s definitely a hard wood, but softer than rock maple on the Janka scale (1450 for hard maple vs 1260 for birch). Kind of falls between hard maple and walnut (1010).

 

3 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

birch is similar to maple - dense, very close grain - used by many makers.

 

btw -The Boardsmith will do 'custom sizes' and Boos board have had quality issues for some years now.


Good to know. As mentioned above, I knew it falls between rock maple and walnut on the Janka scale so in that regard it seems ideal, but I wasn’t sure if there were other issues to consider since it doesn’t seem to be used as much for end grain boards as maple and walnut.

 

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

I'm pretty sure Boardsmith will make you any size you want.

 

 


Great to know! Thanks. Probably worth getting a custom quote then.

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blbskue

blbskue

Posted
Posted

I reached out to John at The Boardsmith and he does indeed take custom orders. He was super helpful and good with communication, but unfortunately is running about six weeks lead time on custom orders right now which was longer than I wanted to wait if I could avoid it.

 

I found a woodworking outfit here in Kentucky, LIMBA Woodcraft (https://www.furniturehomecraft.com/collections/end-grain) that makes some beautiful looking boards and also take custom orders. They do ship nationwide, and are making me a 20” x 20” x 3” end grain walnut board that will ship next week. Also good communication, and prices are comparable to Boardsmith, maybe moderately less expensive.

 

I’ll post some pics when I receive it.

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted

There you go!  I think he's (John) always been running behind...I've had my boardsmith board for many years, but I do remember him telling me the same, as I slightly customized the board I bought.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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blbskue

blbskue

Posted
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My new board from LIMBA Woodcraft was hand delivered this afternoon by Adam, the guy who made it, since he’s local. Nice guy, and I appreciated the personal delivery touch (he was properly masked and chatted though our storm door).
 

As promised, here are a few pics. I think it looks beautiful.

887985F4-B420-4568-A709-6C13FF639F46.jpeg

6A305A4F-8D07-4561-A252-DC08EBCC10EB.jpeg

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

Very nice. End grain butcher block is one option I'm seriously considering for my countertops, a few years down the road when we (hypothetically) get to build our "forever home."

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
On 1/24/2021 at 5:03 PM, palo said:

 It DOES look beautiful !!! Almost too nice to use. 😛

 

p

 

On 1/24/2021 at 5:37 PM, blbskue said:

I kind of feel the same way. Ha!

 

No way - they get better looking with use! Sorta like us old guys.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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dscheidt

dscheidt

Posted
Posted
On 1/18/2021 at 12:29 PM, blbskue said:

 

 


Good to know. As mentioned above, I knew it falls between rock maple and walnut on the Janka scale so in that regard it seems ideal, but I wasn’t sure if there were other issues to consider since it doesn’t seem to be used as much for end grain boards as maple and walnut.

 

 

It's relatively expensive in the most of the US, and it's not as dramatically pretty as walnut (which is also expensive).  In areas where it's common, it gets used for cutting boards.   I have a large edge grain board made of birch; it came from a restaurant supply place.  It claimed to ave been made in finland, home of many  birch trees.

 

 

 

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Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
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Only caution is to instruct any household help re your gorgeous board's requirements.    Son's fabulous au pair spent hours scouring down his precious work station.    He was able to spend equal time restoring it.   But a little guidance could have prevented both.

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eGullet member #80.

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  • 1 year later...
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

It's always a challenge to decide in which cutting board topic to post.  But this is the Wood Cutting Boards topic and I took delivery of a new wood cutting board.  So anyway, a bit of backstory:  I have three Boos boards.  The smallest is 15x20 inches, by 3 inches thick.  The largest a few feet by several feet, by 2 1/4 inches thick.  I do not actually use them for cutting.  The little walnut end grain board has shown up in many of my kitchen photographs.  It is more for show than blow.

 

But I wanted something I would actually cut upon that was more gentle to my knife edges than the poly boards at my disposal.  The board I bought is 12x18x1.75 inch end grain cherry, from Brooklyn Butcher Blocks:

 

https://www.brooklynbutcherblocks.com/collections/end-grain/products/end-grain-cherry-butcher-block?variant=31721875177572

 

I chose cherry as it is the softest wood offered.  Not to mention, the least expensive.  The board is quite attractive.  Searching eGullet I find no love for Brooklyn Butcher Blocks?  I wonder why this is.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Searching eGullet I find no love for Brooklyn Butcher Blocks?  I wonder why this is.

 

I'd seriously never heard of them - when I was shopping for a wood block years ago, The Boardsmith was what I chose - and it gets love here.

 

And when we renovated our kitchen, I wanted a butcher block portion of countertop - for that I went to a different manufacturer altogether...https://www.jaaronwoodcountertops.com/

 

These boards look very nice. 

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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Strange coincidence:  The New York Times today promotes another Brooklyn butcherblock purveyor:  Artisan Revere.  But they do not look as pretty to my eye and they possess funky little feet.

 

http://artisanrevere.com

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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paulraphael

paulraphael

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 8/23/2022 at 7:36 AM, weinoo said:

 

I'd seriously never heard of them - when I was shopping for a wood block years ago, The Boardsmith was what I chose - and it gets love here.

 

And when we renovated our kitchen, I wanted a butcher block portion of countertop - for that I went to a different manufacturer altogether...https://www.jaaronwoodcountertops.com/

 

These boards look very nice. 

 

I bet they're nice. Just be aware that you're subsidizing Brooklyn real estate. My endgrain board was made deep in the woods in South Carolina (Boardsmith, like Mitch). It's bad enough paying my own rent in Brooklyn. I look for a bargain when paying my woodworker's rent.

Edited by paulraphael (log)
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Notes from the underbelly

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paulraphael

paulraphael

Posted
Posted
On 8/23/2022 at 1:24 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I chose cherry as it is the softest wood offered.  Not to mention, the least expensive.  The board is quite attractive.  Searching eGullet I find no love for Brooklyn Butcher Blocks?  I wonder why this is.

 

 

Cherry's an interesting choice. I asked Dan at the Boardsmith if he thought it would be better for my knives. He believed that the end-grain construction was the most important thing, and that the wood's hardness didn't matter much as long as you were within a certain range (which includes all the woods they use ... cherry, walnut, mahogany, maple. So I went with maple, the most standard choice.

 

But subjectively, I don't find this board to be especially gentle on my edges. While I much prefer cutting on it to cutting on poly boards, I find poly to give me more edge life. So maybe cherry would have been a better choice? This maple board will outlast me by a couple of hundred years, so I'll never find out. 

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  • 1 month later...
AlaMoi

AlaMoi

Posted
Posted

fyi, Dave Smith, founder of The Boardsmith, passed away in April 2020.

Prior to his death he turned over the business to long time associate John Loftis.  the manufacturing/etc is currently located in Plano, Texas.

 

I got a 16x22 Walnut with Maple field in 2017.

it is used every single day, multiple times per day - it resides on a granite island top so it is the defacto counter top for cutting/prep of 'everything'

just ordered a 16x22 Walnut with Cherry field (house warming gift) for our youngest.

Boardsmith produces absolutely top quality products. 

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