Traditional Chinese Cutting/Chopping Board

[canucklehead]

I went and purchased a giant iron wood chopping block. Made from one piece of wood - about 5 inches thick and 18 inches across.

I love it! I've applied many layers of mineral oil and it is a suprisingly thirsty board. I was told that I should place a wet cloth over it of the first year or so of use, otherwise it is very prone to spliting. Sure enough, one night I did not have the wet cloth over it - and small cracks started forming, despite the many layers of mineral oil.

I guess it will take a while for this block to fully cure. Does anyone else use this type of chopping block? Any thing I should be aware of?

I would make me sad if it did split badly, but I want to use the board and not baby it.

In the meantime, I will regularly oil it and keep it slightly damp.

Edited March 30, 2008 by canucklehead (log)

[eldereno]

I've had a round solid block bought from a chinese cookware site, not nearly as smooth and beautiful as yours. It did spit pretty badly. I keep it at my outside grilling location now.

Your board looks beautiful. I hope you can do what you need to to keep it that way. Seems like way too much work for me!

[DylanK]

I find the best time to get them is during Miao Hui (庙会), when everyone comes in from the countryside to sell things like this. Cured or just raw wood, massive pieces of tree trunk, the ideal cutting board.

[tme4tls]

I would keep water off the wood in any form except for washing. The natural pores of the wood will absorb moisture and will cause cracks and warps.

Since wood is a natural organic material, the shrinking caused by the internal moisture leaving the wood will cause cracking and splitting. It is inevitable. A solid piece of wood isn't nearly as stable or as strong as a layered or laminated piece. Plywood is stronger than solid wood for instance.

BTW Iron wood is super hard. On the Janka hardness chart, Ipe/Ironwood is rated at 3680, 2.5 times harder than hard maple. Can cause chipping and premature dulling of your fine edges.

David

The BoardSMITH

[canucklehead]

David

Thanks for the advice - I went to your website also (I assume that's your website). Anyways - I get alot of conflicting advice. My uncle and mom say that I should be soaking it in water. But websites and knife/board experts say that I should avoid water. Right now - I am applying as much mineral oil as it soaks up - and its thirsty!

I also have reconciled myself that it will split. Hopefully - it will be in a way that adds character and not renders the board useless.

[naguere]

I brought one back from my Hong Kong tour, only to find a deep fissure in it on unpacking. It got burned only for me to find out the solution was to put it in a bucket of water for a few days for it to swell up again.

I got another this Christmas, very much like your picture and was advised to oil it.

In the light of my previous experience it gets a soaking most days when I have a boiled egg for breakfast, the boiled water gets poured over it and it seems to keep it in good condition.

[canucklehead]

naguere - my uncle says the same thing. I suspect that seasoning the board is going to take some time.

With chinese restaurants - ongoing usage keeps the board from cracking. This includes alternating wet and cooked oily food being used on it. Eventually - or so I was told - the board cures and then the board no longer needs regular wetting.

[takadi]

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleav...ping-block.html

"Chinese Chopping Blocks

The Chinese version of the cutting board, these chopping blocks are better than their Western counterpart, for not only are they anti-bacterial (as studies have proven), but the soft wood also does not dull knife blades like harder woods and plastics. Made of pine wood from the California gold country (Auburn/Placerville area). Approx.3" thick. Storage Hint: store chopping blocks upright (not on flat sides) so they do not retain moisture."

Are there actual studies out there as the claim says?

Edited April 15, 2008 by takadi (log)

[weinoo]

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleav...ping-block.html

 

"Chinese Chopping Blocks

The Chinese version of the cutting board, these chopping blocks are better than their Western counterpart, for not only are they anti-bacterial (as studies have proven), but the soft wood also does not dull knife blades like harder woods and plastics. Made of pine wood from the California gold country (Auburn/Placerville area). Approx.3" thick. Storage Hint: store chopping blocks upright (not on flat sides) so they do not retain moisture."

Are there actual studies out there as the claim says?

←

Well, I think the studies have proven that both are safe, when treated correctly...from an article in Cook's Illustrrated:

researchers at a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lab concluded that beef bacteria on polyethylene and wooden cutting boards had statistically similar patterns of attachment and removal. Even so, the idea that wood is more sanitary than plastic persists and was recently reaffirmed in the food section of the New York Times.

[Octaveman]

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleav...ping-block.html

 

"Chinese Chopping Blocks

The Chinese version of the cutting board, these chopping blocks are better than their Western counterpart, for not only are they anti-bacterial (as studies have proven), but the soft wood also does not dull knife blades like harder woods and plastics. Made of pine wood from the California gold country (Auburn/Placerville area). Approx.3" thick. Storage Hint: store chopping blocks upright (not on flat sides) so they do not retain moisture."

Are there actual studies out there as the claim says?

←

Yes, there have been lots of studies going back at least to the 70's. First wood was antibacterial, then it wasn't and now it's back to being antibacterial. Any end-grain butcher block type board is antibacterial. They go into the wood fibers (think tight straw broom) where they die. With edge-grain wood or poly boards, the bacteria stays out in the open until washed off.

[takadi]

Does this apply for any cross grain board, for wood boards in general, or specific types of wood boards?