Cutting Board Sanitizer/Sanitizing Cutting Boards

[budrichard]

Commercial and household sanitation are two different things.

In a commerical environment one is faced with a large number of individuals that could be affected by unsanitary processess and a higher degree of assurance is required because of the varying skills and acumen of the commercial workers. Household sanitation will only affect a small number of individuals and if the household providers are scrupuliously clean, then the degree of assuredeness is less. EOT-Dick

[paulraphael]

If you're worried about the dangers of using sanitizing chemicals around food (vs. the dangers of pathogens), why does it matter if you're cooking for 5 or for 500?

Edited November 19, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[JeanneCake]

If you're worried about the dangers of using sanitizing chemicals around food (vs. the dangers of pathogens), why does it matter if you're cooking for 5 or for 500?

←

hopefully because his family would not sue him if they became ill after eating food prepared in his kitchen!

I agree that this all comes down to protecting yourself if challenged legally as a result of a claim or in the face of complaints made to your local Board of Health. You need to follow certain rules in order to assure others that you are following accepted modes of practice in food preparation for the public. What you do at home (different rules!) is not allowed in public

[paulraphael]

You need to follow certain rules in order to assure others that you are following accepted modes of practice in food preparation for the public.  What you do at home (different rules!) is not allowed in public 

←

Well, there aren't different rules at home; there are no rules. It's not a regulated environment. Short of murder, or manufacturing crack, you do just about anything you want in your kitchen!

I find the results of this difference educational. There are estimates that between 60% and 90% of all cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. come from food cooked at home. Unfortunately it's a vague set of figures, because most cases aren't reported (most may not even be identified as foodborne). But at any rate, it challenges the common assumption that food poisoning is confined to filthy restaurants.

Given all this, I'm happy to learn from what they do in the commercial environment. And as I said before, I'm thrilled that my rags and sponges don't stink anymore.

[tme4tls]

I believe, IMHO, the important thing is that some form of sanitation is used as opposed to nothing at all. Each form has its good points and bad points, each has the best place and the worst place for use.

To use nothing is criminal and shows no respect for your friends or family who dine on what has been prepared on the cutting surface. That is a person I would avoid at all costs.

Is wood better or is plastic? That answer is up to the individual and can be argued and discussed to the point of nausea. I believe that wooden boards are best, but I make wooden boards so my opinion is skewed. Using plastic or wood is better than glass or stone and some sanitizing is better than none.

David

The BoardSMITH

Edited November 23, 2008 by tme4tls (log)

[Martin Fisher]

Perhaps I should be spanked for preferring poly boards for everyday use. 

I clean them and then pour near boiling water over them to sanitize.

I have and love wood boards, but I hate to mar then (it's the OCD in me)—except for an old wood board from West Germany.

I use the wood boards mainly for serving.

[lindag]

After a few years of use I gave away my big wooden board.  It was lovely but I never felt it was clean enough and it held onto odors.

Now I use only the poly boards that can go into the d/w.  They don't dull my knives and are easy to maneuver (my wooden board was really heavy).  While I'm not by any means a germaphobe (sp?),  I like knowing they're clean. 

[paulraphael]

I don't have any issues with the cleanliness of my endgrain board. It stays ungrooved, and I spray all boards with sanitizer after washing. I just don't like the sensation of cutting on poly boards. That said, I use them fairly often, and have to admit that they're gentler on my knife edges than the end-grain maple. It's not a dramatic difference, but on plastic my gyuto holds on to its freshly sharpened feel somewhat longer. This goes against some of the conventional thinking.

 

I haven't had the pleasure of using the rubber sani-tuff boards. They're ugly and don't smell great, but I imagine are extremely gentle on knives, and offer dish-washer friendliness of plastic.

[Ann_T]

I tell our customers that a few cut marks on our Big Leaf Maple boards just give it character.   

You can always sand out cut marks if they really bother you.  An orbital palm sander works great.

 

A good way to clean a board that has taken on a scent is with a cut lemon, with salt and baking soda.   Use the cut side of a lemon as a scrubber.

 

You can also wipe down with a very diluted solution of bleach.  Very diluted.    I prefer the lemon over the smell of bleach. 

And keep all wood boards well oiled with mineral oil.   You can't oil often enough. 

[MetsFan5]

I put my boards— all of them— in the dishwasher. My wooden ones a lot less often. Is that heresay? 

[dcarch]

It seems that I am the only one in the whole world who microwaves cutting boards and UV boards.

 

1. Wood boards - Depending on size of board and power of MW, less than a minute or you can start a fire.

 

2. Plastic boards - a wet towel on top and bottom then MW.

 

3. Wood or plastic, germicidal UV lights for a few minutes, if I have to cook for other people.

 

Interesting that microwave and UV lights are on the two extremes of the electromagnetic wave spectrum.

 

. 

dcarch

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by dcarch (log)

[chileheadmike]

I have a wood cutting board that was given to my parents as a wedding gift in the 50's. Still use it almost every day.

 

Probably won't fit in the microwave though. 

[kayb]

I have several poly boards, which of course go in the dishwasher, and a couple of bamboo ones, which get a periodic bleach rinse. I use only poly for raw meat. A couple of decorative wooden ones I use for serving cheese and charcuterie. 

 

And one day I will have one like @BonVivant's, with the mouse. Because I love the mouse.

[weinoo]

Where is everyone getting all these germs on their cutting boards? Are you doing science experiments on them?

 

And won't a good scrub with some dish soap and hot water, immediately dried off, do just fine? Or the dw if they're poly...I have one especially for chicken/poultry.

 

Certainly seems to have worked for me over the years on my wooden cutting boards.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Where is everyone getting all these germs on their cutting boards? Are you doing science experiments on them?

 

And won't a good scrub with some dish soap and hot water, immediately dried off, do just fine? Or the dw if they're poly...I have one especially for chicken/poultry.

 

Certainly seems to have worked for me over the years on my wooden cutting boards.

 

My hinoki boards I rinse only with water.  No soap.  Now that I think about it I don't use soap on my hardwood boards either.

 

[boilsover]

2 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

I put my boards— all of them— in the dishwasher. My wooden ones a lot less often. Is that heresay? 

 

Not if you're reporting for yourself.  But it is heresy.  And it's also literally true, because you're saying it here. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by boilsover (log)

[paulraphael]

17 hours ago, weinoo said:

Where is everyone getting all these germs on their cutting boards? Are you doing science experiments on them?

 

And won't a good scrub with some dish soap and hot water, immediately dried off, do just fine? Or the dw if they're poly...I have one especially for chicken/poultry.

 

Certainly seems to have worked for me over the years on my wooden cutting boards.

 

Why do we assume chicken is some special case? Any uncooked food can be covered with pathogens. Most of the recent e-coli epidemics have been from vegetables. Nothing to be done about it you're eating salad, but otherwise the cutting board is probably the 2nd most common vector for cross-contamination (next to the cook's hands). 

 

Cutting boards are mostly a problem if they get deep grooves. Grooves have room not just for bacteria, but for plenty of food for the bacteria. This is also called a petri dish. Or a bacteria farm. 

 

Wood boards and rubber boards have the advantage of being sandable. Rubber and poly boards have the advantage of being dishwashable. Generally it's recommended to toss poly boards when they get hacked up, but I've heard from a couple of people who have figured out how to sand them without making a huge mess. I don't know how. 

 

But to your second question, dish soap and hot water and scrubbing is all that's necessary in most cases. It won't get 100% of the pathogens. If you're cooking for strangers or anyone who might be immune compromised, or if you just want to play it safe, you can spray with sanitizer and after washing and let it drip dry.

[weinoo]

Chicken isn't necessarily a special case - just that I'd rather not despoil my Boardsmith board with chicken slime.

 

I've been cooking and using my hands and kitchen equipment for a long tine; I don't think I've gotten anyone sick...(famous last words).

 

I do make sure to wash fruit and veg thoroughly, even the phony triple-washed stuff gets 2 more baths.

[paulraphael]

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

I've been cooking and using my hands and kitchen equipment for a long tine; I don't think I've gotten anyone sick...(famous last words).

 

 

The thing with food-born illness is you never really know. Someone can get sick anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 weeks after eating something bad, and often it's never diagnosed. And it's not always the case that everyone who at the thing gets sick. 

 

You do a much more thorough job than I do with fruits and vegetables. It never occurred to me that I could reliably wash e-coli off of salad greens, so I basically just hope for the best. Maybe not the smartest approach.

[weinoo]

47 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

You do a much more thorough job than I do with fruits and vegetables. It never occurred to me that I could reliably wash e-coli off of salad greens, so I basically just hope for the best. Maybe not the smartest approach.

Yes, salad greens and fruits like cantaloupe (and others which ripen on the ground) are my biggest worry.

[boilsover]

5 hours ago, weinoo said:

Yes, salad greens and fruits like cantaloupe (and others which ripen on the ground) are my biggest worry.

Have yu considered a dip in dilute hydrogen peroxide?

[gfweb]

@boilsover Household strength peroxide is not a good disinfectant. Don't be seduced by the bubbling. It's merely an enzyme breaking down the peroxide. 

 

70% alcohol or dilute bleach is reliable. 

Edited April 7, 2018 by gfweb (log)

[weinoo]

Once again, I like soap & hot water. Or vinegar.

[Anna N]

14 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Once again, I like soap & hot water. Or vinegar.

 I think if 70% alcohol is effective I will just start washing down my salad with a good stiff drink. 

[paulraphael]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 I think if 70% alcohol is effective I will just start washing down my salad with a good stiff drink. 

 

Cocktails are maybe the preferred way to keep everyone healthy.

 

When not imbibing, I use soap and water, and then give a quick spray with restaurant sanitizer. I bought a gallon jug of the stuff about 8 years ago, and have only used about 3/4 or it. One capful dilutes in a quart of water to make the working solution. Put it in a generic spray bottle. The stuff I like is made with quaternary ammonium compounds. It's colorless, odorless, tasteless, and doesn't attack metals or textiles (bleach attacks just about everything). It has a very long life in working solution, so you don't have to throw it out ever. It has a wetting agent, so you can use it as the final rinse when hand-washing dishes, and you won't get spots on glassware. 

 

As with all sanitizers, it's only useful on surfaces that are actually clean. Quaternary ammonium compounds work better than bleach on organic surfaces (like wood). They're less effective than bleach against some viruses, including norovirus. 

 

When my gallon jug runs out, I plan to replace with the same type of chemical in tablet form. This $5 bottle makes 150 gallons of working solution.