Round vs. Rectangular Cutting Boards

[C.Morris]

I'm new to the forum and fairly new to cooking, so I'm just establishing myself with a decent set of equipment. I'm faced with the unusual circumstance of starting from scratch with my cooking equipment. I had quite a decent random collection of stuff from Wal-Mart and even a few nicer items, such as my two prized Global chef's knives (10" and 6") and a Global paring knife. This collection, however, was lost entirely to an apartment fire. On the bright side of things, I can take about five years worth of collecting and learning to hopefully buy the right thing on the first try this time (like the Global knives ).

As I rebuild my collection, I plan to again buy the Global knives, and I would like to buy a nice end-grained cutting board to match, which would protect their edges and provide me with a better cutting surface than my old polymer boards. About the maximum size I think I can handle would be in the ball park of 12" x 24" simply because apartment kitchens tend to be small. My primary question, however, is as follows: what are the key advantages of round versus rectangular cutting boards? I have seen both used in YouTube videos or other cooking demonstrations, but I'm not sure why a person would opt for one over the other.

For reference, I am considering buying my board from BoardSmith.

Thank you,

Carl

[ChickenStu]

I see no advantage to a round board, unless you like the look better. If space is an issue consider one of the many knife friendly, non porous boards on the market...even if you do decide on wood you should get one for proteins to minimize cross contamination.

[Dakki]

Unless someone can come up with a good reason to use a round board I suggest you stick to the square/rectangular ones.

Even ignoring your "long" dimension, a 12" round board will have a surface of ~113" sq, while a square board will have 144" sq. A rectangular board 12x24" will have 288" sq area.

[Peter the eater]

Unless someone can come up with a good reason to use a round board I suggest you stick to the square/rectangular ones.

Even ignoring your "long" dimension, a 12" round board will have a surface of ~113" sq, while a square board will have 144" sq. A rectangular board 12x24" will have 288" sq area.

I like rectilinear boards, but less than I like round boards. Look at the wear pattern on old boards of both shapes -- a square board gets four positions on the counter. A round board can be rotated from nothing to 360 degrees. This feature makes it last longer.

[ojisan]

Great choice on the BoardSMITH - considered to be the #1 choice by those in-the-know. It's curious that you would be enamored with Global, which doesn't have the same reputation. You might want to lurk in the KnifeForums before you decide on your knives.

[C.Morris]

I appreciate all of the feedback so far. I think what Peter said is something that draws me to round boards. Originally, I always thought a rectangular board would be more efficient for surface area according to the same rational as Dakki's. I am, however, not sure how useful or frequently used the corners of a cutting board are. I am very interested to hear other's experiences with differently shaped boards.

Ojisan, you mentioned that Global knives have a poor reputation. Other than viewing the knife boards in general, do you have a recommendation of a topic or search to do to get some of this information, other than the usual search of Global as a name throughout this forum?

Thanks,

Carl

[ojisan]

I don't mean to imply that the Globals have a bad rep - they're a genuine step up from the usual Henkels/Wustrof/etc genre. It's just that the knifophiles would chose something like the Hiromoto AS line instead without hesitation. But don't take one person's opinion - the Knifeforum offers great info from everyone, from novice to the crazy-obsessed. Jump in and ask questions - they're a friendly group.

Something else to consider: any knife is dependent on how well it's sharpened. Plan on spending at least as much on sharpening tools as on the knives.

[C.Morris]

I better understand what you mean. In the past, I had a wide range of Norton diamond stones, ranging from extra-coarse to extra-extra-fine, which I will surely buy again. With these stones I was able to get a Henckel chinese cleaver to nearly the same sharpness as my Global chef knife, although the dramatically different blade thickness made the comparison difficult. I'm a definite amateur at knife sharpening, but I always felt that I got good results without much of the hassle of maintaining water stones.

I have always been curious about the more traditional (if that is the right word) Japanese knives, but I had always heard mixed reviews from the high carbon steel. I shied away from them for fear I would end up with poorly maintained, rusty, and or chipped knives, hoping stainless steel would be more forgiving. I am also a big fan of Chinese cleavers (or chef knives as they are also called), so I am about to purchase a Chun Chinese chef knife based on some reviews.

Is the lead time on a board from the Boardsmith usually long? the site wasn't entirely clear, and a round board appeared to definitely be a special order.

[Dakki]

Er, you might not cut on the corners but if you use the board like I do you'll be stacking stuff on them. Things to be cut on the right, things already cut on the left, trash on the farthest side kind of thing.

If you're the kind of guy who keeps the ingredients in alphabetical order in color-coordinated bowls and clears the board after every carrot that might not apply to you.

[Amy D.]

Er, you might not cut on the corners but if you use the board like I do you'll be stacking stuff on them. Things to be cut on the right, things already cut on the left, trash on the farthest side kind of thing.

If you're the kind of guy who keeps the ingredients in alphabetical order in color-coordinated bowls and clears the board after every carrot that might not apply to you.

yep my thoughts too

[Moopheus]

If space is an issue consider one of the many knife friendly, non porous boards on the market...even if you do decide on wood you should get one for proteins to minimize cross contamination.

Along those lines I've been happy with my Sani-Tuff hard rubber board. One of the things I like about it that I can use both sides. One side is marked "dinner" and the other is "dessert." You might have to go to a restaurant supply house to get one, though.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Moopheus (log)

[C.Morris]

I always would store my food, at least before cut, on the board and transfer to a bowl or plate once finished, so I can see the merit to having the corners of a rectangular board handy. I've also considered the opposite extreme, getting a smaller--12" square or 12" circular--board and using before cut and after cut plates. The smaller size would also make hand washing of the board much easier. My largest concern, however, is that I prefer larger knives; in general, I choose the largest knife that is reasonable for a task because I like the extra blade length for making cuts in one motion (minimizing the need for sawing motions) and also, in some cases, the extra heft--although I'm not really a fan of heavy knives.

If I prefer to use a roughly 10" long chef knife, what board dimensions would be good to use at a minimum? I think 12" along one dimension would be a reasonable minimum, but I've had only limited experience. I know my mom uses small boards with about a 6" x 9" workable area because she prefers to use small utility knives and paring knives for most work. I find such a surface very difficult to work on with a 10" chef knife.

Edit: I forgot to address the Sani-Tuff boards. Because I live in a very, very small town, I am pretty much restricted to mail order--online ordering in reality--with the exception of grocery stores or Wal-Mart. I assume that a few restaurant supply stores must be in the area for local restaurants, but I have my doubts about their selection in any case.

Edited May 14, 2010 by C.Morris (log)

[Porthos]

I don't remember where I read this but I do use it at a guide: the diagonal measurement of a rectangular board should be 4" longer than the knife you use. My 10" knife has an overall length of 14.5". My go-to cutting board is 12" x 18" yielding a 21" diagonal. When I use my smaller cutting boards I do notice the difference. I would imagine for a round board you would want the board's diameter to be knife length + 4".

Edited May 14, 2010 by Porthos (log)

[paulraphael]

I'm not convinced by the wear argument. A thick end-grain board should last anyone a lifetime, unless you're doing heavy butchering on it with a bone cleaver. If you find reason to do that kind of work at all, you shouldn't be doing it on your main cutting board. Doing regular cutting, especially if you have sharp knives and good technique, you'll hardly even leave marks on the board. The knife edge's contact with the wood should be light and brief with each cut.

Round boards just make terribly inneficent use of space ... this is true whether you cut on all corners of the board or if you use the board to arrange piles of cut and uncut food.