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Cutting Board Confessions


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Oh, one of my favourite things is going through 20 pounds of cremini mushrooms on a block with a Henckel. I really love that.

Really, the obviousness of cutting boards for knives instead of holding and hacking has caused me much puzzlement. Many cuisines, such as Moroccan, seem to have no idea of the use of cutting boards from my own personal experience.

I understand not using one if one is making small quantities of something and dragging out a board is just more time spent.

But taking fifteen times as long to do something as it would take with proper knife technique and a board (as is standard with French, Chinese, and Japanese cuisines) makes no sense to me.

I can comprehend the idea that someone can chop or slice a bushel of mushrooms without a cutting board faster than I can on a board, but I find it hard to believe that same person can't do a better and faster job with a board if he tries.

After all those arguments where I've taken the position that no cuisine is inherently superior to another, someone has finally offered a sold argument in favor of Japanese, Chinese and French cuisine actually being more highly developed and superior. The cutting board is to cooking as the wheel is to the rest of technology.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

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My mother does not own a cutting board. Everything is cut with a paring knife over whatever pot it's going to be cooked in.

In an effort to be the exact opposite of my mother-I have many knives and cutting boards that I use to prep. food.

Crystal

We like the mooooon........Coz it is close to us...........

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  • 7 years later...

I do love my cutting boards - I have quite a number of them - and find it hard to resist if I see a perfect one though I don't need another.

I prefer to use a cutting board for most things - but for things that require a paring knife I cut in my hand - so such things as potatoes, carrots, parsnips and green beans will not require a cutting board. Don't think I've ever used a cutting board for mushrooms.

But love one for cheese, meats, poultry etc.

Fingernails on the blackboard for me are those glass cutting boards - or the thought of cutting on a plate or the counter.

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My in-laws have a glass cutting board that sits permanently on their counter, which I think they bought for its looks. The sound of a knife on it makes me cringe. Since I'm the only one who does much cooking there anymore, I always have to excavate a small plastic cutting board to use from the back of their cupboard.

I have two large cutting boards; since I rarely have more than one of any implement in my kitchen, I guess I find them fairly important. I have a bamboo one for meat, and a big block one that curves over the counter edge from Ikea for everything else.I never cut in my hand; I'm way too clumsy.

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Fingernails on the blackboard for me are those glass cutting boards - or the thought of cutting on a plate or the counter.

Oh god, those things should not be allowed! Seriously, is there anyone who actually likes using these? I always thought they were mostly for show, especially as they often have some horrible floral design or some such thing on them.

I'm not a huge pro with a knife, but I like to use a chopping board. If I have a chopping board, I'm fairly fast and fairly neat. Without one, I dissolve into cack-handed-ness. I'm very jealous of my Mum, who can quickly peel and slice potatoes with a small paring knife and no board.

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I confess to having far more cutting boards than are necessary in a household of 2 people. I have plastic ones in a rainbow of colours, wooden ones in sizes ranging from uselessly small to ridiculously large, disposable ones, BUT NOT A SINGLE GLASS ONE. What were they thinking.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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I do love my cutting boards - I have quite a number of them - and find it hard to resist if I see a perfect one though I don't need another.

I prefer to use a cutting board for most things - but for things that require a paring knife I cut in my hand - so such things as potatoes, carrots, parsnips and green beans will not require a cutting board. Don't think I've ever used a cutting board for mushrooms.

But love one for cheese, meats, poultry etc.

Fingernails on the blackboard for me are those glass cutting boards - or the thought of cutting on a plate or the counter.

Gee Kerry, I think we must be related in some manner.

I am also a cutting board junkie, even though I have a kitchen with a lot of butcherblock counters that are used as cutting boards, I don't cut chicken or meat on them, or stuff that tends to stain deeply (like beets and those purple carrots that have a component that acts like stamp pad ink).

I have several of the glass cutting boards but never use them for that purpose. The largest exactly fit the width of the steel wire shelving I have in the pantry and keep small things from tipping and keep things with legs from dropping through the wires.

I have wood bread boards that are used only for bread and woe be to anyone who tries to use it for anything else.

I like using the more attractive boards for serving cheese. I have some cheese "plates" but can't stand the sound of the cheese knife impacting the marble - in one case - and the porcelain in another. I even have one that is made of cast aluminum, very fancy decorated with grapes and stuff, but just thinking about the sound of a knife on that makes me cringe.

It is this one. What can I say, it was a gift! Besides, I think of cleaning all those little nooks and crannies and thus it is a no-go.

I have a very old cutting board that has a hollow along one side. I'll have to take a photo. It has begun to split and I have to have it repaired before I use it again, but it was one of my favorites for a long, long time.

I have several of the color-coded large cutting boards purchased at Star Restaurant supply and several wood cutting boards of various sizes, one reversible with spikes on one side for "carving" and some end grain, some edge grain and a couple of bamboo.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I confess to having far more cutting boards than are necessary in a household of 2 people. I have plastic ones in a rainbow of colours, wooden ones in sizes ranging from uselessly small to ridiculously large, disposable ones, BUT NOT A SINGLE GLASS ONE. What were they thinking.

I, on the other hand, will confess to having a tempered glass one, I think it's a Corningware. Plain white, no gaudy fruits or flowers.

But it is NEVER, EVER, and has NEVER, EVER been cut upon. It lives under the other cutting boards (wood, plastic and bamboo), and is used when I need a large place to put a hot pan or roasting dish. For that purpose, it works like a charm. But it will never feel the edge of any of my knives.

--Roberta--

"Let's slip out of these wet clothes, and into a dry Martini" - Robert Benchley

Pierogi's eG Foodblog

My *outside* blog, "A Pound Of Yeast"

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I confess to having far more cutting boards than are necessary in a household of 2 people. I have plastic ones in a rainbow of colours, wooden ones in sizes ranging from uselessly small to ridiculously large, disposable ones, BUT NOT A SINGLE GLASS ONE. What were they thinking.

Way too many boards here too. Everything from a mystery wood butchers block inherited from a great-aunt (the greatest cook, God rest her soul) to flexible cutting mats. It might be related to my knife obsession.

I use them all more or less indifferently but the one that sees the most use is a cheap little plastic thing with a frying pan sort of handle. Very nice for cutting smaller items that are going to be dumped straight into the pot or skillet.

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

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At home, I have cutting boards -- plastic only -- in several sizes ranging from "cut a small quantity of veg" to "assemble a turducken."

I pull the smallest board that will do the job. I almost never cut without a board. My hands are scarred enough as-is.

Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today. -- Edgar Allan Poe

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