Cutting Boards

[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.

[Fat Guy]

I recently got a Sani-Tuff board and I love it. It's grippy, easy on knives, sanitary -- it's the best cutting board I've ever worked with.

I can think of only two negatives: 1. It's ugly. It looks like the skin of a person with a rare disease. I wish there was another option. Almost anything would be preferable. Pretty much the only reason I'd get a wood board, given how well the Sani-Tuff performs, would be so I wouldn't have such an embarrassingly ugly board out. 2. It warps. The warping thing is a real pain. You have to store the board flat or else. And storing it flat makes it space-inefficient not to mention hard to dry. It basically has to be out all the time. Or maybe someone here has come up with a solution.

[paulraphael]

I've thought about getting a sani tuff for raw protein. They really are good. I didn't know about the warping issue (except when put in a hot dishwasher). My biggest misgiving is price. They're only a bit cheaper than some pretty nice wood boards. In a home kitchen, cleaning and sanitzing a wood board is so easy that I prefer it to the alternatives.

Since heat softens the rubber, maybe you can unwarp the sani tuff by immersing in hot water for a while and then lying flat.

I bet they'll sell ten times as many boards if they can figure out how to make them in some color besides puke.

Edited June 2, 2010 by paulraphael (log)

[Fat Guy]

In general, just laying it flat overnight will flatten it. For more serious warping, a warm oven seems to be the recommended procedure. Either way, it's an inconvenience.

I paid $24.95 for the 12" x 18" x 1/2".

[paulraphael]

The 1" versions might be more warp resistant. But also more expensive (those are the ones that rival the wooden boards in price). And they get heavy.

[Moopheus]

You can also flatten a Sani-Tuff board by sanding. Which you should do every now and then anyway to smooth the surface. (Okay--I've done it twice in five years with mine).

Yes, it's ugly, but it works so well, I don't care.

[Fat Guy]

My limited experience indicates that the kind of warping that happens from not storing the board flat can't really be cured by sanding. But sanding will take out shallow surface scratches and such.

[Moopheus]

The 1" versions might be more warp resistant. But also more expensive (those are the ones that rival the wooden boards in price). And they get heavy.

I have the 3/4" board. It was slightly warped when I bought it. I've never noticed it changing shape in any significant way the entire time I've had it, but I've never put it in a dishwasher. Until recently, I didn't have a dishwasher to put it in. I wash it and put it away after use. I've never stored it flat. It is kinda heavy, but then, it doesn't move around on the counter. I can use both sides. I use one side for aromatics, and the other side for dessert. Except for the occasional piece of fish, meat is not an issue. It's easily the most knife-friendly material I've ever seen in a cutting board.

[thock]

I got my beautiful new BoardSMITH board yesterday. It's awesome. 18" x 24" maple. Smooth as a baby's butt. I've used it, and nary a mark on it, so far.

This might even prompt me to keep my counter cleaned off, which would be quite a feat!

It's got feet, and frankly, I'm glad. That way, I can lift it up if I need to move it, without having to dig my fingers under it.

Tracy

[Edward J]

Hope the "Boardsmith" doesn't get mad with me, but I just finished making 3 end grain cutting boards for Christmas presents. Each board is made up of 64 individual 1 1/2" eastern maple blocks, end grain facing up.

The hard part was smoothing the surfaces after glue up. Can't run the board through a thickness planer or it'll disintegrate, can't use a belt sander, or you'll get grit imbedded in the wood.

In the end I used a #80 cabinet scraper, a low angle jack plane with a nicely honed blade, and lots of mineral oil to lubricate the board and plane. Of course I'll be treating the boards with mineral oil anyway......

[tme4tls]

Mad? Not at all! Seems like everyone makes boards. I just shipped out 35 last week and will send out 45 more by next Thursday.

Individual blocks?

Don't worry about embedded grit from a belt sander. If any is left behind it will be minuscule at best and not enough to hurt an edge. Those who use teak boards have much more grit/silica to worry about. However, if you are using a cheaper brand of belts, you may have somewhat of a point.

A jack plane and scraper take to long so I contract with another shop for time on their 37" wide belt sander. We can get a lot of boards done quickly and each one is dead flat so all I have to do is trim each one to its size, finish sand each one and then dip in the oil tank.

David The BoardSMITH

Edited December 8, 2010 by tme4tls (log)

[Edward J]

Yeah, individual blocks. I do it the same way I make "checkerboard cookies": Glue up strips of maple, then slice them across, then glue those strips end grain up back together. I knew I'd have a job cleaning up the surfaces, so I sandwiched the strips between two aborite covered mdf scraps (sink cutouts) before clamping.

I have acess to a friend's thickness sander, and have access to a very large stroke sander, but I'm working 10 hrs a day at work now, and only have an hour or so in the evenings. Despite the effort in using a plane, it is kind of relaxing--it's the only time I'm not multi tasking!

[thock]

Well, Dave, I'm glad you saw this thread. I REALLY like my board. My SO is a tool and die maker, and he always says "cheap ain't good and good ain't cheap" and is a fan of having the right tools to do the job. Well, this board is certainly well worth the cost, and I think it's going to be a wonderful tool that I can pass on down the generations. Thank you for the excellent board. And it's pretty, too!

[andiesenji]

In this morning's batch of emails, got this special, limited time offer from:

Cutlery and More

Offering this large bamboo cutting board with Free shipping at a very good price.

[Dakki]

Looks good. I found the description amusing.

Chop fresh vegetables for a chef's salad or slice strips of meat

OH MAN ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN BUYING MY VEG CHOPPED AND MY MEAT SLICED

THIS WILL BE SUCH A MONEYSAVER