Cutting Boards

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As a carry over from the Best online Japanese knife shop thread -- perhaps Shizuo Tsuji says it most succinctly:

 

"The best chopping blocks are boards with the grain running the length of the board.  In Japan, cypress (hinoki) wood is the most common material.  Willow is also good.  There are also plastic boards, which are sanitary and kind on knives, but they are not aesthetic."

 

 

 

[weinoo]

I occasionally use a plastic board for cutting poultry - I like to be able to throw it in the dishwasher, before it gets re-hidden.

[rotuts]

what I call plastic is very different than what I call poly

 

plastic is very hard  poly fairly forgiving.

 

if you want to keep your knives sharper longer  

 

this is the board Im very happy with   3 sizes  easy to clean  easy to bleach etc

 

I don't use a dishwasher so I can't comment on that

 

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/oxo-good-grips-reg-21-inch-x-15-inch-carving-and-cutting-board/1014949216?Keyword=oxo+cutting+boards

 

I got this initially only for chicken, liked it so much I have several different sizes.

[btbyrd]

I use Epicurean cutting boards which are made of wood fiber compressed with resin. They're durable, kind to your knives, and can go in the dishwasher. All the benefits of plastic without being plastic. I hate plastic.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 9:23 AM, rotuts said:

""""     I don't ever, ever intend to cut on plastic with this knife.  ""gain something, loose something.

 

I lied...I did not mean to.  I was hungry.  I grabbed the knife and the closest cutting board.

 

Only then I recognized my folly.

 

[Shel_B]

Toots received a Martha Stewart cutting board.  It's a plastic model about 10" X 14".  Toots didn't like the size, and she gave the board to me.  I just started using it a couple of weeks ago, and have used it about five times.

 

The issue is that the surface of the board is VERY slippery.  When washed, water just beads up on the surface.  When placed on a wooden work space, the board will slip and slide.  I have two older plastic boards and neither show these characteristics.  The Martha Stewart board feels like it has some sort of protective coating on it.

 

Has anyone experienced these issues with any plastic cutting board, or does anyone know what the board may be coated with?

 

 

[gfweb]

Not seen that surface Shel. Kind of like Martha...slippery.

 

Sliding on the counter can be solved by putting a dish towel underneath it

[Deryn]

I would let that board slide right into the garbage and be done with it. While you may be able to keep it on the counter by using gfweb's good suggestion, if your knife slips because it has a slippery surface - and you may be cut badly if that happens, it is false economy to keep it, no matter whether it was a 'gift' or not or who gave it to you.

[Alex]

I assume this is the one you have. I concur with gfweb and Deryn.

[boilsover]

Return it if you can, and avoid anything with Stewart's name on it.

If you want a poly board, get a Sani-Tuff or the like.

[Smithy]

Returning to your original question: I wonder whether it's actually a different plastic than most, instead of something with a surface coating.  The phrase 'poly board' doesn't actually say much, from a chemical perspective. Does it seem unusually light or heavy for its size? Is it particularly hard in addition to being slippery? I once had a cutting board made of polystyrene (I think); it was almost glassy in its transparency, hardness and slipperiness, and quite different from the standard polypropylene cutting boards.  (I finally decided it was a lousy cutting board and repurposed it as something like a surface protector so I could put a potted plant on a wood surface.) 

[Shel_B]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 0:05 PM, Smithy said:

Returning to your original question: I wonder whether it's actually a different plastic than most, instead of something with a surface coating.  The phrase 'poly board' doesn't actually say much, from a chemical perspective. Does it seem unusually light or heavy for its size? Is it particularly hard in addition to being slippery? I once had a cutting board made of polystyrene (I think); it was almost glassy in its transparency, hardness and slipperiness, and quite different from the standard polypropylene cutting boards.  (I finally decided it was a lousy cutting board and repurposed it as something like a surface protector so I could put a potted plant on a wood surface.) 

 

I'm looking into this matter further ... if I find out anything definitive, I'll let you know.

[Katie Meadow]

Life is short and getting shorter! Find another use for it or give it to the Goodwill or toss it. A free dangerous $13 cutting board isn't worth what's left of your precious brain cells.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I ordered a couple new cutting boards from amazon tonight...well seven.  But that is not the question.  While browsing cutting boards I discovered Yoshihiro.  Yoshihiro offers boards in polyvinyl acetate which are NSF and made in Japan as well as in hinoki reinforced with walnut to minimize warping, also NSF and made in Japan.  Not sure how hinoki could be NSF since it's not supposed to be washed, but whatever.

 

The hinoki board I purchased a while ago has warped so badly it is practically unusable.  The Yoshihiro boards are quite attractive -- however they are expensive enough that I hesitated to just buy now with one click.

 

Anyone have experience with Yoshihiro boards, either plastic or wood?

 

[lindag]

I prefer the inexpensive poly boards because they seem to be very easy on my knives.

The only con is that the high temps of the d/w seem to cause a slight warp to one side which means they will spin on the convex side...so I mark the 'good' side with a sharpie so I know which is the side to use.

I do like that they can go into the d/w, so I know they're always clean.

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

I prefer the inexpensive poly boards because they seem to be very easy on my knives.

 

I have a large number of the thin, inexpensive ones. Two or three times a year I'll go through them, pick the six most-worn ones, and replace them. I get mine from the dollar store, so my cost is pretty minimal. 

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, lindag said:

I prefer the inexpensive poly boards because they seem to be very easy on my knives.

The only con is that the high temps of the d/w seem to cause a slight warp to one side which means they will spin on the convex side...

 

I have taken to only buying the boards with some kind of anti-slip feature built into them.  My particular brand of dishwasher, Bosch, has not heating coil, it heats the rinse water to enhance the drying of the dishes. Whenever I can, I open up the dishwasher as soon as the cycle is complete which really helps speed up the evaporation drying. Added benefit to no drying coil, no worries about "top rack only."

 

2 hours ago, lindag said:

I do like that they can go into the d/w, so I know they're always clean.

 

This is why I only own poly boards. Wooden boards don't fare well in a dishwasher.

[Anna N]

16 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I ordered a couple new cutting boards from amazon tonight...well seven.  But that is not the question.  While browsing cutting boards I discovered Yoshihiro.  Yoshihiro offers boards in polyvinyl acetate which are NSF and made in Japan as well as in hinoki reinforced with walnut to minimize warping, also NSF and made in Japan.  Not sure how hinoki could be NSF since it's not supposed to be washed, but whatever.

 

The hinoki board I purchased a while ago has warped so badly it is practically unusable.  The Yoshihiro boards are quite attractive -- however they are expensive enough that I hesitated to just buy now with one click.

 

Anyone have experience with Yoshihiro boards, either plastic or wood?

 

 I don't want this to get lost so I am quoting it just to bring it to the forefront again as I am very curious as is the poster about these Japanese boards. 

[btbyrd]

My current favorite is a Hi-Soft board I purchased from Korin. They're made from polyvinyl acetate. It is very forgiving on edges and allows you to mow through big piles of whatever and keep your knife sharp. My favorite thing to cut is thin ribbons of napa or red cabbage with a razor-sharp Global G17 (which has a pretty burly 11" blade). I can just SHRED through the cabbage paper thin, banging the blade up and down. It's a real pleasure. All my fish goes on it too.

 

I got the small size on Amazon, where it's not currently listed as being available. They have a bunch of sizes, but even the "small" one is on the large size for home use. There are two smaller sizes, and I'm thinking about picking one up. They're 15% off at the moment. One possible bad thing is that they're quite thick and heavy by ordinary consumer-grade, synthetic cutting board standards.

[Martin Fisher]

On 8/25/2017 at 10:48 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Yoshihiro boards

 

Wowza! They are pricey! 

 

I do have some nice maple boards.

But I almost always use basic, big or small, thick or thin, HDPE boards.

They seem to last me a long time. I have one that's well over 10 years old.

I wash and scrub them good—then sanitize with near boiling water. 

[btbyrd]

The Yoshihiro Hi Soft ones are essentially the same as the Korin ones, but are pricier and have a built in handle. If you're going to get a larger one, the handle might be worth the price. They get heavy.

 

Attached are some pics of the "small" Korin Hi Soft board, portioning some sockeye.

 

 

 

It's biggish.

Edited August 29, 2017 by btbyrd (log)

[TicTac]

Recently bought an Asahi cutting board after seeing how large and nice it looked at one of my local Japanese haunts.

 

Not cheap by any means, but tons of real estate - really enjoyable prepping large meals on it.

 

http://www.korin.com/TK-203-03-100?sc=28&category=286082

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, TicTac said:

Recently bought an Asahi cutting board after seeing how large and nice it looked at one of my local Japanese haunts.

 

Not cheap by any means, but tons of real estate - really enjoyable prepping large meals on it.

 

http://www.korin.com/TK-203-03-100?sc=28&category=286082

 

 

 

Are these polyvinyl acetate?

 

Edit:  after reading the Korin site, probably not.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2017 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The Yoshihiro boards are specified to be dishwasher safe.  However according to Serious Eats (the link from Korin's site) the Korin boards are not:

 

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/01/gadgets-korin-cutting-board-review.html

 

What gives?

 

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I soldier on with two plastic cutting boards. A small one for meat like slicing or mincing for stir fry. I do my kitchen butchery of bigger cuts like parting out a whole chicken, slicing slabs of ribs into more manageable smaller slabs or slicing steaks from a whole rib eye into steaks in my just cleaned stainless steel sinks. Then I carefully clean the sinks again.

 

I have a separate larger cutting board, also plastic, for veggies. The one I use more is the veggie one, and it has silicone or something?feet on it that keeps it from sliding on the counter. They are both light, but the smaller one for meat has a grab handle design which infringes on the total usable area, so if I designed it, I would eliminate that "feature" on this small board. It does allow me to hang it near a sunny kitchen window though, and I like that. It also goes through the dishwasher just fine.

 

Both of these were really cheap, and the small meat one came from Dollar General. I can't imagine spending hundreds of dollars on a cutting board. My cheap cutting boards are both easy on my knives and have lasted me years without a lot of grooving. It helps that I almost always use a razor sharp boning/fillet knife for all my knife work. I can cut stuff all the way through with this knife and barely contact the board. The most grooves I've added to the boards are right after I've sharpened the knife and use a little more force than needed until I get used to it. I feel it pulling through the plastic, though, and quickly correct myself.

 

This knife that I love over my Old Hickory high carbon steel set is stainless steel and cost all of $2.00 at Dollar General.  Oh how I wish I'd bought another one, just in case. It's marked "Pinnacle stainless Japan". It will be truly traumatic for me if something ever happens to this beloved cheapass knife. 

 

Oh! and when I did the hydrogen peroxide test to see if both my boards were sanitary, they both failed to bubble up at all. My freshly washed fingers did though. It proved that the boards are sanitary, my peroxide was still effective, the peroxide test works, and I am a living, breathing bacteria factory.