Cutting Boards

[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

[andiesenji]

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

These blurbs are written by marketers, not chefs. Well, DUH!

Considering what it costs to ship one of these heavy items, this is a significant bargain, in spite of the inane statement.

Edited July 17, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Dakki]

You have to wonder what kind of people the marketers are.

"Okay, this board can be used to chop vegetables and slice meat. Maybe we should bundle it with a board that can be used to slice cheese and bread?"

[Norm Matthews]

I am a firm fan of rubber cutting boards. I have had some in the kitchen for everyday use for 30 years. They don't smell after a fairly short time and I use an electric sander on them about once a year. They have the density of wood and are not bouncy or squishy like you think when someone mentions rubber. They are dishwasher safe, far outlast wood. They are NSF approved. Here are some links

I have heard that the glue used to laminate bamboo is hard on knives and one I have split not long after I got it. I have an Epicurian cutting board but only bring it out when extra space is needed for cutting as when there are three people working at the same time. I don't especially think too highly of it, especially not fond of the price.

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/foodservice/handling/cutting-boards/sani-tuff-all-rubber-cutting-board-12-x-18-x-three-quarter-inch-thick?utm_source=amaz_shop&utm_medium=shp&utm_campaign=Cutting-Boards-amaz_shop&infoParam.campaignId=T9I

http://www.centralrestaurant.com/search.aspx?page=1&keywords=rubber%20cutting%20boards&sort_by_field=Sortrank:DESC&cid=WSPCGOPVVFPR25224&ctt_id=56235332&ctt_adnw=Google&ctt_ch=ps&ctt_entity=kw&ctt_cli=8x19305x340052x2030816&ctt_kw=rubber%20cutting%20board&ctt_adid=6798850936&ctt_nwtype=search&gclid=CPCf8ejYiKoCFcHs7Qod_RCw2A

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=rubber+cutting+boards&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=3555528056430935512&sa=X&ei=fP4iTq2pJqi20AHOnJ2mAw&ved=0CGUQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

Edited July 17, 2011 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Dakki]

You should know the one published study (AFAIK) on the subject strongly suggests wood cutting boards are much better from a food safety standpoint.

[Norm Matthews]

These are my rubber cutting boards. One is on top of the other separated by some rubber shelf liner so air can circulate under both of them. I don't use one over the sink but rather let one overlap the sink so when I have scraps, I just push them off into the sink or a trash bowl in the sink under the cutting board. Likewise the stuff that gets cut is pulled off into a pot or basket either in front or into one in the sink. For me it is fast and efficient. No slippage at all and no serious warpage problems since both are stored flat. They stand up after cleaning on both sides to dry but spend most of the time laying down like you see here. As said before they win no prized for aesthetics but the function far outweighs that issue for me and I am a retired art teacher. LOL

[Norm Matthews]

You should know the one published study (AFAIK) on the subject strongly suggests wood cutting boards are much better from a food safety standpoint.

Sanituff rubber cutting boards are USDA approved, NSF listed and

"Manufactured with MicroStop™ anti-microbial rubber compound."

[David A. Goldfarb]

Sanituff boards are great, but I suspect that the USDF and NSF ratings are connected with the fact that they can be subject to the cleaning routines of a professional kitchen with regular cleaning with a bleach solution or high-temperature dishwasher. Wood can't take that kind of abuse, but it can kill bacteria by absorbing the water inside their cells.

[andiesenji]

Sanituff boards are great, but I suspect that the USDF and NSF ratings are connected with the fact that they can be subject to the cleaning routines of a professional kitchen with regular cleaning with a bleach solution or high-temperature dishwasher. Wood can't take that kind of abuse, but it can kill bacteria by absorbing the water inside their cells.

And for the average home kitchen, with an "average" non-professional cook, they are esthetically pleasing to the eye.

I bought one of the Sani-Tuff cutting boards a few years ago but couldn't stand it in my kitchen or pantry. It had a petroleum smell that really put me off. I use it in the garden shed and I guess the odor gradually diminished.

That being said. I have a lot of butcher block counters and doing light cutting is fine. Occasionally I need to chop something with a bit more force so I have several cutting boards, some quite thick and heavy. Some are wood - one is end grain and is 4 inches thick.

I paid considerably more for one similar to the one in my earlier post and I paid a significant amount for shipping. This thing weighs 28 pounds. Getting free shipping is a bonus.

Edited July 17, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[HowardLi]

I'm in the market for a cutting board, and I'm sick of the cheap-o plastic ones I've been using.  However, this is a subject I know nothing about.  Any help would be appreciated, or if this is a repeat topic a link will help!  Thanks!

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Buy some good 3/4"UHMWPE boards and cut them so they will fit in the D/W In various positions.(vert Horiz etc.) You can get the material at a commericial rest. supply place. (not cheap.) But infinitly better than wood. After you use em, put them in the D/w and they are clean and ready to go in the drawer...I have 6 or 7 in various sizes and thicknesses, and will never use a wooden board again...

This advice is from someone who builds antique reproduction furniture and can build the "state of the art"wood /bamboo, etc boards very easily..

(UHMWPE, is ultra high molecular weight polyethelene)

Bud

Doesn't the UHMW suffer from scarring like other plastics?

[Chris Hennes]

Finally, after having the lumber sitting in the garage for the better part of a year, I finished my new cutting board. End grain maple, finished dimensions are 16.25" x 21.75" x 2.25". The Nakiri sitting on it is 12" in total length, for size reference.

[KennethT]

Beautiful job, Chris!

[heidih]

Yes Chris -magnifico! - I just want to give it a hug and would be scared to make the first cut.

[eldereno]

Great board! What did you decide to treat it with?

[dcarch]

Beautiful board! Are you using one side only? I use oneside for meats and one side for veggies.

For those of you who have wood cutting boards, you can get a carbide wood planer blade/knife as a scraper. makes cleaning and flattening the surface much easier.

dcarch