Cutting Boards

[amyknyc]

I've narrowed my choices down to these:

A chef depot-John Boos 12"*18"*1-3/4" end grain maple cutting board (fourth from the top,) which will cost me around $75 with shipping. The other board I'm looking at is Calphalon 14"*16"*2" end grain hardwood which sells for $60 (free shipping) at amazon.

←

Hi Anchita --

I've been looking at cutting boards too and I like the Boos a lot -- but are you sure you're calculating the price of the board right? I think the one you're looking at is actually a lot cheaper. The 18x12 board on the site you linked to is only $36.50 and I would be stunned if shipping was twice that -- it only costs $9 to ship to me! Double check the site! (And thanks for the link, I'm totally buying mine there)

[amyknyc]

Geez, smack me now. I was looking at the non-Boos board. That one is indeed $65. Sigh.

[Octaveman]

.That being said, I recently ordered two of

these bamboo chopping blocks for friends (one for my neighbor with whom I do a lot of cooking).

I received them Monday and have already wrapped them, otherwise I would take a photo.

Yesterday I ordered another for myself because I was truly impressed by the quality. 

These are seriously fine cutting boards.  The surface is like satin and water beads up on it without any oiling, which you have to do to the endgrain boards periodically.

Bamboo boards end or edge grain are indeed nice looking but they are still harder than Maple and will result in faster dulling knives. The fact that water beads up on the board is not necessarily a good thing. One of the benefits to using woods like maple is the natural antibacterial nature of wood. Bacteria will be absorbed in the wood fibers where they will perish. This will not occur with bamboo or any other non-porous board as the bacteria will sit on top of the board until properly cleansed. One does have to be careful with oiling a maple board as to not oil it so much that water beads up. The oiling should be used in moderation to not remove the "bacterial cleansing" affect of the board. If Bamboo is the board of choice, be careful what you buy as not every maker uses the best food safe glue. Totally Bamboo is very good as is another brand I can't recall right now. Bamboo boards offored through Costco are not good quality and I would not recommend.

My board is a Boo's board but not end grain like I'd like. I got my board at Frontgate of all places. It's a Boo's board custom made exclusively for Frontgate and you can't get it anywhwere else. I wanted a 24x18 reversible board with gravy groove with handles and was more than 2" thick. I couldn't beleive I found this. I love this board and plan to keep it for a very long time.

End grain maple is ideal as is Boo's brand of boards. From what I understand, a minimum thickness of 1.75 inches is needed to reduce or avoid the warping problem. I had a 1/2 thick board that warped on me within 6 months.

Good luck with your board of choice.

Cheers,

Bob

[Daddy-A]

Buy the Boos.

Bruce, you and I think way too much alike!

Are we really having this discussion over $15? Boos, or Michigan Maple have been doing butcher block for years, do it well, and do it right.

Sam nailed it re: end vs. edge grain. What he didn't mention was once the wood grains are cut on an edge grain board, it starts to get rough & ratty and holds onto food-stuffs like crazy.

Buy the Boos.

A.

[winesonoma]

Buy the Boos.

Bruce, you and I think way too much alike!

Are we really having this discussion over $15? Boos, or Michigan Maple have been doing butcher block for years, do it well, and do it right.

Sam nailed it re: end vs. edge grain. What he didn't mention was once the wood grains are cut on an edge grain board, it starts to get rough & ratty and holds onto food-stuffs like crazy.

Buy the Boos.

A.

←

I once got some 4x4 clear hard rock maple and had enough left over to make a couple of cutting boards. Do not try this at home. 4x4 is to big and has to much movement. Precison , gluing ,clamping, finishing. Spend what they ask or dance with the devil. I've been a woodworker all my life and I never want to try that again. I'd rather bone a leg of lamb.

[andiesenji]

More choices: less money

still end grain. but thinner.

and a round one end grain also

And here is a big one with the Wusthof name which looks really good

Wusthof board

And this one is a simply amazing value round with handles

[HKDave]

Is your chopping block for use or decoration/

If its for use, then it will get chopped on, scratched and mildly abused.

Replaced even form time to time.

If your knife dulls chopping on wood, then there is a problem with your knife..

Go to Chinatown  and buy an chinese chopping block, and save yourself $50...

(Online example)

←

Jackel10 speaks the truth. Most of the world somehow manages to chop veg without $65 boards.

For home use, almost any of the boards suggested in this thread will work fine and last for years.

[slkinsey]

Jackel10 speaks the truth.  Most of the world somehow manages to chop veg without $65 boards. 

For home use, almost any of the boards suggested in this thread will work fine and last for years.

Most of the world has crappy dull knives, too. But really this is not a valid argument -- especially for a place like the eGS. It's like saying, "most of the world manages to cook food without a fancy sauté pan."

Anyway, it seems clear to me that end grain is demonstrably better.

[anchita]

Thank you for all the responses and info! I really appreciate it.

Andiesenji, those are great deals! Thanks for the links..

Judging from the responses, Boos and Michigan Maple seem to deliver on all their promises. I'll keep that in mind. I'm extremely tempted by Andiesenji's last post, but the original Boos is also on my list. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a more informed decision now. Or maybe I'll simply spread my shopping over some time and get both, or get both at once and give one away as a gift!

The discussion here has definitely helped me know more about my choices and their quality as percieved by long time users.. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for that!

Anchita

Edited to add: I agree with slkinsey there.. at least as far as I am concerned. In fact, it was actually my quest for a better knife that led me to the search for a better cutting board!

Edited December 17, 2004 by anchita (log)

[HKDave]

Jackel10 speaks the truth.  Most of the world somehow manages to chop veg without $65 boards. 

For home use, almost any of the boards suggested in this thread will work fine and last for years.

Most of the world has crappy dull knives, too. But really this is not a valid argument -- especially for a place like the eGS. It's like saying, "most of the world manages to cook food without a fancy sauté pan."

←

slkinsey, sorry if I caused offense there. The point I was trying to make (not very well) was that it's possible to get a functional cutting board for less money. There's nothing about eG that precludes recommending inexpensive solutions.

For the record, I'm not recommending crappy dull knives or fancy saute pans.

[v. gautam]

Any feedback on the "Sani-Tuff" board by Teknor, used extensively in Chinatown roast meat places, [as far as one could see]?

[oraklet]

Bamboo boards end or edge grain are indeed nice looking but they are still harder than Maple and will result in faster dulling knives.  The fact that water beads up on the board is not necessarily a good thing.  One of the benefits to using woods like maple is the natural antibacterial nature of wood.  Bacteria will be absorbed in the wood fibers where they will perish.

that's what i was told here on egullet, but:

http://www.securityworld.com/library/healt...oardsafety.html

not that i think it's that important. follow the basic rule of different boards for different stuff, and you're about as safe as you can be.

[slkinsey]

slkinsey, sorry if I caused offense there.  The point I was trying to make (not very well) was that it's possible to get a functional cutting board for less money.  There's nothing about eG that precludes recommending inexpensive solutions.

No offense taken here. Mostly what I disagree with is Jack's assertion that, "if your knife dulls chopping on wood, then there is a problem with your knife." This is simply not true, as some wood cutting boards are better for a knife's edge than others.

I agree with you about inexpensive solutions. I have a bunch of end grain cutting boards I picked up for around 25 bucks each at Ikea (unfortunately, the end grain cutting boards they sell now do not seem to be as good as they were 4-5 years ago). But there does come a point in the search for top quality where the price goes North of "inexpensive."

[slkinsey]

One of the benefits to using woods like maple is the natural antibacterial nature of wood.  Bacteria will be absorbed in the wood fibers where they will perish.

that's what i was told here on egullet, but:

http://www.securityworld.com/library/healt...oardsafety.html

not that i think it's that important. follow the basic rule of different boards for different stuff, and you're about as safe as you can be.

To be honest, I think a lot of that is hooey. When I was growing up my mother used one wooden cutting board for everything, and she didn't go to any great lengths to sanitize it after it was used to cut meat. Salmonella and other meat-related sicknesses in our family over the course of 20 years? Zero. Similarly, I use end grain cutting boards exclusively in my kitchen, although I do go to greaster lengths to prevent cross-contamination. While preparing any given meal I do not use the same cutting surface for meat and any ingredients that will be consumed raw, I wash/dry any cutting board used for meat with soap and water, and I often spray the board down with a mild bleach solution before I put it away. But I certainly wouldn't avoid using the same cutting board for salad vegetables today that I used for chicken yesterday. Salmonella and other meat-related sicknesses arising from my kitchen over 10+ years of this practice? Zero.

If one maintains a reasonably clean kitchen and buys good quality meat, I just don't think this is a problem worth worrying about.

[Moopheus]

Any feedback on the "Sani-Tuff" board by Teknor, used extensively in Chinatown roast meat places, [as far as one could see]?

←

I use one at home. I like it. It seems to be relatively easy on knives, but at the price that it does get cut up and needs to be sanded down once in a while. It's not particularly stain or odor resistant, but it hasn't been a problem (I didn't buy this board for its looks, that's for sure!). Sanding helps with that too. Other than that it's pretty low maintenance. Also, they might not be perfectly flat when you buy them (or at least mine wasn't). But sanding . . . Also, It's very heavy. I use it two-sided--a 'dinner' side and a 'dessert' side--so I don't chop chocolate on the side that's been used for garlic and onions. It costs about half of what the Boos board costs.

[andiesenji]

As far as the properties of various faces of woods, for about 20 years in the 60s and 70s, I used for my cutting board a large piece of quarter-sawn maple (also known as "tiger-maple") that was bolted to a slab of red oak, also quarter-sawn.

I don't know if you know about red oak, but it is extremely heavy, much heavier than maple. Each slab of wood was slightly less than 2 inches thick so the entire thing was almost 4 inches thick. In the 4 houses in which I lived during those years I had a section of counter top cut out so the slab could be sunk into an area to make it even with the countertop.

Anyway, I could use either side but generally used the maple side but turned the slab over when we had company.

The edges on my knives did not dull any faster on these boards as they did on end grain blocks, and I am very fussy about my knives, always have been.

When I sold my house in Canoga Park the buyers specifically asked that I leave that cutting board. I had offered to get a new one but they liked that one. Otherwise I would still be using it.

It is true edge grain cutting boards do get a bit cut up at times, however unless one is leaning on a blade with a great deal of force, it is not going to deform all that much. Cutting most vegetables does not require that much force.

One of my friends uses a slab of walnut from an 80-year-old tree cut down on his property in Agoura Hills. He also has one out by his barbecue and both still have the bark on the outside edge. This is sort of the ultimate end grain, only it is 35 inches in diameter.

With what it cost him to have the tree cut down and the slabs cut and finished, he figures each cutting "board" cost him about $300.00.

[EdS]

I had a 12-inch square John Boos end-grain cutting board that I enjoyed but I gave to a friend because it was too small. Since then, I've been using a thicker than average poly board. It's nice because you can toss it in the dishwasher but there's a certain something aesthetic that is missing. I'm looking at the 18-inch square 4-inch-thick John Boos end-grain and thinking about making it a holiday present to myself. However, my sink is only 16-inches by 21.5 -inches. Am I out of my mind for considering such a large cutting board given my sink size? Also, has anyone compared the Michigan Maple boards against the John Boos boards to see if the quality is comparable? The Michigan Maple boards sell for a fair amount less than John Boos.

[docsconz]

Any thoughts on rubber cutting boards? I have seen some at some of the better kitchen supply stores in NYC like JB Prince and Korin knives. Prices appear comparable to the Boos boards.

[andiesenji]

I had a 12-inch square John Boos end-grain cutting board that I enjoyed but I gave to a friend because it was too small. Since then, I've been using a thicker than average poly board. It's nice because you can toss it in the dishwasher but there's a certain something aesthetic that is missing. I'm looking at the 18-inch square 4-inch-thick John Boos end-grain and thinking about making it a holiday present to myself. However, my sink is only 16-inches by 21.5 -inches. Am I out of my mind for considering such a large cutting board given my sink size? Also, has anyone compared the Michigan Maple boards against the John Boos boards to see if the quality is comparable? The Michigan Maple boards sell for a fair amount less than John Boos.

←

I have both and I like the Michigan Maple better than the Boos. I have similar sized ones and the MM is heavier than the Boos and it is noticable when you pick them up, you don't have to weigh them to feel the difference.

My housekeeper has noticed it and mentions it every time she has to move one of them. She say the MM feels like it has "let" in it.

[jayt90]

Is your chopping block for use or decoration/

If its for use, then it will get chopped on, scratched and mildly abused.

Replaced even form time to time.

If your knife dulls chopping on wood, then there is a problem with your knife..

Go to Chinatown  and buy an chinese chopping block, and save yourself $50...

(Online example)

←

Jackel10 speaks the truth. Most of the world somehow manages to chop veg without $65 boards.

For home use, almost any of the boards suggested in this thread will work fine and last for years.

←

I agree; I have a $15 round board from Chinatown, and a $35 end cut Roscan maple boardfro Costco ($35). Both will protect my knives and look attractive.

[winesonoma]

I have a large 18"x18" Michigan Maple that I keep well oiled. A trick is to go to the local hardware store and get 6-8 rubber or plastic Faucet washers, with a tapered side. Put those under the board and it lets air circulate under it. Also prevents it from sliding.

Edited December 18, 2004 by winesonoma (log)

[Daddy-A]

Any thoughts on rubber cutting boards? I have seen some at some of the better kitchen supply stores in NYC like JB Prince and Korin knives. Prices appear comparable to the Boos boards.

The only thought I have on those John is that the surface will break down over years of use. Rubber does cut, and eventually you'll have a really rough surface that will be difficult to clean. It's kinda like those soft plastic ones (forget the name of the material) that you see used in some restaurant kitchens. Typically, they're used because the cost vs. endurance ratio is low enough for them to be disposable.

I have a large 18"x8" Michigan Maple that I keep well oiled. A trick is to go to the local hardware store and get 6-8 rubber or plastic Faucet washers, with a tapered side. Put those under the board and it lets air circulate under it. Also prevents it from sliding.

I used 1" adhesive rubber door bumpers on mine. Couldn't bring myself to screw anything into it.

A.

[winesonoma]

Any thoughts on rubber cutting boards? I have seen some at some of the better kitchen supply stores in NYC like JB Prince and Korin knives. Prices appear comparable to the Boos boards.

The only thought I have on those John is that the surface will break down over years of use. Rubber does cut, and eventually you'll have a really rough surface that will be difficult to clean. It's kinda like those soft plastic ones (forget the name of the material) that you see used in some restaurant kitchens. Typically, they're used because the cost vs. endurance ratio is low enough for them to be disposable.

I have a large 18"x8" Michigan Maple that I keep well oiled. A trick is to go to the local hardware store and get 6-8 rubber or plastic Faucet washers, with a tapered side. Put those under the board and it lets air circulate under it. Also prevents it from sliding.

I used 1" adhesive rubber door bumpers on mine. Couldn't bring myself to screw anything into it.

A.

←

They just sit on the counter. The weight of the board holds them in place. I turn it over once a month.

[winesonoma]

Any thoughts on rubber cutting boards? I have seen some at some of the better kitchen supply stores in NYC like JB Prince and Korin knives. Prices appear comparable to the Boos boards.

The only thought I have on those John is that the surface will break down over years of use. Rubber does cut, and eventually you'll have a really rough surface that will be difficult to clean. It's kinda like those soft plastic ones (forget the name of the material) that you see used in some restaurant kitchens. Typically, they're used because the cost vs. endurance ratio is low enough for them to be disposable.

I have a large 18"x18" Michigan Maple that I keep well oiled. A trick is to go to the local hardware store and get 6-8 rubber or plastic Faucet washers, with a tapered side. Put those under the board and it lets air circulate under it. Also prevents it from sliding.

I used 1" adhesive rubber door bumpers on mine. Couldn't bring myself to screw anything into it.

A.

←

They just sit on the counter. The weight of the board holds them in place. I turn it over once a month.

[hwilson41]

End grain is fine, but unnecessary for a cutting board. [snip]

I have to say that I disagree with you 100% on this one. End grain is very important for a cutting board, and this is why: with an end grain cutting board, the wood fibers part and provide a relatively soft surface for the edge of the knife. This means less wear and tear on the edge, which ultimately means longer life and better performance out of the knife.

Here is a "closeup" graphic illustrating a knife on an end grain cutting board. Note how the fibers part for the edge of the knife. [snip drawings]

I would never want to use a cutting board that wasn't end grain.

←

Sam, you may disagree all you wish, but you're missing the point. In your first graphic of end grain, that's fine as far as it goes. The problem is that "as far as it goes" is usually about two inches max. Then you hit a glue line. That glue is far harder than any hardwood and will damage steel much more quickly. My suggestion was for a solid board with no glue lines for exactly that reason.

The second graphic was not applicable to what I suggested. I suggested quarter sawn lumber, in which the grain runs pretty much like your drawing for edge grain. Warping (a problem in flat sawn lumber) is NOT a problem with quarter sawn lumber, because a much higher percentage of the expansion and contraction in hardwoods is in its width (tangential) vs its thickness (radial). The radial movement is small enough as to be safely ignored in applications like this.

Here's a link to Bally Block's article on cutting boards and suchlike. Note that they recommend that end grain boards be 2.5 to 3.5" thick. What I'm referring to as quarter sawn lumber is what they call edge grain lumber. It should still be 1.5" or so thick, but is much more manageable than 2.5 or 3.5". Again, their example has the disadvantage of glue lines, which I suggested could be avoided by dealing directly with the sawmill.

THW