best thing to seal oak for making a chopping board

[Staffbull]

Had some lengths of oak worktop and I intend to cut them into chopping board sizes, they are untreated, what would be the best to seal them with?

cheers

[Stuart Noble]

Just keep them for decoration and chop your food on a proper plastic chopping board that you can actually wash

[LSR]

Liquid paraffin BP (from a pharmacist).

[Dave Baker]

I recall some research from several years ago that wooden chopping boards actually kept bacteria in check to a much greater degree than plastic ones.

[Robin]

I am puzzled: just for my education, is any seal going to withstand being chopped? Or is it more a case of something which soaks into the wood to provide a (relatvely thick) barrier to mositure?

Quite a lot of conflicting evidence is cited

[Staffbull]

How many people have seen a plastic butchers block? we've been eating food prepared off wooden surfaces for years !!,

[Stuart Noble]

There's research somewhere to suggest just about anything. I don't think you'll find too many wooden chopping boards in commercial kitchens these days.

[Mary Fisher]

There's no benefit in sealing and oak - or any other timber - chopping board. Use it, wash it, dry it and use it again.

The only caveat is to keep the side used for onions and garlic apart from cutting other things on it. I've marked (by carving) each side of my main chopping board with Veg and Meat. I have another for fruit/cheese and others for bread cutting, dough stretching etc. They're all timber and none is sealed. I wouldn't use plastic or glass for love nor money.

Timber boards wash very well but why on Earth would you keep them for decoration?

Mary

[Stuart B]

If you Google for Chopping Board Oil there are some products made for that ..

[TMC]

Talking crap Stuart

Have checked with the chefs

the reason wooden blocks went out of commercial kitchens was because EHO brought in colour coding for different foodstuffs for boards and knives. This required so much equipment and monitoring that it was never fully implemented but the kitchens ended up with an excess of plastic boards

There was never a serious issue of bacteria retention it was purely a logistic problem of getting the boards dry after cleaning ready for the next use

Butchers still use wooden blocks

Wooden blocks in kitchens can't be that much of an issue as in modern kitchens the whole worktop area is often made of wood

Tony

[Pete C]

Pure tung oil is one:

cheers, Pete.

[EricP]

Nothing. You don't treat chopping boards

[Brian G]

Staffbull,

I wouldn't use oak as a chopping board because of the tannic acid it contains (that's why iron fittings and screws go black when used on it) - I would suggest that a better material may well be sycamore.

Brian G

[Stephen Howard]

No need to seal them. Just wipe them over after use with a clean cloth soaked in a mild detergent solution. Note the 'clean' is the key...avoid using the manky old J-Cloth that's been sitting by the sink for the last couple of days.

If you're paranoid about germs you can finish up with a squirt of Dettox...but I never bother, and nor did my mum or her mum - and no-one seems to have come to any harm ( twitch ).

What's important is to allow the board to dry slowly and naturally - don't force it ( having a couple of boards is useful...three is ideal if you want to keep one just for onions etc. ). Splitting is sometimes a problem, but this tends to affect thinner boards ( I'm assuming your oak is standard work-surface thickness ). You might find it beneficial to ensure the edges of the board are slightly rounded. Once a board is split it's useless.

You can buy or make up oils for treating the boards, but I tend to save it for use on tables and wooden salad bowls ( which need something to protect the wood from the acidity of the vinegar ). A quick wipe over with olive oil from time to time will work just as well.

Regards.

[Stuart B]

How about beech ?

[Stephen Howard]

I wouldn't think this will be a problem unless food is left on the board for a significant length of time - and the more the board is wiped the less likely any risk of tannins leaching onto the food. In fact, it might be the case that the tannins make the board especially resistant to bacteria.

In any event, oak boards are quite common - so I'd guess it's not a significant issue.

I use beech myself, laminated - but only because a kitchen fitter was daft enough to check a load of hefty offcuts into a skip as I was passing.

Regards,

[ajp]

Yep - it's a mineral oil so it won't go rancid, it's flavourless and it's a pharmaceutical ingredient that's non-toxic (unless of course you drink it by the gallon)!

Alan

[The Natural Philosopher]

I would say absolutely nothing, or olive oil

[The Natural Philosopher]

Beech end grain is good.

We have a really nice elm one...

Ok is OK. The tannic acid is not in greaat quantities and is not particularly harmful. Far more in a cup of tea...

[The Natural Philosopher]

I use bleach on a kitchen table that we often chop straight onto - nasty old pine thing, but it serves.

Then wash throughly and leave, ir sometimes wipe a bit of olive oil over..

Plane the edges and use epoxy and clamps to repair. Works FINE.