Butcher block wood?

[Alan Tabb]

What other hardwoods can I Safely use to make a butcher block/cutting board insert for our new kitchen, other than the traditional Maple? Thanks Alan

[xrongor]

Safely? with a capital S? i would stick with maple and the fda on this one...

randy

[Dave Balderstone]

There's alway Maple if you want something different...

djb

[KYHighlander]

What about Hemlock?

You'll never have to worry about roaches on it.

KY

ps don't use hemlock was just an off the cuff response. It be poison.

[Jon Endres, PE]

Beech, cherry, birch, maybe ash. Personally, I'd prefer beech over maple.

I have a board with purpleheart in it, and I have seen many using walnut.

Jon E

[Rick Gibson]

I've used oak and walnut together.

Rick

[Toller]

When I worked in a butcher's shop everything was sycamore.

[Bridger]

IIRC, hemlock the poisonous herb that socrates drank and the timber used for construction today are totally different things.

anyone have other/better info?

[Silvan]

Correct. They have about as much in common as apples and dandelions.

Hemlock the tree is in the Pine family, /Tsuga spp./ I seem to recall that the lumber has good resistance to insect problems, and it might indeed be somewhat toxic, but it isn't the same thing as the other hemlock by a long shot.

Hemlock the herb comes in a European flavor and an American flavor. I think the European flavor is /Conium maculatum./ Both are EXTREMELY poisonous, as in one leaf can kill you. (I think. I don't have my book handy, and my butt is comfortable right here where it is.) They they have form and flowers that look vaguely like a lot of other completely innocuous things. I can never remember quite what they look like, so I stay the hell away from anything with Queen Anne's Lace looking flowers that's growing anywhere near water. The stuff here in North America is definitely a "water hemlock." Not sure about the Eurotrash version.

[Doug Miller]

Say whaaaaaaat?? I think you're confused.

Sycamore is *waaaaaay* too soft to use as a cutting board, and has a flavor besides. No way should it *ever* be used for a cutting board.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

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[Doug Miller]

It's been discussed before -- check Google.

Ideally, you want a hard wood that won't contribute any flavor or other undesirables to the food being cut up. That's a fairly short list: maple, beech, birch, ash. Hickory and white oak will contribute some flavor, but most folks likely will not find it objectionable; likewise cherry, but it may be a bit softer than is practical. Don't use red oak under any circumstances: wet red oak smells like cat piss, which is probably not an odor you wish in your veggies.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

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[Phisherman]

White oak is decent around moisture. Any closed-grain non-toxic wood should be a good choice.

[Eric Tonks]

Also you don't want any wood with pores, as liquids and soft substances can be pressed or absorbed into the pores and turn rancid or contaminated with bacteria, viruses or moulds. You want a solid non pore type of wood. It always comes back to maple, preferably hard, rock or sugar maple, which are all the same thing.

[RB]

We've been using several end grain oriented teak surfaces for more years than I can remember. Works well and is very durable.

RB

Alan Tabb wrote: