I know that Maple is the preferred wood but why? I have an abundance of Oak, is there any reason that I can't use that. For finishing, I realize that Mineral Sprits is the only proper finish as it's meant to come in contact with food, but I don't want to use Maple unless I have to.
Don
Oak is "ring-porous" absorbs a lot, maple is consistently dense. Apple or Pear wood works well too.
RayJ
Maple is preferred because of its tight closed grain. Oak has more of an open pore grain that can collect food. Mineral Spirits for a finish? I don't think so... Maybe Mineral Oil.
oak doesn't work. don't try to re-invent the wheel.
Olive wood...... makes a nice cutting board. Maple makes a nice cutting board.
-Dan V.
Well, it's porous. Stuff will get stuck in it.
The other consideration to bear in mind with oak is, red or white oak? Wet red oak smells like cat urine, and will impart unpleasant flavors to anything that you cut on it. White oak will also impart flavors, which may or may not be desirable, depending on the food.
Having "an abundance of oak" is a poor reason for using it for a purpose to which it is very ill-suited.
Maple is a much better choice.
Surely you mean mineral _oil_. :-)
Why don't you want to use maple? It has all the ideal characteristics needed for a cutting board: it's hard and strong, not porous, looks nice, easy to work, not terribly expensive, and doesn't impart flavor.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
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Best woods are those, as indicated, which are relatively close-grained, so as not to shelter nasties.
Best finish is nothing, for the same reason. If you expect the detergent to kill bacteria, don't give them oil to hide in.
Make two distinctive boards, one for raw foods, one for foods to be cooked - don't mix.
Yes, that's correct, I knew what I meant :) I suspected the reason was grain related - since finish isn't an issue, I'll pick up some Maple, thanks.
Don
Never thout of that and you're right. Going to stick with Maple.
Don
As many as 81 million cases of food-born illnesses occur in the United States each year, and most of these gut-wrenching infections can be traced to the home kitchen. Any surface -- even stainless steel pans, knives, sinks, food-processor blades, and mixing bowls --- can harbor nasty microbes. Fortunately, kitchen germs can usually be killed by a good scrubbing with hot water and soap, or a turn in the dishwasher, and by keeping all surfaces clean and dry. A good procedure for disinfecting both wood and plastic cutting boards, as well as other surfaces and utensils, is to spray them first with a mist of vinegar, then with a mist of hydrogen peroxide. This combo kills bacteria on meat and produce, too, without hurting the food.
We use three - one for meat, one for raw, one for cooked - not mixing is a good idea.
Mike
Others have posted why hard maple is the choice for the wood. As for finish:
I always wash the cutting board after every use with liquid dish detergent and then diluted chlorine bleach. When the board dries, if the oil is depleted I resoak with mineral oil. No problems with bugs ever. Warren
Any Hardwood will work for a cutting board. A lot of woods will look prettier than others, but a nice fine grained wood will work well. For sanitiizing use 1 cap of bleach per gallon of cool water. This gives you the reccommmended sanitizing solution of between 50 and 200 parts per million of chlorine. The board is not considered sanitized until it is dry, since the drying process is what actually kills the bacteria. I have owned 3 restaurants for over 20 years and this is standard on all wood cutting boards. The latest data is that wood may actually be a better suraface than the poly cutting boards because it evaporates moisture so well, but I don't believe they will ever go back no matter what the data. Our baking tables are allowed to be wood since its the perfect surface for dough. Hope this helps. \
Jim
Photo wrote:
Thanks - that's a great piece of advise.
Don
Not me. Whack up a chicken, whack up those veggies all on the same board. It's part of the new "green apple quickstep" diet and it's working!
-Doug
Plus, you've gotta like a wood where allergic reactions are rare...after all, people consume concentrated maple tree sap on their pancakes!
Chopping block = laminated maple Cutting board = walnut, maple, cherry, maple, walnut....in that order. Have Fun, Lumberjack
Not true, don't use an open pored wood, oak is a terrible choice. A previous poster mentioned walnut, which is not only worse, but stupid. Walnut can cause toxic reactions.
A good freind who is a food health service expert recommends keeping a spray bottle, with one tbs of clorox of one gallon of water., wipe, spray, let dry. Much easier.
The best cutting board is probably osage orange, but it's really expensive, and tghe dust gets everywhere. I would think apple and pear work well. I actually ahd a birch one for years, and constant washing didn't even disintegrate it. i made it before I "knew" that birch and water don't mix. It probably started warping when I knew it was the wrong thing to use.
Avoid padauk too; p;us any exotic where an allergiuc reaction is possible.
I wonder how ipe would be? Any ideas?
If you're concerned about allergic reactions from walnut, then run fast and far from ipe. Google "Lapochol".
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