You will find lots of materials in the market today used for designing kitchen cutting boards. However, the classic design of the hard and durable maple cutting board is still the choice of normal people for their kitchen. The reason behind the usage of wooden cutting board is due to its effectiveness in not damaging kitchen knives, not easy for it to be contaminated with bacteria, plus also having a nice appearance when it is displayed as your kitchen décor. Cutting board that you want to use for multi-purpose task should at least have a thickness of 2-inch, one-foot width and also 18-inches length. It can be made of solid wood or even the common maple boards as well as planks that are glued and pressed together. All of the above mentioned requirements can provide you with a long lasting wooden cutting board that can be used even for your grandchildren. Below are some tips that you can learn in order to care for your wooden cutting boards.
To care wood cutting boards, you need:
- Food-grade mineral oil
- Coarse salt
- Bleach
How to Care your Wood Cutting Boards
Caring for Your Wooden Cutting Boards
- Cutting board can be easily contaminated by whatever meat or poultry that you use on them.
- If possible, you should use two separate boards where one of it for cutting meat and poultry while the other one will be use for cutting either fruits or vegetables.
- If possible, you should use two separate boards where one of it for cutting meat and poultry while the other one will be use for cutting either fruits or vegetables.
Always remember not to dry your wooden board or even immerse it inside water as well as into a dishwasher. It is also not advisable for you to use sandpaper over the wooden cutting board because it will result to the creation of small pits that enables bacteria to grow.
- Make sure that you clean your wooden cutting board once you use them.
- Do not immerse the board with water and it is recommended that you wash its surface using a damp rag or sponge.
- You can also spray a weak bleach solution (one teaspoon of bleach to a quart of water) on the board’s surface.
- After that, you need to scatter some coarse salt over the board’s damp top before rubbing it strongly using a sponge or cloth.
- Once you finished, you need to rinse the board and make sure that it dries thoroughly.
- Do not immerse the board with water and it is recommended that you wash its surface using a damp rag or sponge.
- Another method that you should take is to oil the cutting board at least once a month or whenever you notice that the board looks a bit dry.
- For those of you who live in a very dry climate, you need to oil the wooden board once every two weeks.
- Make sure that you use food grade mineral oil instead of edible food oil like vegetable oil or olive oil. This is because food oils will turn rancid where its odor will be absorbed by the food once you cut them.
- You need to wipe down the oil well enough until you managed to cover all the surfaces of the wooden board.
- Then, leave the board overnight before you can use a damp cloth in order to remove any of the excess oil.
- For those of you who live in a very dry climate, you need to oil the wooden board once every two weeks.
- You must always keep the wooden cutting board’s surface smooth by scrubbing salt over it.
Wooden cutting board is a self healing material that enables itself to seal once you do light cutting whenever you chop your food.
- Apart from the above steps, you can also take your wooden cutting board to your nearby wood shop and request them to resurface the board whenever you notice that the surface becomes heavily damage due to heavy cutting.
- It is not advisable for you to use sandpaper to resurface your wooden cutting board.
Always remember that whenever you want to care for your wood cutting board,
- Always use wooden cutting board for cutting fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, it is recommended that you use plastic board for cutting meats and poultry so that you can easily wash the plastic board using your dishwasher or even use the sink by running the plastic board through hot water and soap.
- Apart from using special made oil to care for butcher blocks and cutting boards, you can also make use of edible mineral oil to clean them.
- Stains and odor can be removed from your wooden cutting board by simply sprinkling your regular table salt over its surface and also rubbing it with a slice of lemon. Then, you only need to rinse it using hot water.
- Bad odor can also be removed by using baking soda especially if you are cutting onions, garlic, or even other strong scented foods on your board.
- You need to also use a good steel scraper or spatula in order to maintain your cutting surface clean and sanitary. Make sure not to use a steel brush over the surface of your cutting block or board.
- You must always practice to use both sides of your wooden board so that you can allow even usages of its surfaces.
- Remember not to wash your wooden board using any type of harsh detergents and also not to wash any of your butcher’s knives on your wooden boards.
- It is not advisable for you to use sandpaper to resurface your wooden cutting board.
