quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Someone told me they keep a spray jar filled 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar to clean and sanitize their kitchen items.

I don't know about this. Any comments?

By the way, if you want to kill any and all germs, bad cooties and such, get a spray bottle or wipes of Cavicide. This is some effective stuff. However you don't want to eat anything that's been on it.

I used to use it for certain medical equipment in the pharmacy.

CAVICIDE LINK

.

Vinegar is a good cleaner but it doesn't really kill much bacteria. It's not really that strong of an acid. The sporicide we use in biotech has acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. It's much stronger than vinegar.

quote:

Originally posted by Chach:
End grain cutting boards for everything for me. I have one I specifically use for meat that gets boiling water on it followed by Star San sanitizer.

Though I’m a woodworker so they’re relatively inexpensive for me. They also make great Christmas/ birthday gifts.

A year ago I made some endgrain cutting boards using hard maple and jatoba as gifts for family. They use them for decoration in the kitchen but don't want to "mess them up" by actually cutting on them.

 
I don't prepare foods that require a cutting board any more, but I think that UHMW (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) would make a great cutting board. It is very expensive. I use pieces of it in the garage for backing when using punches to punch holes in leather, rubber, etc. It has some reboundy give, high lubricity, an all around great plastic. I keep a 6" x 12" piece bolted to the corner of my workbench for backing razor knife cutting. For these purposes, you can buy small sample packs of various useful sizes. A 1" x 10" x 24" piece will set you back about $100.
 

The BEST cutting board (and cheapest) is polycarbonite (Lexan), literally bullet proof.
Order it from a plastics house or get it from Home Depot. Cut it to 12" by 18" so it fits in the dishwasher. Lasts forever.
Had mine for 18 years; Easy on knives.

The cutting boards I have liked the best lately aren't exactly either... I've been using Epicurean brand cutting boards, which are made out of a kind of laminated paper board called Richlite.

Cutting on them feels more like cutting on wood than on plastic, but they're thin, go in the dishwasher, and don't warp or crack.

I like them a lot.

I bought one on a whim years ago off a display rack at a grocery store, and it quickly became my favorite and I got a couple more in different sizes.

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
I really like my bamboo board. But, I wash it, so not really worried.

Just sharing what I heard from someplace. Supposedly, bamboo is a bad thing for knives as it will dull the edge faster.

I do find the article interesting about wood's anti-bacterial properties.

I also like Jim's point about using alcohol.

I learned about using alcohol to clean toilet seats. I should have picked up on that. But I promise to use two separate bottles.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
The article compared these board after being unwashed for three days.
I don't want to eat food from anything that is unwashed for three days.

That's the crux to this whole thing. Rule #1 to operating in a kitchen, wash knives and cutting boards once you're done using them.

As a general rule, I use poly-plastic for meats and wood for veg. Wood looks great and I'll use my biggest board when slicing a roast as there's usually a few pictures get taken.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
So no one here is going to change their cutting practices after reading the OP? Interesting.

I have ALWAYS used wood and won't every change. BTW, in the past I've made my own cutting board out of Hard Maple. While it's a bit hard on the edge of a knife it's easy to touch up a knife and hard maple will last a lifetime.

Wood for veggies, poly for meat.

Poly goes in the dishwasher on sanitize setting. And bleach solution sprayed about once per weak.

I'm a huge germaphobe and wouldn't do it any other way.