quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
Water w chlorine bleach ... sanitary is good.

Frankly I have gotten rid of all my very nice maple Butcher block cutting-boards and use only semi-soft plastic that goes right into the dishwasher for more efficient and effective tool. Wood is silly for keeping your kitchen microbe-free.

Non-hydrogenated oil's will all go bad/rancid overtime. It is the nature of the molecule.

I like that idea for meats and veggies but I've got an extra large wood one that I use only for dough (at least one side of it).
Food grade mineral oil is what I've been taught.

Food grade mineral oil sounds like the majority vote here. Thanks, all!

My research a few years ago for a board I've had a while and just hand washed.

Mineral oil for preservation.

White vinegar for cleaning.

Hydrogen peroxide for disinfecting.

Don't lay flat but on edge. Keeps board from warping.

All can be bought cheaply no need for fancy name products.

Have had no issues with any of the above.

Best Cutting Board?

I’ve been using a plastic cutting board for a long time, but a friend told me wood cutting boards are safer as they don’t harbor bacteria. I thought it was the other way around. What’s the truth?

– July 15, 2014

Cutting board safety has been a topic of debate for some time. The main question has been which material is best – wood, plastic or, more recently, bamboo. Safety concerns focus on whether or not a board can be effectively cleaned after use so that few bacteria remain to contaminate whatever food you place on it next. Another consideration is which surface is more likely to dull the knives you use.

Research at the University of California, Davis (UCD), addressed these issues after investigators learned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had no scientific evidence to back up its recommendation that plastic, rather than wood cutting boards, be used in home kitchens. However, at the time, the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Manual and the FDA’s 1999 Food Code, which set regulations for restaurants and retail food stores, permitted the use of cutting boards made of maple or other close-grained hardwood and didn’t authorize plastic boards or specify how plastic surfaces should be maintained.

The UCD researchers initially set out to find a way to disinfect wooden cutting boards so they would be as safe to use at home as plastic ones were said to be. They soon learned that disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella couldn’t be recovered from new wooden boards even shortly after they were put there. The bacteria were essentially unviable unless the researchers contaminated the boards with very large numbers of the bugs. Surprisingly, they also found that new plastic surfaces enabled the bacteria to persist.

But here’s another surprise: the researchers quickly discovered that used, knife-scarred wooden cutting boards harbored no more bacteria than new boards, while knife-scarred plastic boards were "impossible to clean and disinfect manually." When the researchers scanned the plastic boards with electron micrographs, they saw "highly significant damage" to the surfaces from knife cuts. Bacteria inside wooden boards don’t multiply and gradually die. Comparing the bacteria found on wooden boards to those found lurking on plastic ones when both have been cleaned manually, the researchers found more bacteria on a used plastic surface than on a used wood one.

The good news from this study is that plastic boards can be successfully cleaned in the dishwasher, and that small wooden boards can be disinfected quickly in the microwave.

The UCD team noted that a study from another group of researchers examining salmonella infection found that people using wooden cutting boards at home were less likely to contract these infections, while those using plastic (or glass) cutting boards were more likely to become infected.

I’m currently using a bamboo cutting board. It is low maintenance and the wood is hard enough to resist retaining water (but don’t put bamboo in the dishwasher). I wash my cutting board after use, rinse it and wipe it dry. Once a month, I rub it with mineral oil to protect the surface.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

Sources:
Dean O. Cliver, "Plastic and Wooden Cutting Boards," University of California, Davis, http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis....ch/cuttingboard.htm, accessed May 29, 2014

P.H. Kass et al, "Disease Determinants of Sporadic Salmonellosis in four northern California counties. A case control study of older children and adults," Annals of Epidemiology, September 1992, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1342320, accessed May 29, 2014

https://www.drweil.com/diet-nu.../best-cutting-board/

41

quote:

Originally posted by 41:
Best Cutting Board?

I’ve been using a plastic cutting board for a long time, but a friend told me wood cutting boards are safer as they don’t harbor bacteria. I thought it was the other way around. What’s the truth?

I wash mine off with Dawn and leave it sit to dry. Same thing my mom did for decades (although she used Palmolive). She cut up everything on that board...chicken, fish, beef, pork, veggies...you name it. Not a one of us ever got sick from it. The germophobes will scream bloody murder, but I don't worry about it at all.

Actually, several studies indicate wood retains less bacteria than plastics.

I think properly cared for wood is just as safe as plastic. I do still use a plastic board for chicken, just to be safe.

Personally I HATE(!!) the feel of cutting on plastic, compounded by hating to have my knives (ranging from normal kitchen-chef grade to one of a kind) have their edges bludgeoned by a plastic board. I'll gladly wash a board a couple times while cooking to have the pleasure of blade on wood.

Bamboo cutting boards, wiped with mineral oil periodically to refresh resistance to soaking up water.

Plastic cutting board for meat, poultry, and seafood. Yes, the roughed up surface of plastic cutting boards gives bacteria a place to grow, however, my plastic cutting boards go through the dishwasher.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
I use a homemade mixture of food grade mineral oil and beeswax that has been heated to blend well. Same as the expensive commercial products but much cheaper.

This. You saved me some typing.

Peanut oil...

Oh course I don't recommend this if you or folks in your family have peanut allergies...

Olive oil, or whatever food type oil I have handy.

We finish cutting boards with mineral oil and paraffin. The finish is made by cutting small pieces of paraffin, and dropping them into a canning jar with mineral oil in it. To get the paraffin to mix, the jar is put into the microwave, and the stuff is heated. The paraffin goes away; one dare not hold onto the jar. We add the paraffin, until it won't dissolve anymore. When things cool, the liquid turns into a solid wax.

To apply, one puts the jar of solid wax into the microwave, and heat until it turns liquid. Then it is simply wiped on the cutting board. It is applied until the board won't absorb any more, then is wiped off.







The end grain cutting board is made from Maple, Walnut, and Jatoba. It is years old, and does not suffer much in the way of knife marks. The end grain allows the knife to cut things without cutting across wood grain; the knife cuts between grain. When cutting, one doesn't 'feel' the knife cutting wood fibers. We believe cutting on an end grain board feels better than cutting on plastic or across wood grain.

I make cutting boards and blocks as a hobby. I Give them away for wedding gifts. I like maple, walnut, cherry or birch. They need to be end grain. Long grain is slightly less bad on your knives thas using glass.

Use food grade mineral oil in the laxative section of your drug store or Clarks cutting board oil not the clear stuff but the yellow translucent mix. It has some beeswax mixed in with the mineral oil the trick is to squirt a bit into a bowl and heat it up in the nuke for about 15-30 seconds and apply it warm. I like to use a new sponge painting tool, a bag of 10 is like $2. Or a clean rag. Let the oil set for a day or 2 and dry and then rub it in. Wash your board by hand in warm water with dish soap. My mom has had the same maple block for 40 years used at least weekly and I am certain she has never oiled it. Some people oil theirs monthly.

Don't use any vegetable oil as it can go rancid.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by 41:
Best Cutting Board?

I’ve been using a plastic cutting board for a long time, but a friend told me wood cutting boards are safer as they don’t harbor bacteria. I thought it was the other way around. What’s the truth?

I wash mine off with Dawn and leave it sit to dry. Same thing my mom did for decades (although she used Palmolive). She cut up everything on that board...chicken, fish, beef, pork, veggies...you name it. Not a one of us ever got sick from it. The germophobes will scream bloody murder, but I don't worry about it at all.

Honestly, that's about the way it works here.