rejuvenating cutting boards

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

In my neck of the woods, one of those 'plastic' cutting boards can be very expensive. Eventually they get chewed up and stained and not so sanitary. The solution is to run them through a planer. Works like a charm and the result is a brand new cutting board in pristine condition. Depending upon the original thickness, one can keep a cutting board going for a long time this way.

Do the same for a wooden cutting board and then soak it in food grade mineral oil and rub with bees wax.

 

[The Innkeeper]

With our B&B kitchen we go through a ton of cutting boards. Way easier to sanitize the plastic than keep up with the maintenance on wood. I prefer the look of wood but plastic is way easier

 

[Patchouli]

Interesting...https://www.rowandsons.co.uk/blog/myth-fact-antibacterial-properties-wood/
and the link to Dr. Cliver's report: http://www.woodworking.co.uk/Technical/Bacteria/bacteria.html
My mom had a wooden cutting board that lasted for 30 years or more.

 

[Sentry18]

We use sturdy plastic cutting boards. When dishes are done we generally just put them in the sink and let them soak in some hot soapy bleach water for 20 minutes or so before putting them in the dish washer (which we always run in sanitize mode). No stains, no bacteria, no problem. I don't have a planer anyway.

 

[Weedygarden]

Interesting idea to run it through the planer. I do wash mine by hand, and then run it through the dishwasher. I have a few, but not one of them is stained or torn up. I have 3 heavier ones, and one that is thin and translucent. This thin one is also less likely to show knife marks. Maybe I don't use them as much as others.

 

[SheepDog]

I have always used salt to clean my wooden cutting boards. I have never used water or bleach on them.
My wife bought me some of the plastic boards but they get worn very quickly. She likes them because they are sanitized through the dish washer - but they hold on to stains.

 

[Patchouli]

Yeah, I was cleaning some stuff for someone and realized their cutting boards were kind of ...gross. I used salt and lemon on them. It cleaned the boards up really well.

 

[Meerkat]

Interesting...https://www.rowandsons.co.uk/blog/myth-fact-antibacterial-properties-wood/
and the link to Dr. Cliver's report: http://www.woodworking.co.uk/Technical/Bacteria/bacteria.html
My mom had a wooden cutting board that lasted for 30 years or more.

It may have been maple. We have a maple board we paid $80.00 for to make 3 cuttign boards. Still haven't gotten around to makign them.

 

[Caribou]

I had a real nice cutting board. It was maple and about 2" thick. It was going to kill us no matter how many times I told her that it was more sanitary than plastic. One day mine was gone and a couple plastic ones were in its place. So sad.

My first ten years was spent in my grandparents meat market with the big butcher blocks. Mom still has one in her kitchen. I wish I had a place to put it.

 

[Patchouli]

I had a real nice cutting board. It was maple and about 2" thick. It was going to kill us no matter how many times I told her that it was more sanitary than plastic. One day mine was gone and a couple plastic ones were in its place. So sad.

My first ten years was spent in my grandparents meat market with the big butcher blocks. Mom still has one in her kitchen. I wish I had a place to put it.

That's too bad you lost your cutting board. All the articles I'm reading say wood is better than plastic. It really helps to know how to care for them properly, as well as the wooden handled knives and other utensils. Putting most of those things in the dishwasher isn't the best way to clean them but if it works for someone, go ahead.

 

[Caribou]

That's too bad you lost your cutting board. All the articles I'm reading say wood is better than plastic. It really helps to know how to care for them properly, as well as the wooden handled knives and other utensils. Putting most of those things in the dishwasher isn't the best way to clean them but if it works for someone, go ahead.

Putting a knife in the dishwasher is not great for the steel but the wooden handle swells up from the moisture and then dries out and shrinks leaving the rivets loose and the wood eventually cracks.

 

[Patchouli]

Someone really rags on us when they see us put our wooden handled knives in water or the dw, really BAD. And now, 15 years since I got some of these knives, I see why it is a bad idea to put it in the dw. I didn't know it was bad for the steel.
To do the salt and lemon scrub: get the board wet. Use regular salt or larger crystals. Sprinkle them on to board. I rub them with my hand, combining with the water, they start to break down a bit. Let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. I then use half a lemon and rub it hard against the salt for a bit, let it sit for 15 minutes or so, then rinse it off, tamp it dry. Let it sit. Then use your choice of oils to condition it. Recommended is mineral oil, linseed oil, coconut oil, and even adding beeswax to the oil. I always forget to oil mine.
I suppose that would keep it from cracking or warping, but not putting it in water would most likely be the better idea, says self to self always. duh.

 

[The Innkeeper]

Wood lasts longer, and some types of wood may arguably be better than plastic. Plastic cleans easier but is more prone to cutting/gouging so that means you have to be a little more careful as bacteria can hide there.

If you oil your wooden boards make sure you use a food safe product. Many of the vegetable oils tend to go rancid.

In the B&B kitchen we use a series of colour coded plastic boards to avoid cross contamination and we use a lot of them. Green for fruit, veggies, red for beef/pork, yellow chicken, blue fish, purple dairy, clear breads etc. We are pretty strict about food safe protocols.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Another thing you can soak your plastic cutting boards in is soapy water with peroxide mixed in with it or wipe the board over with neat peroxide and leave 10 minutes and wash in soapy hot water. Over here in Australia we have a bacteria in animal meat bloods, urine, placenta material, faeces and milk that can cause Q Fever (google it) but peroxide is the most effective for this particular bacterial infection and we also use peroxide for going over all of our kitchen benches after packing bulk meat etc. Also peroxide is good for soaking hankies and things in when people have the flu as well as disinfecting hankies of people with Q Fever too.

 

[backlash]

This thread has brought an ongoing problem for me to the surface.
My wife and knives.
She drives me nuts the way she treats them.
I sharpen all of her knives and then she will just dumped them in the sink waiting to be washed.
One big pile of wood handled knives just laying there all wet and banged up.
She has a bunch of cutting boards.
The plastics get washed in the dish washer or washed in the sink.
She has one plastic cutting board that she uses for chicken and nothing else.
Not sure why but it makes her feel better I guess.
The wood ones are hand washed in hot soapy water and air dried.
He favorite cutting board is made of bamboo.
It seems to hold up well and is easy to clean.
I don't have a planer but maybe I'll just take my sander to them.
That should do the same thing.

 

[Weedygarden]

She has one plastic cutting board that she uses for chicken and nothing else.
Not sure why but it makes her feel better I guess.
.

There are many people who are very careful about cooking with chicken. It has been drilled into us how chicken carries salmonella and if we are not careful we can easily cross contaminate that salmonella onto other foods.

There are sets of cutting boards that are color coded for what they are used for. Jewish cooks have been using color coded cutting boards for a while.

 

[The Innkeeper]

There are many people who are very careful about cooking with chicken. It has been drilled into us how chicken carries salmonella and if we are not careful we can easily cross contaminate that salmonella onto other foods.

There are sets of cutting boards that are color coded for what they are used for. Jewish cooks have been using color coded cutting boards for a while.
View attachment 4341 View attachment 4342

. Similar system to what we use although colour coding is different. Same general idea though

 

[The Innkeeper]

This thread has brought an ongoing problem for me to the surface.
My wife and knives.
She drives me nuts the way she treats them.
I sharpen all of her knives and then she will just dumped them in the sink waiting to be washed.
One big pile of wood handled knives just laying there all wet and banged up.
She has a bunch of cutting boards.
The plastics get washed in the dish washer or washed in the sink.
She has one plastic cutting board that she uses for chicken and nothing else.
Not sure why but it makes her feel better I guess.
The wood ones are hand washed in hot soapy water and air dried.
He favorite cutting board is made of bamboo.
It seems to hold up well and is easy to clean.
I don't have a planer but maybe I'll just take my sander to them.
That should do the same thing.

Cross contamination risk with poultry is considered very high by most food safe types. One of our board colours is just for poultry.

 

[Patchouli]

Most wooden cutting boards heal from the cuts and slices, "they" say. (Those who do the studies in laboratories).
They say the wood closes up somewhat.
Black walnut, being one of this herbalist's favorites, might be an excellent wood to try out.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Try cleaning wooden cutting boards with paste made of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide with half a lemon as scrubber.
That's what I use personally.
Same thing with wooden handle knives.