Care & Feeding of a New Cutting Board

The Chow Poodle bought me a new Calphalon cutting board while I was out of town. It seems like it's very good quality; heavy for its size with very dense grained wood (maple). Is there a method to treat the cutting board similar to the way one seasons a new cast iron pan? It seems like the wood grain on the cutting surfaces is "open" and crying out for something to drink.

The best recommendation that I can give you is to oil your board and keep it well oiled using a food safe mineral oil. There is a product called "Mystery Oil" that I buy at Northwestern Cutlery on Lake. This stuff is significantly more viscous than normal thin mineral oil, and my chopping block loves it. Just lightly rub on a healthy amount and let it drink it up. I do this about every 3-5 weeks or whenever it looks like it needs it. For a new board, I would do this 3 or 4 times over the course of a week.

Some more tips:
1) Never leave standing water/moisture on the board. keep it dry.
2) Rotate it regularly for even wear.
3) If it gets smelly from chopping a lot of aromatics, you can try either sanding it down a little and re-oiling, or applying a thick coating of kosher salt overnight. The salt is my preferred method. It pulls out a lot of the oils that are settling in the surface of the wood and really freshens it up.
4) You can't over-oil a board.

Best,
EC

Northwestern Cutlery
810 W. Lake St.
888-248-4449

Woodworking was a big hobby for my dad and about 18 years ago he made me a cutting board (nice size, trough for meat juices). I don't know what kind of wood it is, but it weighs quite a bit. I also know he oiled it throughly before he turned it over to me, but that was the last I heard about oiling. I bet I have used it every day since he gave it to me and it's still in great shape. All I do is wash it with soap and water and make sure it dries thoroughly before I put it away.

Kwe730 wrote:Woodworking was a big hobby for my dad and about 18 years ago he made me a cutting board (nice size, trough for meat juices). I don't know what kind of wood it is, but it weighs quite a bit. I also know he oiled it throughly before he turned it over to me, but that was the last I heard about oiling. I bet I have used it every day since he gave it to me and it's still in great shape. All I do is wash it with soap and water and make sure it dries thoroughly before I put it away.

Your board must be using a much harder wood than a commercial cutting board. Every board I have owned requires oiling. The surface of the wood usually becomes worn by frequent chopping movements. If you're going to use soap on it, be sure to use a very gentle detergent, and a minimal amount.

EC,

After I posted this to you I realized that I should've mentioned that my dad was not your "Weekend Warrior" variety of woodworker. I'm sure whatever type of wood he used on this was not your typical cutting board material. Either that, or I need to go out and buy some oil for the board!

Kim

Hot hot water (140+)and soap, the daily cure, for sure.

For serious cleaning, like after butchering poultry or cleaning fish, I do the hot hot water/soap thing too.

Once in a blue moon I scrub with steel wool and Comet (yes this will shorten the life of a good wood board, from 100 years down to 40).

From decent wood boards, never oiled, I get at least fifteen years everyday use cleaned with soap and hot water. I have some others (not daily use--big boards, for carving) that are decades old.

As you may guess, I'm not so sure about this oiling thing. It doesn't match with what I know about sound food sanitation practice.

BTW--we use the identical methods on plastic boards--hot hot water/soap, scouring powder/cloth on a rare occasion.

Another reason I don't oil my board is based on something that Mr. kwe read in The Times several years ago while on a business trip to London when the whole controversy about plastic vs. wood cutting boards was going on. According to the article, wood cutting boards made from a good quality piece of wood with no synthetic particles possess a natural bacteria killing property about them. If you oil them it can interfere with that property.

Once the wood is initially sealed with the oil, IMO, it's best to leave them alone.

Kim

Steve Drucker wrote:As you may guess, I'm not so sure about this oiling thing. It doesn't match with what I know about sound food sanitation practice.

Proper oiling of a wooden cutting board or butcher block is considered very important for sanitary purposes. It helps the wood stay healthy, and prevents tiny little fissures and holes that harbor bacteria. The mineral oil acts as a seal.

Kwe730 wrote:EC,

After I posted this to you I realized that I should've mentioned that my dad was not your "Weekend Warrior" variety of woodworker. I'm sure whatever type of wood he used on this was not your typical cutting board material. Either that, or I need to go out and buy some oil for the board!

Kim

Keep in mind that if the wood is too hard, you could be treating your knives very poorly.

I find that after about a month of heavy chopping, the surface of my board is dulled, brittle, and worn by white little scratches from my very sharp knives. A wipe-down with oil heals the whole board up.

eatchicago wrote:Proper oiling of a wooden cutting board or butcher block is considered very important for sanitary purposes. It helps the wood stay healthy, and prevents tiny little fissures and holes that harbor bacteria. The mineral oil acts as a seal.

ok, I'll buy that. But unless you CLEAN and SANITIZE the board with soap and hot water prior to re-sealing with food-neutral mineral oil, you are sealiing in contaminants and odors--none of which treatment with food-neutral mineral oil addresses.

Steve Drucker wrote:ok, I'll buy that. But unless you CLEAN and SANITIZE the board with soap and hot water prior to re-sealing with food-neutral mineral oil, you are sealiing in contaminants and odors--none of which treatment with food-neutral mineral oil addresses.

Yes. What I've been told is that a solution of 1 quart of water + 1 tbsp. of bleach is best for sanitation of the wood.

Ok, just got the scoop on my board from Mr. kwe. It was made from one solid piece of oak as opposed to planks of wood laminated together as most commercial boards are. He said that my dad didn't oil the board after he finished it. He also said that oiling the board would be a bad idea because the wood itself has natural bacteria killing properties.

Kim

eatchicago wrote:What I've been told is that a solution of 1 quart of water + 1 tbsp. of bleach is best for sanitation of the wood.

Bleach is the BEST disinfectant, bar none. Takes a lot of hot hot water to rinse it.

If I'm hanging it on the wall, I'm gonna go the oil route. If I'm gonna use it its hot hot water, soap and bleach upon occasion for me.