Cutting Board That Won't Damage Knife

[MolokaiRider]

Please dont misunderstand me...I admire the op's sense of derring do in posing the conundrum and neither is it any of my business what anyone else does with their possessions.....but lets face it...hes talking about selling/trading and value before even all the knives have been recieved by those who actually managed to purchase one....which shows at best a lack of awareness towards my beloved Porch and the practice of flipping which most of us despise...
It also prompts the question: why buy this when you wanted something else?.

Im happy to note that the conflict of this problem has a perfectly acceptable solution as already mentioned....but yeah ...it is too soon which is probably the reason some of us might think this thread has 5L1993R number plates.

@jc57


You got a lot of good advice worth repeating from @jc57 and @tomsch @killgar

End grain wood < Edge grain wood < Hinoki wood < Sani-Tuff Rubber < new tech Hasegawa/Yoshihiro, etc.

K KenHash summed bamboo cutting boards well. There's no traditional use. Adhesives that laminate bamboo fibers under pressure can harden and crystalize, then damage blades in use..

Thank you, I appreciate the great information. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[skyhorse]

They make some out of a flexible plastic type material that work great , also lightweight for camping or back packers.

 

[jlydon]

All I can say is that in culinary school, you were not allowed to use a wooden board for anything other than baking/pastry applications. Proteins, especially chicken, were prepped on colored coordinated plastic boards. Wooden boards harbor bacteria. Some believe that a cloth soaked in a weak bleach solution works to wipe them down but even that is sketchy.

 

[rhino]

better than plastic?

Yes. The scratches in plastic tend to allow bacteria to accumulate. Conversely, wood cutting boards have been shown to be bacteriostatic.

 

[BrewsWayne]

Knife Grinders in Australia did do testing on various cutting boards.

Here is their results:

Chopping Boards

 

[Londinium Armoury]

And ,perhaps counterintuitively , wood seems to resist harboring pathogens on the surface better than most alternatives .

If you burnish the surface of your boards or give them a light fire harden, it makes them water proof, I even do it to wooden spoons.

 

[gordyt]

I just watched this YouTube video from the "Never a Dull Moment" channel about this very subject:

 

[pwest]

Knife Grinders in Australia did do testing on various cutting boards.

Here is their results:

Chopping Boards

Reading the report, he might better have entitled it 'Effect of Chopping Slicing Board Material on Edge Longevity'. In all of his tests, he drew the blade across the surface under a controlled load. No chopping, no impulse. Nonetheless, very interesting results.

-Phil

 

[Ourorboros]

With hardwood boards, stay away from teak or acacia. They have a high silica content and will wear your edge faster. Stick with maple and walnut. They cost more, but are better for your knife.
Hinoki and hard rubber cutting boards are meant to be used wet to minimize staining. Do check out the reviews on the hard rubber boards, they aren't created equal.

 

[elasmonut]

In Japan where there is a long history of using bamboo for various things from art to tools, including cooking items, there is no practice of using bamboo for a cutting board. In fact the same holds true for other Asian countries as well that have long histories of using bamboo. Bamboo is considered too hard as a material for use as a cutting board. Bamboo is not wood. It is an extremely hard grass. It does not grow solid like a tree, and in order to produce a "board" it must be put together with
addhesives. There is much debate regarding formaldehyde resin safety. But some of these adhesives can become even harder than the bamboo itself.
Additonally constructing from pieces can produe seams for bacterial growth. Another aspect is that while wood boards may crack over time, bamboo can splinter or get "fuzzy" (surface shredding of fiber). The only folks touting Bamboo Boards are their makers and sellers.

Pretty sure bamboo and grass contain silica,

 

[KenHash]

Pretty sure bamboo and grass contain silica,

Yes that is another reason. Thanks for pointing that out. Hardwoods generally contain less that 0.5% silica. Teak has about 1% but Bamboo has 3-4%.
Some people say the only reason one should use a Bamboo board is if they really enjoy sharpening.

 

[Spideyjg]

It is said bamboo has a high silica content so it is like sand. The one wood to avoid despite how pretty it is is teak. Some woodworkers don't like it because it dulls their tools quickly.
All the research I need.

The cooked meat doesn’t go back on that board. Generally it is cut on a platter

Cutting on a platter is evil. Martha Stewart would get her panties in a bunch but I use a thick paper plate on top the ceramic to eat steak on to not dull my straight edge steak knives.

 

[Spideyjg]

A bamboo board well oiled makes a beautiful serving tray. My general rule is run a paring knife on the board, does it cut into it? Something has to give when the blade hits the board.

 

[eveled]

S Spideyjg this comes up a lot. (See my signature line). I’ve trained myself to stop just short of the plate. It’s really not that hard.

I do use paper plates a lot when cutting a few things for a quick meal. So convenient to just toss it away after.

 

[Spideyjg]

S Spideyjg this comes up a lot. (See my signature line). I’ve trained myself to stop just short of the plate. It’s really not that hard.

I do use paper plates a lot when cutting a few things for a quick meal. So convenient to just toss it away after.

I've done it too but will use the paper buffer most times.

 

[Londinium Armoury]

With hardwood boards, stay away from teak or acacia. They have a high silica content and will wear your edge faster. Stick with maple and walnut. They cost more, but are better for your knife.
Hinoki and hard rubber cutting boards are meant to be used wet to minimize staining. Do check out the reviews on the hard rubber boards, they aren't created equal.

Hey thanks for that interesting bit of info, I never knew certain woods have silica content in the grain. That's good to know, even in the reverse.
I wonder what wood has the highest silica content, might be possible to make a stropping block out of the candidate, and maybe it wont even need compound.

 

[greatscoot]

I am wondering if those commenting would share why bamboo should be avoided? Is it from potential formaldehyde being used, or another reason?

I like how plastic is forgiving, but have had plastic chips in my food on occasion, so I don't use them if avoidable.

Like others have mentioned, wood is also my favorite.

I have heard that they have high silica content in them.

R Rhinoknives1 Can you confirm this?

 

[Ourorboros]

Hey thanks for that interesting bit of info, I never knew certain woods have silica content in the grain. That's good to know, even in the reverse.
I wonder what wood has the highest silica content, might be possible to make a stropping block out of the candidate, and maybe it wont even need compound.

Larch is another wood to stay away from.

Teak has a 1.4% silica content (of dry mass). That's the highest I know of.
Woodworking forums probably know more, these woods are tough on saws and chisels too. If people advise using carbide tipped blades, it has too much silica and is bad for a cutting board.
You want to stay away from woods that have .5% or more silica - most have far less.
I don't think that's really enough for anything but a bare strop.

 

[maxjeg]

Только дерево и еще дерево.

 

[maxjeg]

Эта разделочная доска была у меня три года. И никаких изменений.