Cutting Board That Won't Damage Knife

I would recommend end-grain but I typically use a Yoshihiro high soft cutting board as it's easy to clean and not too yard on my kitchen/gyutos.
 
My end-grain is black cherry which is rather soft. It does scar with use but can also be sanded in the future.
 
Ginkgo. Paulownia. I have read that willow is good.

My dad is murder on his kitchen knife edges. He tends to chop rather than cut. He has two paring size knives that he loves and tends to use for all board work. One is Japanese stainless laminate ($100 in 2004) most likely VG10 core, and the other is something I made in 12C27. These days he is using a ginkgo wood board, long grain rather than end grain, and still manages to roll the edges within a few weeks. Maintenance sharpening isn't frequent, even with the Sharpmaker I bought him. This however is much better than when he was using an elm board, or the plastic horror he used long ago.

I myself use a rubber wood (long grain) board and find my edge lasts just fine. I have been using this same board for something like 25 years. I also have a paulownia board which is softer, very light weight, but I don't use it often as it is a little smaller than the rubber wood that lives on the counter.

Something you don't hear about much, an advantage of wood over plastic, is that wood can be re-surfaced with a plane to bring it back to as-new condition. Only ever needed to do it to one of my dads boards that he has been using for about 40 years. Plastic boards, once they get rutted and grooved cannot easily be re-juvinated. Add to that, I had an white plastic board about 1/4" thick that I didn't use except on one annual camping trip per year. It lived in a draw all the rest of the time. It went sticky with something that could not be washed off, even with solvent! I think it was a plasticizer leaching from the board. Yum.

Chris
 
Teak is a good compromise as it is a harder wood, and it isn't too expensive. I don't really like soft woods as far as cutting boards go, like hinoki, as it's expensive and doesn't really offer much benefit to the average home cook. I have never noticed teak especially dulling my knives, I don't think it matters much unless you do alot of chopping.

The most important thing is to have a sharp knife and chop lightly if possible, don't use more force than is necessary. Also, some blade styles aren't appropriate for certain tasks. A small santoku isn't best used to chop thick, tough vegetables or tubers, for instance (a specialized vegetable knife is a better choice).
 
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FireDragon76 said:
Teak is a good compromise as it is a harder wood, and it isn't too expensive. I don't really like soft woods as far as cutting boards go, like hinoki, as it's expensive and doesn't really offer much benefit to the average home cook. I have never noticed teak especially dulling my knives, I don't think it matters much unless you do alot of chopping.

The most important thing is to have a sharp knife and chop lightly if possible, don't use more force than is necessary. Also, some blade styles aren't appropriate for certain tasks. A small santoku isn't best used to chop thick, tough vegetables or tubers, for instance (a specialized vegetable knife is a better choice).
Click to expand...
Teak has high silica (up to 1.4%). I think it is not suitable for a cutting board? I just know it is not kind on saw blades.

From Google:
"Silica content of wood

More than 0.5% silica in wood is harmful to cutting tools but this is usually only a problem for the equipment used during the harvesting and milling processes. Hardwood trees from tropical areas (teak for example) tend to have a higher silica content in the wood. May 5, 2019"
 
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Garvan said:
Teak has high silica (up to 1.4%). I think it is not suitable for a cutting board? I just know it is not kind on saw blades.

From Google:
"Silica content of wood

More than 0.5% silica in wood is harmful to cutting tools but this is usually only a problem for the equipment used during the harvesting and milling processes. Hardwood trees from tropical areas (teak for example) tend to have a higher silica content in the wood. May 5, 2019"
Click to expand...

Kitchens knives are used in an entirely different way than tools used for cutting wood, don't you think?
 
I like Hasegawa. They stay in place on the countertop really well and the texture that does that helps me keep whatever I am cutting in place as well. Wood core wrapped in synthetic rubber.

They supposedly don't dull knives as quickly as many others but I tend to sharpen frequently anyway so can't say I have been able to tell.
 
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