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Cutting Board Wood vs Plastic.
- Thread starter wade7575
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2011
- Messages
- 1,125
I use wood boards for non protien, HDPE for protein. the wood boards i treat with a beeswax and mineral oil blend. HDPE can go in dishwasher or take a soak in bleach. As far as dulling the edge, how a knife is used is more important that whether board is wood or plastic. If you thinking chopping means swinging the blade from over your head, the edge will chip and dull a whole lot faster than if you use a pull stroke.
JMHO
the old sailor
JMHO
the old sailor
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2014
- Messages
- 64
I prefer end grain maple. The cost can be a little daunting at first, but if you have money invested in your kitchen knives then imho will extend the life of your knives. End grain woods separate and cup sharp blades instead of dulling them. Imagine taking a paint brush and cutting sideways against the bristles, then compare it to holding the brush bristles up and trying to cut down through the bristles from the top. The second example best describes what using end grain cutting boards are like. The fibers in the wood separate similar to the way the brush hairs would allowing your blade edge to cut through just what you are trying to cut. The fibers will separate and come back together not causing scarring on the cutting board as well. I got a board from the Boardsmith a couple of years ago and have no doubt that with proper care, that I will be able to pass it on to one of my children after my time has passed.
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One other thought on sanitation of cutting boards...
While wood tends to kill bacteria, including some resistant pathogens, not all materials do this, I do not believe it kills viruses, and the time frame it takes wood to do this is relatively short, but still not immediate (about 2-5 hours according to what I have read).
I have recently shifted my disinfectant from a few various cleaners to Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide, or AHP. It's more or less very low concentration hydrogen peroxide (like 0.25% to 0.5%) enhanced by organic matter that increases the effectiveness. It only needs about a minute set time to kill virtually all of the food-borne pathogens that make people ill, and it can be used on virtually any surface including porous ones due to it being non-toxic (a huge limitation of bleach). I use this on plastic boards I put in the dishwasher as a pretreatment given how filthy raw chicken is and how it is becoming associated with certain pathogens that are resistant, and have started using it as a general kitchen cleaner and household disinfectant.
Diluted bleach on a wooden board is impractical because at that low concentration, even a set time of 15 minutes is not sufficient to kill many of pathogens that are relevant to the topic of food safety. AHP's short set time makes it more practical to effectively work, plus it does not have the toxicity that bleach does.
Effectiveness-wise, it is more effective than concentrated commercial bleach. It also kills certain resistant pathogens that not many disinfectants that are practical for the home can do. With how it works, concerns about it creating more resistant pathogens are very, very low when used correctly.
While wood tends to kill bacteria, including some resistant pathogens, not all materials do this, I do not believe it kills viruses, and the time frame it takes wood to do this is relatively short, but still not immediate (about 2-5 hours according to what I have read).
I have recently shifted my disinfectant from a few various cleaners to Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide, or AHP. It's more or less very low concentration hydrogen peroxide (like 0.25% to 0.5%) enhanced by organic matter that increases the effectiveness. It only needs about a minute set time to kill virtually all of the food-borne pathogens that make people ill, and it can be used on virtually any surface including porous ones due to it being non-toxic (a huge limitation of bleach). I use this on plastic boards I put in the dishwasher as a pretreatment given how filthy raw chicken is and how it is becoming associated with certain pathogens that are resistant, and have started using it as a general kitchen cleaner and household disinfectant.
Diluted bleach on a wooden board is impractical because at that low concentration, even a set time of 15 minutes is not sufficient to kill many of pathogens that are relevant to the topic of food safety. AHP's short set time makes it more practical to effectively work, plus it does not have the toxicity that bleach does.
Effectiveness-wise, it is more effective than concentrated commercial bleach. It also kills certain resistant pathogens that not many disinfectants that are practical for the home can do. With how it works, concerns about it creating more resistant pathogens are very, very low when used correctly.