Kitchen knives vs glass cutting boards

G

Ghecko

Joined
Aug 31, 1999
Messages
280
OK, how many of you out there have to deal with glass cutting boards in the kitchen?

The very few times I find myself doing something in the kitchen (cutting up steaks or chicken for the grill usually) I cringe when I hear the blade hit the glass... Apparently the wood and plastic boards harbor bacteria and all that, or so my wife tells me. Kinda tough to keep up my end of the argument - rolled edges vs salmonella and E. Coli...

When I can I put five or six sheets of paper towels down on the board first but it still doesn't help that much. Anyone have any suggestions?

Jon
 
My advice: Get rid of those glass boards (and marble and others the like). They suck. Reason one, they can break. Reason two, they dull the knife. Reason three - most important - the knife doesn't find any hold when pushed down, and can slide easily to the side. In other words, hard surfaces are dangerous as the underground for cutting.

What you should get is those tough white plastic boards. They are easy to clean and used by professionals. As long as you use fairly hot water or some powder cleaner with bleach you should be ok. Bacterias are more likely to enter your mouth sitting on your fingers than from a board no matter which material.
 
ditto Ralf. The glass boards can also retain bacteria if they're not cleaned properly.

I keep two polyeth boards -- one for meats, one for plantlife et al -- which I scrub w/a little bleach. If you're really paranoid like my old housemate, you can always boil water in a kettle and slowly pour it over the board, too. (The board may warp from the heat, but it straightens as it cools.)

Glen

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“The piano has been drinking” -Tom Waits

 
I'll probably catch hell from some people for this but...I still use wood cutting boards for some foods. I keep a white plastic one that I cut meat and poultry on one side of and onions and garlic on the other. I have a cherry cutting board that I cut all my other veggies on. I'm not as concerned about bacteria as some people are. I keep everything clean of course, I didn't say I didn't take precautions. I just know that my kitchen is cleaner than every restaurant kitchen that I've ever worked in or visited. (Word of advice, be nice to restaurant staff until you have eaten your food. That won't guarantee that they didn't retrieve your meal off the kitchen floor, but---well I won't even go into what I've seen and stories I've heard.
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)
Paul

Glen,
I see I'm not the only Tom Waits fan on the forums.
PD
 
You should see what a granite counter top does to a knife's edge and you think that glass is bad.
The white plastic boards are good and wood is not that much worse. The studies that were done later showed up as falty data. Just clean them with HOT water and soap. Use a little bleach or 70+% etoh if you cut up anything like chicken. You should be OK.

Dwight

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This post is a natural product.
The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

 
Recent research has been conducted on different types of cutting boards and concluded that wood boards retard the growth of bacteria better than the plastic ones.
Reason?
The wood apparantly contains a natural antibacterial that inhibits the little buggers from growing. Couple this with a good cleaning (antibacterial cleaner of course)and that should take care of any concern about microbial infestation.
They also found that plastic boards provide microbes with a place to live in the little areas that have been sliced into the surface of the board as you use it. The plastic has no natural antibacterial action so they thrive in those valleys created by your knife blade.
I wish I could remember where I saw this as it would lend credence to what I'm saying but I cannot recall where I came across this info. Sorry.
I would never use a glass board for the reasons already mentioned.

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The individualist without strategy who takes opponents lightly will inevitably become the captive of others.


 
Sometimes you just don't win arguments like this with a wife. If glass is "better" in some arbitrary regard it may never be acceptable to go to a less "safe" or less attractive alternative. Plastics are generally things that people with refined "taste' try and get out of their homes. Cut, stained, and water-logged wood are not much more appealing. It was awfully hard to seperate my wife from her ceramic "cutting board". I don't think I ever would have managed if she hadn't spent some time doing catering. Your edge disappears dramatically fast when you cut up food for 200 people in one afternoon. Likewise, events like this make you desire and appreciate a sharp knife.

If you can't sell your wife on plastic or wood you might try metal. I know it sounds just as bad, but soft aluminum can work OK if you have tough kitchen knives and resign yourself to frequent sharpening. Aluminum may dull or slightly roll an edge, but it doesn't chip the edge and your edge will often come back with a little steeling.

An aluminum cookie sheet works pretty well. If you periodically use it in the oven you know that it will be well annealed. It can go in the dishwasher for sterilization if it fits. You can clean it thoroughly by hand and even sterilize it in a hot oven. It will get scratched and cut by the knife, but a cookie sheet is cheap and is usually stored out of sight.

When I cut on aluminum I most often use a chef's knife or chinese style cleaver made of a hard carbon steel. 1095 alloy is common and works well.


[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 16 October 1999).]
 
We have several hardwood cutting boards. I keep all the kitchen knives "Scarry Sharp" and want to keep them that way. I will stick with the wood boards. If the Bacteria can survive my wifes thorough cleaning then they deserve to live!! We've been married now for 100, oops, I mean 10 years and no food poisoning yet!!
Neil

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Ghecko --

First thing for you to do is to convince your wife she's wrong about glass's superiority for food safety. Once that argument is gone, you just have to pick between wood and plastic. If you keep them both clean, they will both do fine as far as cleanliness. I've heard the studies about wood having a natural anti-bacterial, but I also remember reading something that basically said wood has no advantage over plastic for this.

I have both wood and plastic cutting boards. I myself use the wood ones more, basically because I like the way it feels under the knife.

Joe
 
You will also learn a lot from the thread entitled: Cutting boards (kitchen)?
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/004183.html

A once in a lifetime opportunity, a chance to correct Joe, (I have never seen him make a mistake.)
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(I can't recall if he is married, but perhaps he will forgive me if he can show this to his wife or whomever that he has only made one mistake...b/c I am sure someone has asserted that he may have made more
wink.gif


Joe states:
you just have to pick between wood and plastic
Click to expand...

He forgot rubber!!!
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...of course I have never seen one either, but there were some fans in the aforementioned thread....and Joe commented in that thread too.

Randy, If you need more ammunition use the microban impregnated plastic argument. See the thread and www.joycechen.com ...no I do not know if it is effective,
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but I recall it was discussed in the kitchen cutting board thread.

If that does not work and your wife is adverse to white spots on her clothes from bleach try ROCAL-D as mentioned in the other thread. NOW WHERE IS WALT when you need him? What is ROCAL-D, and can ordinary mortals afford it.


Donald.
 
My wife can't even believe I can chew gum and walk at the same time
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Thanks for digging that thread up, I knew it was out there somewhere. Very
interesting!

Joe
 
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