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ajdasilva22
2
Dec 8, 2017
Are premium wood cutting boards such a butcher block walnut really necessary to keep edge retention on blades? Do the wooden boards offer any other benefit over the plastic ones ?
Friedumpling
46
Dec 8, 2017
ajdasilva22They edge retention benefits are minimal unless you compare it to a glass cutting board (never buy glass). But if you have high quality blades and you are using your knives a lot, it will add up and reduce the need to sharpen. The big benefit, in my mind, is that the better woods inhibit bacteria. Plastic boards get deep cuts in them that will hold and hide bacteria. Wood also tends to be able to self repare to an extent.
ajdasilva22I'll agree with @Friedumpling , end grain hardwoods (maple, walnut, teak, etc) are going to be the last few percent of possible performance. An edge grain board is going to 90-95% of what a end grain board will, at 20-50% of the price. The better plastic boards are going to treat your knives pretty well too, and be pennies on the high end dollar. The anti-bacterial properties of a wooden cutting board are great, but you can slather bleach or whatever on plastic and it'll be fine. Honestly it depends on your budget and your willingness to do maintenance. If money is no object, grab a fancy end grain maple or whatever and pay someone else to maintain it for you. If money's really tight, grab a plastic one (I like the ones I get at restaurant store's with little rubber gripper feet on the corners so it doesn't slide around). You should be able to toss it in the dishwasher on one of the not overly hot settings (the plastic board, not the wood or any knives please!)
Dzerh
39
Dec 8, 2017
ajdasilva22I agree with @AngryAccountant. I'd just add that if you are not the only user of your knives, that you still will need multiple plastic boards even having hi-end wooden. Other people tend not to use board if it is not readily available or just heavy. And cut on counter or plates.
ChefMitch1138
11
Dec 8, 2017
ajdasilva22Wood boards will cause less damage to your edges than plastic. They are also more sustainable. Gouges in plastic cutting boards tend to accumulate bacteria, whereas wood tends to trap bacteria and deprive them of oxygen and water. Also, they look up to 50 times cooler. Doesn't have to be premium, bamboo and rubberwood are fine.
ChefMitch1138I tend to advise against bamboo, the resins and extra glues that are used to put it together are often too hard compared to what the best of other hardwood boards are made of, typically Titebond III, because it is FDA approved for indirect food contact (cutting boards). As well as knots in the bamboo are typically much harder than the rest of the grass' stalk, so it could hit the edge pretty hard. That said, I'm not well versed in rubberwood, how's it hold up?
What are your opinions on the composites such as Epicurean?
http://www.titebond.com/product.aspx?id=e8d40b45-0ab3-49f7-8a9c-b53970f736af
ChefMitch1138
11
Dec 8, 2017
AngryAccountantRubberwood is fantastic! Very giving, yet sturdy. I've really only used bamboo in smaller applications, such as cheese boards, so I haven't observed the effect on my "good" knives. The composites seem too thin to me, I like to know that my boards won't shatter if dropped, or if I have to bounce a waiter's face off of it.
ChefMitch1138I'll look into getting some rubberwood then, bamboo works perfectly for cheese boards though, as long as its not a primary cutting surface it's probably fine. The composites I'm thinking are just too hard, I was reading up on the material (Richlite) and it's made with a phenolic resin, all my experience with those are way up there in hardness, combined with all the disadvantages of plastics.
A community member
Dec 8, 2017
ChefMitch1138Rubberwood is the best of the synthetic surfaces. I don't think it's quite as easy on the edge as wood, but close. Any other plastic is a real step down. Glass will dull your knife almost instantly.
sc_fd
48
Dec 12, 2017
ajdasilva22One benefit to end grain: well kept end grain boards can look nearly new after years of use, since the knife cuts don't cut across the wood grains.
harrisonh
51
Jan 23, 2018
ajdasilva22Wood IS better, but the most important thing is the DISCIPLINE of the user. Cut perpendicular, not at 89 degrees. No twisting at the end. Don't hammer. Don't pry. Don't bend. Don't scrape produst off the board into a pan with the knife.
I've got VG10 and shirogami knives that have a "reputation" of being "chippy" and in 30 years, i'e never chipped a blade and because I was a chef, they went trhough much more abuse a da than you'll likely see in a month, and we use poly boards because we can run them through a washer. Yes a wood board is better, but it's the discipline that is the bigger factor
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