Cutting Boards

[Too Tall]

Cuttingboards.net - 1/2" White Poly Cutting Board - A Cut Above the Rest!
Bam! Took a small chance. You can configure these poly cutting boards exactly to your liking. I went with 1/2" light blue and it is spectacular and can't argue with the price.
I like good quality poly cutting boards over almost anything in nearly every situation. Wood great too and it appeals to my inner elitist and I keep coming back to Poly.

[Noteddy]

Ok, that's pretty darn cool. I love my giant Boos maple end grain block. Nothing feels better under a sharp knife. But I keep an assortment of poly boards for raw meat for their ability to be sterilized in the dishwasher.

Thanks Josh!

[guyintense]

FYI
According to Rodale News, expert Dean O. Cliver, PhD from University of California, Davis, conducted research on the subject and found that wood cutting boards contained less salmonella bacteria than plastic. On wood cutting boards, the bacteria sank "down beneath the surface of the cutting board, where they didn’t multiply and eventually died off." On plastic boards, however, bacteria got caught in knife grooves that were near impossible to clean out, whether the board was washed by hand or dishwasher. So while sparkling new plastic cutting boards might be easy to disinfect, any weathered plastic board will hold onto bacteria.

[Too Tall]

Rodger dodger I heard that years ago. As they say in the shade tree mechanic world "I'll run it and watch it" and toss the thing if it becomes too hateful in appearance.
At these prices, we can afford to be picky.

FYI
According to Rodale News, expert Dean O. Cliver, PhD from University of California, Davis, conducted research on the subject and found that wood cutting boards contained less salmonella bacteria than plastic. On wood cutting boards, the bacteria sank "down beneath the surface of the cutting board, where they didn’t multiply and eventually died off." On plastic boards, however, bacteria got caught in knife grooves that were near impossible to clean out, whether the board was washed by hand or dishwasher. So while sparkling new plastic cutting boards might be easy to disinfect, any weathered plastic board will hold onto bacteria.

[Noteddy]

FYI
According to Rodale News, expert Dean O. Cliver, PhD from University of California, Davis, conducted research on the subject and found that wood cutting boards contained less salmonella bacteria than plastic. On wood cutting boards, the bacteria sank "down beneath the surface of the cutting board, where they didn’t multiply and eventually died off." On plastic boards, however, bacteria got caught in knife grooves that were near impossible to clean out, whether the board was washed by hand or dishwasher. So while sparkling new plastic cutting boards might be easy to disinfect, any weathered plastic board will hold onto bacteria.

True enough. And, I think that research has been replicated. Interestingly, I've never seen a wooden board in a commercial kitchen. Or, with an NFS rating, but I don't haunt those places anymore.

At these prices, you can afford to replace them annually.

[Mark Kelly]

Restricted to plain black or white, but cheap and good: "humpy" from any materials supplier eg McMaster Carr, about $20 a square foot. If you are concerned about the bacterial thing, dip the whole board in Ti Tree oil.

edit: only the white is FDA certified.

[spopepro]

The reason you don't see wood cutting surfaces in most commercial kitchens is because they don't have time to dry. That whole "sink and lock" effect depends on the wood drying out. No good if you're using the surface for many hours at a time.

That said, the only commercial kitchens I've seen with wood surfaces have been Japanese restaurants. Also, I'd never use my fine Japanese knives on something as unforgiving as hdpe.

I currently like the green lite bamboo boards. They can be run through the dishwasher, and are cheap and consumable, even though my current couple are probably 3 or 4 years old now.

[Mark Kelly]

Humpy is very tough and abrasion resistant but actually quite soft, it won't damage a knife no matter how fine the edge. Another good thing is that it has a much higher melting point then LDPE, so it's OK in the dishwasher.

Warm climate hardwoods and bamboo, on the other hand, generally contain lots of silica which will blunt the edge as it's harder than steel.

[Geekonbike]

I've been using the EpicureanCutting Boards, Cooking Utensils and Kitchen Accessories Made in USA - Epicurean Cutting Surfaces boards for quite a few years now... benefits of wood+plastic

[TMB]

For meat, I use glass boards and then into the dishwasher.

For everything else, I make my cutting boards.

[C.Dyer]

For meat, I use glass boards and then into the dishwasher.

For everything else, I make my cutting boards.

Glass boards are terrible for your knives. And so so loud!

[TMB]

Yes and yes.

However, they clean well.

I sharpen my knives before and after use.

[Shinomaster]

Imho, these are the best http://www.amazon.com/Epicurean-Kitc.../dp/B0008F6ST4

They do not warp and are flat and perfect for cutting and can go into the dw. My fancy birdseye maple cutting board is warped and splitting and destined for my fireplace.

[spopepro]

Humpy is very tough and abrasion resistant but actually quite soft, it won't damage a knife no matter how fine the edge. Another good thing is that it has a much higher melting point then LDPE, so it's OK in the dishwasher.

Warm climate hardwoods and bamboo, on the other hand, generally contain lots of silica which will blunt the edge as it's harder than steel.

Rats. Of course you're right and I didn't realize. It looks like it's possible to wash much of the SiO2 out, but who knows if they do. Producers probably see it as a feature, not a bug. So out with those...

In all seriousness, do you know why the polyethylenes got the rep of harming blades? I went back through stuff written by people who I generally trust and they all say the same thing: it's tough on edges. But they don't cite anything, which is kind of strange because they *do* cite stuff to support some other claims. A cursory search doesn't seem to show anything that says something in one way other the other.

[Mark Kelly]

In all seriousness, do you know why the polyethylenes got the rep of harming blades?

I don't know, but it may be something that happens with soft steels.

My go-to source on friction and interfaces is Anton van Beek's excellent "Advanced Engineering Design" and his website tribology-abc.com.

In the book when dicussing wear rates for steel / polymer interfaces he says "If the surface hardness of the metal partner is lower than 50 HRc, asperities can break off in substantial amounts and become embedded in the plastic sliding surface, where they act as an abrasive." (pp. 234-235 of reference given).

According to CRKT steels 50 HRc is unusually soft for a knife steel.