Plastic boards are out! Long live the wooden chopping boards!
In a world where two clashing realities cannot be avoided – the environmental cost of plastic and the need to cut food up, wood chopping boards have emerged as the clear winners.
Wood chopping boards are hard-wearing, self-healing, and preserve a knife-edge. Not only that, but wood is an environmentally friendly material that is renewable, long-lasting, and easily cleaned. The ideal wood chopping board needs to have a tight grain, be antimicrobial, be hard while waterproof, and not dull a knife’s edge, with as few joins as possible.
Cherry, maple, walnut, oak, teak, beech, acacia, bamboo… single piece or joined wood… plain or decorative? When it comes to selecting the ideal wood chopping board, several factors become highly relevant.
Can the care techniques for olive wood products be applied to wood cutting boards?
Yes, the olive wood product care tips can definitely be applied to wood cutting boards. Both are made of wood and can benefit from regular oiling, gentle cleaning, and avoiding exposure to excessive heat or moisture. Following these care techniques will help maintain the beauty and durability of wood products.
What to look for in a wood chopping board?
Before selecting a chopping board, it is best to understand what you are planning to use the board for. Here are a few quick examples of considerations when choosing a wood chopping board:
- Do you need a tough, handing, solid chopping board to use in the kitchen?
- Are you looking for a fancy, frilly board to wow your guests as you serve your dishes?
- Do you plan to use the board for baguettes, in which case it needs to be rather long?
- For semi-soft cheeses, or to carve meat, in which case it needs to repel water and be anti-microbial?
What do you plan to use the chopping board for?
Chopping boards have become quite fashionable lately, especially wooden chopping boards, which can either be highly functional, a boring block, or decorative, with carvings or using the natural wood and bark patterns to attract the eye as you serve your guests.
More decorative boards tend to be made with woods that are easier to carve or that are softer. This means that they can be more prone to damage or wear and tear. Everyday chopping boards in contrast are aimed to be tougher and more rugged. In the first case, you are going for aesthetics while in the latter case, you are aiming for functionality.
In either case, key factors to consider are:
- hardness, harder woods are longer lasting but harder to decorate.
- porosity, less porous woods absorb less water. They also are less prone to microbes.
- toxicity, wood can be toxic, but in modern manufacturing processes, there is a further need to avoid woods that are too manufactured, with lots of glue holding offcuts together, which can be toxic.
- Sustainability, buying a wooden board is an investment in the planet. a wooden board can last generations if properly looked after.
- Budget, In the end, your budget determines what you can afford.
Wood Hardness:
Wood has a specific hardness scale, the Janka scale. Balsa wood, which is very lightweight and used in model airplanes as a result has a hardness rating of 70 while at the top end of the scale, ironwood such as the Australian Buloke can reach a rating of over 5,000. There is a tradeoff between these two extremes – the softer the wood, the less it will damage your knives but the less durable it will be. In contrast, some woods are so tough that they barely get damaged by a knife…
A good hardness for a chopping board is in the region of 900 – 1,500 units. This makes the wood tough enough to withstand marring and knife cuts while not so tough that your knife blades will need sharpening with every cut.
Selecting wood hardness is more important than folks realize. It is easy to use an extreme wood such as balsa, which can be dented by your thumb, and ignore other challenges with almost perfect wood. The hardness of wood is linked to the size of the pores in the wood. The smaller, tighter these pores are, the less “give” the wood has. Wood porosity is linked to wood hardness but is not the same. As an example, Red Oak is quite hard but is very porous.
Here is a quick breakdown of some of the most popular types of wood, along with their Janka rating, durability, and sustainability.
| Wood Type | Hardness | Durability | Sustainability | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olive | 2,700 pounds of force | Medium Durability | No concern |  |
| Hard Maple | 1,450 pounds of force | Medium Durability | No Concern |  |
| Sweet Cherry | 1,150 pounds of force | Medium Durability | No Concern |  |
| Black Walnut | 1,010 pounds of force | Very Durable | No Concern |  |
| Black Cherry | 950 pounds of force | Very Durable | No Concern |  |
| Soft Maple | 950 pounds of force | Non-Durable | No Concern |  |
| Redwood | 450 pounds of force | Medium Durability | Vulnerable – IUCN Red List |  |
| Sugar Pine | 380 pounds of force | Non-Durable | No concern |  |
Wood porosity
Wood comes from trees, a living plant that uses sap to transport nutrients from the soil to the leaves. The sap moves from pore to pore, up the tree, and back down. These pores are similar to a sponge. Like a natural sponge, some trees have a larger set of pores while others have a tighter grain or smaller pores. These pores play an important role in the use of the wood.
High porosity means that the wood has a lot of very open pores across its surface. These pores allow food and liquids to be trapped in the wood, leading to more bacteria and damage to the wood. Wood with low porosity has a tighter grain with fewer open pores, which allows them to better repel water and prevents bacteria and microbes from growing. This makes these woods ideal for chopping boards.
Wood Toxicity
Wood itself can be toxic. Trees have evolved over millennia to adapt to their environment and just like we enjoy the taste of Maple sap in Maple syrup, some trees can cause allergic reactions. One such tree is for example the Silver Birch.
In some cases, the materials used to make the board have to be considered as well. Many boards are made by gluing together small wood blocks while others are finished in a specific polish. All these materials can also be toxic when ingested.
Related to toxicity is the presence of allergens. Most trees have the same chemicals in their leaves, trunks and fruits. So, if you are allergic to nuts, steer far from any walnut chopping boards. The oils in the board may be just enough to set your allergies off!
Best wood for cutting boards- Recommendations
Many people are drawn to softwoods simply because the manufacturers of chopping boards find it so much easier to engrave fancy patterns on them. Others are drawn to the shimmers on the surface of a lustrous Cherry or to the dramatic looks of a Black Walnut – truly, when set against a light background, this wood is striking.
The top 3 woods for cutting boards offer both strength and a tight grain to make the surface antimicrobial:
- Maple specifically hard Maple, sometimes named Rock Maple or Sugar Maple, is by far the most popular due to its availability, durability, low porosity, hardness, and best of all – it is non-toxic. Yes, it can be bland, even lackluster, but for everyday use, you can hardly go wrong with it.
- Great strength: 1,450 lbf – makes for a durable and long-lasting board
- Non-porous: maple has a tight grain that repels water and prevents the spread of microbes
- Sustainable: readily available and local
- Neutral tones: the wood will match any kitchen decor
- Affordable: bigger work surface for the same price
- Stains: Maple wood can stain when exposed to moist food.
- Walnut can be more of a specialty board. Walnut tends to be a bit softer than Maple with much more striking dark colors, making it ideal as a display board for fruits and cheeses where the contrast between the board and the cheeses helps to show the latter off. As a softer wood, walnut is also less likely to dull a knife, making it perfect for platter service.
- Good strength: durable and long-lasting, without being too hard on the knives
- Non-porous: walnut has a tight grain that repels water and prevents the spread of microbes
- Dark tones: dark and stylish wood that fits right in contemporary kitchens
- Allergens: nuts! Walnut wood has the same oils and properties as walnut themselves and should be avoided by folks with allergies.
- Cherry is a very pleasing wood to look at. With a variety of hues, from a very pale golden look to a striking red wood color. There is something soothing about a cherrywood board which is often carved into beautiful designs. The only drawback of a cherry board is that it can darken over time, changing its basic appeal.
- Good strength: durable and long-lasting, without being too hard on the knives
- Non-porous: Cherry has a tight grain that repels water and prevents the spread of microbes
- Vibrant tones: Cherry has a host of tones, making it easier to find the perfect board for a particular kitchen
- High in natural oils: helps to repel water and prevent bacterial growth
- Pleasant smelling: helped to counter the smell of chopped garlic or onions.
Other woods and our concerns
There are several other wood options for chopping boards, which are less popular due to cost, appearance, pore size or the simple problem that they are very likely to dull any knife.
| Wood | Benefit | Main Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|
| Red Oak | 1,220 pounds of force, Hardwood | Very wide open pores, lets in water and microbes |
| White Oak | 1,220 pounds of force, Hardwood | Very wide open pores, lets in water and microbes |
| Teak | 1,150 pounds of force, Hardwood, high oil content | Extremely hard on knives. Expensive. |
| Beech | 1,300 pounds of force, Hardwood, tight grain | Stains easily, can shrink and become brittle |
| Sapele | 1,510 pounds of force, Hardwood, vivid look, cheap. | Very wide open pores, lets in water and microbes. Extremely hard on knives. |