Over the years my husband and I have acquired a number of cutting boards, in all shapes and sizes — most of them have lasted years while others have failed to live up to their slicing promises. Regardless, a cutting board is an investment: it should be durable, resist gouges, not warp, be easy to wash and not dull your knives. Rather than experimenting with your money, Cooks Illustrated has done the work and tested a range of cutting board materials — read on to find out the last cutting board you'll ever need!
Cooks Illustrated had a list of criteria for testing the boards:
- The board must be at least 15 by 20 inches
- A decent weight to keep the board from sliding around on the counter
- Deep gashes would be a deal breaker because they trap food, odors and bacteria, and can lead to splintering
- Each board was tested for three months of daily use.
Here are the top three recommended boards, in order:
PROTEAK Edge Grain Teak Cutting Board, $84.99, Material: Teak "Roomy, knife-friendly, and exceptionally durable, this teak slab was worth every penny. It resisted warping and cracking, showed only minor scratches, never seemed 'thirsty,' and — despite its heft — was easy to lift and clean, thanks to handholds on each end."
OXO Good Grips Carving & Cutting Board, $21.99, Material: Polypropylene "Our favorite bargain board sports rubber strips on both sides that keep its lightweight frame anchored to the counter — and make it reversible. It did suffer deep scratches and gouges but never split or warped, and it cleaned up stain-free in the dishwasher.
JOHN BOOS Chop-N-Slice Reversible, $44.95, Material: Maple "A classic wood model, this reversible, edge-grain board's slightly rough surface offered twofold control: it securely held the counter and gently gripped the knives. Though it absorbed stains and developed hairline cracks after a few months, it never warped."
A few other notable comments were that for wood boards, edge-grain is better than end-grain, because end-grain allows the board to soak up more liquid and therefore more warping will occur. Also, none of the typical 'eco-friendly' materials were recommended: the bamboo boards had distortion and warping issues, while the Richlite board was easily gouged and splintered. Durability was the key for this test, and other materials such as teak or maple are most likely to last for years.
• Read more: The Last Cutting Board You'll Ever Need at Cook's Illustrated
Related:
- Top 5: Eco-Friendly Cutting Board Materials
- Cork and Teak Cutting Boards
- Dishwasher-Safe Bamboo Cutting Board
- Preserve Kitchen Recycled Cutting Boards
- State Shaped Cutting Boards by AHeirloom
(Image: Geoffrey Lilge/Gorgeous Eco-Friendly Cutting Boards by Geoffrey Lilge)
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I purchased a 15" x 20" x 1.5" Bamboo cutting board for about $12 three years ago, use it daily, & have had no warping, distortion, or other issues. I wash it clean with a scrub sponge & have oiled it with cutting board oil 3 or 4 times since purchase.
"Also, none of the typical 'eco-friendly' materials were recommended"......
Um, so why is this on the "Green" Renest blog?
@Emmi, because it's about materials that are DURABLE, which is also a very green tenet.
Our main cutting boards are three--each is edge grained wood and good sized. They range in age from ten years to 50 years (a Dansk board given to my parents for their 10th anniversary. They are all still in terrific shape; they get cleaned right away and oiled a couple of times a year. When cared for, cutting boards really do last.
When I read the article early this month, I was relieved, actually. My husband got me the Epicurean board that was reviewed last year for Christmas and I hate it. I know he spent good money on it, so I felt bad not liking it. But the reviewers were right; after 8 months of intermittent use (I still use a butcher block for produce), there are gouges in it. Plus, it doesn't fit in the dishwasher, so I find myself using a bleach solution on it more often that I'd like.
@Cambria - that's somewhat fair, but from what I understand, teak is not strong at all and some types of teak are endangered (even the supposedly "sustainable" kind. Most wood called teak comes all the way from Indonesia and the Philippines, and the trees take 80 to 100 years to grow back.
And as with most products, we assume that the ideal for the manufacturer is to advertise the product and sell huge numbers of the cutting boards to make a profit. How will the rainforest logging be sustained if this happens?
We had maple butcher block counters installed in my kitchen last year. The counters came in 12' lengths but we only needed a 10' long piece. We had the carpenter save the end piece and the piece that was left from the sink hole being cut out and he made them into cutting boards for us. They are terrific! They are nice and thick an hold up to all sorts of abuse, they are as strong and durable as the counters themselves, and (my favorite) they are huge. It is so expensive to get a decent sized cutting board, but these didn't cost us a thing!
@christinesass I get all the offcuts from my friends when they have their kitchens redone and usually make them a bespoke board in return. Ive made 4 inch squares just for limes for mojitos for a friend as he got annoyed getting the large board out!
One of my walnut babies is in Manhattan as a friend admired one I had made so much when he was in London I made him his own and brought it over when I came for a visit ;-)
Aww, I feel gypped - the pictured cutting board is so beautiful, so I clicked thinking that would be the board recommended. Lame.
maybe have a look on cutting boards out of olive wood. Olive wood is one of the hardest woods in the world an has an exeptionally grain. Moreover its fine pored and therefore assumes almost no odors...Chris