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Equipment & Gear: Cutting Boards
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2005 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glass cutting boards are extremely hard on knives. Sharpening and replacement fees will skyrocket. You're better off with plastic and just buying new ones each month than to use glass (or stone).
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Guest






PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 9:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great blog! You provide lots of info that I have had trouble finding before. I was wondering what your opinion of the new silicone cutting boards was? They seem like a great idea but i haven't found any reviews of them re: durability, if they are gentle on knives etc. Thanks!
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:48 pm    Post subject: Silicone cutting boards Reply with quote

Are the silicone cutting boards different from the flexible plastic cutting boards? I haven't used the silicone ones (only know of one brand that sells them) and I've heard that they don't seem like silicone at all - they seem like the regular flexible ones. If that's true, then I think they work great, but need replacing fairly often (depending on use). I've never cut through one, but my knives do leave scratches (just like regular plastic boards). They are very convenient for transporting and pouring cut materials into a storage or cooking vessel.
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jeff
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:13 pm    Post subject: cutting board grain Reply with quote

Wood cutting boards that have the end grain for the working surface are preferable. End grain is much harder, and if you ever saw an old butchers cutting block you will see that they are made from end grain.

They are harder to find, and more expensive, but a better choice.
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Smillie - OzFire



Joined: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 24
Location: South Australia

PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:22 am    Post subject: Wood, Plastic and Bleach... Reply with quote

Hi all
in this debate the free use of bleach is sure to poison people eventually, read the warnings on the bottle... they sure warn you seriously about using it around food. !!!

Also with cross contamination this is only a problem if you are storing food, even if it for only a few hours. But if everything is ending up touching each other in the pot, then it is quite silly to use different boards.

As stated bacteria cant live on the surface of most woods especially the end grain, and some woods (blackwood, Iorn wood, Huon Pine etc...) they cant even survive under the surface. Where as plastic is almost a farm for them.

Same debate over the use of rubber gloves in commercial kitchens... well washed hands are cleaner than the freshest rubber glove... except those sterilized ones the surgeons use...

wish the little old ladies of both sexes would leave the kitchen.....

Love to all
Cheers ray
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Karl
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:11 pm    Post subject: plastic and bacteria Reply with quote

I understand that wood cutting boards are inhospitable places for bacteria to live, as people have stated.

However, plastic is still probably the better choice. The reason is that plastic is easier to sterilize. Dishwashing does indeed do a pretty good job of sterilizing the board. It is true that the heat is not enough by itself to kill bacteria effectively, as you state, but the heat is not acting by itself. The detergent contains bleach and other oxidizing agents (just smell it; it has a strong acrid odor like bleach) that kill nearly all bacteria. Further, the detergent physically removes both the bacteria and the tiny bits of food that can harbor them, just like washing your hands.

Dishwashing is not really an option for wood cutting boards unless they are not glued or laminated, as nearly all end grain boards are. The cycles of water and heat, then drying, would cause the wood to expand and shrink, eventually breaking the glue bonds, and causing the wood to crack.

So that leaves the inhospitality of the wood surface to take care of the bacteria. But how long does it take for bacteria to die on a wood board, even one washed with soap and water? Nobody knows, as far as I can tell. What if you cook often on it? Does that give enough time for the bacteria to die?

True, you could wipe the board with with bleach to immediately kill bacteria, but that is stinky and a little hazardous to your health (it releases free chlorine), and a pain besides (if you are civilian like myself, you might wear street clothes to cook, not cooking whites like professional chefs do.)

Wiping it with salt might kill some bacteria, but it probably does little for bacteria spores, which are dormant bacteria encased in a tough shell. In any case it is certainly less effective than being doused with a hot solution of detergent and bleach and other oxidizing agents.

So because plastic has a more effective, more immediate sterilizing method available to it, it is the better choice.

Karl
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Stephan



Joined: 05 Aug 2005
Posts: 4
Location: Germany

PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:03 pm    Post subject: Over-concern for bacteria... Reply with quote

Using and cleaning either wooden or plastic cutting boards using reasonable common sense and some basic rules (no poulty before the salad stuff...) is sufficient to rule out most problems by far. Contrary to common perception, it is neither possible nor desireable to have a completely sterile kitchen. Some exposure to various bacteria will not kill you - they are probably even useful to keep the imune system balanced. Remember, we evolved and lived in the middle of a large piece of dirt for eons...

Unless you are dealing with seriously contamined food, I don't think bleach or disinfectant are necessary.

Stephan

P.S.: Some of my recipes are now available in English.
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CBRetriever
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:59 pm    Post subject: Tables Reply with quote

As the recent owner of a Boos table, which I absolutely love, I'd like to add a caution about letting your cutting board surface become the repository of every object that comes into the kitchen. Especially when renovations are ongoing in the next room.
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Judy
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

GREAT site! I've been a fan for quite a while and love the new layout. My compliments on displaying the image of the cutting boards available on amazon as you scroll over them. Nice touch.

Also...I'd love to see more vegetarian recipes on this site. Other than that, great job.
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Pete
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:26 am    Post subject: What about Hydrogen Peroxide? Reply with quote

What about using a dilution of Hydrogen Peroxide for cleaning cutting boards and other surfaces?

I've read (Healing With Whole Foods, by Paul Pitchford) that Hydrogen Peroxide is an acceptable alternative to bleach for soaking suspect vegetables of critters.

1/2 teaspoon Clorox per gallon of water (10 minute soak + 10 min rinse water soak)
or
1 tablespoon 3% Hydrogen Peroxide per gallon of water (20 minute soak)

The quick option is to spray the veggies directly with 3% HP, wait 2 minutes and rinse.

Washing your cutting boards with soap and water, as well as spraying them down with 3% HP seems like an acceptable option to addressing cutting board contaminants.

Any opinions on the matter?
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:42 am    Post subject: Re: What about Hydrogen Peroxide? Reply with quote

Pete wrote:
What about using a dilution of Hydrogen Peroxide for cleaning cutting boards and other surfaces?

Spraying your cutting board with 3% hydrogen peroxide should do a fine job of sanitizing. Wash the board first to remove any large particles and finish with a mist of hydrogen peroxide to sanitize. Many websites recommend the use of vinegar as well as hydrogen peroxide.

It should probably be noted that hydrogen peroxide is a bleach (also known as oxygen bleach), but milder than the bleach we are most used to (chlorine bleach).
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eltonyo



Joined: 02 Nov 2005
Posts: 88
Location: WA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

once again... i am amazed at the modern "chemistry" it supposedly takes to keep a supposedly "sterile" surface from catching more "germs".

LOL... as if!!!!

you all need a lecture on MICROBES!!!!!

hell... if that don't teach you anything... you all need to learn to make "sour dough" bread, using NO YEAST.... just the air you snort!

stop pouring expensive acids on your cooking boards, and stop wasting money on hard antiobiotic detergents, and/or boiling those cutting boards in water (and worrying about their material proprties), and stop pretending to be healthier by avoiding certain germs!!!

get a grip people.... you grab, itch, and snort more germs, everday, than your worst day of cleaning that ol'casserole dish!

pop quiz hotshots...

* Do you realize how much "bacteria" is in your body, serving a "job"?

* Do you realize how many people get deadly diseases when antiobiotics are used to kill off the healthy microbes (germs)?

* Do you know anything about antibiotic resistance?

sorry... i digressed.

go ahead... keep on crying about how the acids and antibitotics are not STRONG enough to protect your "sterility" from the big-bad-germs that are lurking to slit your throat in the common day kitchen!

... and by all means, please note the oxymoron!

sigh.

lol.... get a grip people!
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LittleJohn
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:15 pm    Post subject: Better than Sanding Reply with quote

One thing to add - no matter how carefully you clean up afterward, sanding a wooden cutting board can leave fine abrasive particles behind that can dull your knives. Better to use a cabinet scraper - basically, a square piece of steel with an intentional burr turned along one edge. You can order them from a high-end woodworking supplier, such as Woodcraft or Garret Wade, or make your own small ones by filing the back of a carbon steel hacksaw blade at a right angle and then turning the resulting burr with a burnisher (or the polished shaft of a long, hardened steel screwdriver, if you're not feeling spendy). Broken glass works too but is more dangerous.
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Smillie - OzFire -
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

eltonyo wrote:
once again... i am amazed at the modern "chemistry" it supposedly takes to keep a supposedly "sterile" surface from catching more "germs".

LOL... as if!!!!

you all need a lecture on MICROBES!!!!!

hell... if that don't teach you anything... you all need to learn to make "sour dough" bread, using NO YEAST.... just the air you snort!


Sadly I agree wholeheartedly, the problem in commercial kitchens is the little old ladies of both sexes from the health department. - Apologies to real little old ladies -

Mind you I have worked in a few kitchens over the years that need a good scare from the health department.

strangely enough in an experiment two clean chopping boards were left in a kitchen environment for a month unused and untouched. the bacterial counts were close but the types of bacteria were very different - I now use wood only in my home kitchen, but plastic for the general public as than is demanded by the health department.

Suppress you immune system today
live in a sterile environment
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Guest Faith W N
Guest





PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 2:07 am    Post subject: Plastic Cutting Board Stains Reply with quote

Just a comment to contribute to the body of knowledge - cooked pepperoni grease does stain plastic cutting boards, and full strength bleach did not remove the stain.
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