Wood Cutting Board
One important thing to remember about a wood cutting board is that you never may wash it in the dishwasher. That will ruin the wood.
This means that you have to spend more time cleaning a wood cutting board than a plastic, but you gain some other advantages.
A wood cutting board is naturally anti-septic, and you get a very pretty cutting board that easily fit into any kitchen.
Wood cutting boards can be made out of light wood, which tend to be softer, dark wood and even bamboo, which isn’t really a wood, but a grass.
Some wood cutting boards feature a groove to contain carving juices and protect your table. Make sure that this groove is big enough to catch dippings for even large roasts.
Some very pretty materials for wood cutting boards are walnut, maple and olive tree.
To cleanse the board, you should never use a diswasher. Instead rinse the board, and rub it with coarse salt. Let it stand for several minutes, then wipe it and rinse clean.
You can use a light food grade mineral oil as a preservative for your wood cutting board. It will help keeping water from seeping into the grain. You could alsouse a food grade drying oil instead, but make sure that it is food grade.
Do not use vegetable or olive oils. They tend to go rancid, and then your board will smell, and your food will pick up the rancid taste.
Treat your cutting board 5-7 times a year, or when they start looking dry. This will prevent them from cracking.
If the wood board gets deeply scored, you should resurface it since these groves can harbor bacteria. You can easily resurface a wood cutting board with woodworking tools, such as planes or scrapers. Do not use sandpaper as it leaves residual abrasives in the surface, which will dull your knives.