Thread: Wooden Cutting Boards

Gentlemen:
As a wedding gift (just over 11 years ago!) my wife's great uncle gave us (really me, my wife can't cook a lick!) a beautiful maple cutting board he made himself. For since forgotten reasons - it has sat in a closet, unused. I broke it out, put it on our counter, and want to use it. Wood being wood, it has moved a bit, and needs some care. My plan is to hand plane the bottom to flatten it (it rocks a bit) and use a card scraper to re-ferbish the top (the glue seams are a bit raised) After scraping the top, I want to recondition it. I have no experience with wood boards, and I have two questions to any out there in the know:

-What should I use to treat the top (wax? oil? nothing?)

-What is the day to day care regimen (clean/rinse or not? that sort of thing)

I know I can research this pretty easily, but from many of the threads in this sub-forum, I know threre are cooks and foodies out there that have some good advise.

Thanks a lot - Gags

I don't know about wood, but chop it up and make razor scales!!!

I have a boardsmith, i use his boardbutter.

here you can read about board care
The Board Smith

and here you can buy the butter
The Board Smith

Originally Posted by MrMagnus

I have a boardsmith, i use his boardbutter.

here you can read about board care
The Board Smith

and here you can buy the butter
The Board Smith

These links are very helpful - thanks a lot!

The boards I've seen have a bare finish and then they use some finish type liquid made for cutting boards. You don't want to use anything you wouldn't want to eat or some oil which may become rancid over time. Day to day use is just wash of with some soap and water and dry thoroughly.

We've had a couple over the years, and the suggested coatings have been beeswax or mineral oil. They've both done good for us, but mineral oil is a lot cheaper. Like spendur said, you gotta put something non-toxic on there! haha

Originally Posted by RoyalCake

We've had a couple over the years, and the suggested coatings have been beeswax or mineral oil. They've both done good for us, but mineral oil is a lot cheaper. Like spendur said, you gotta put something non-toxic on there! haha

I have two big slabs of bee's wax - I take shavings and dissolve them in mineral spirits to use as a final finish/polish for my woodworking projects. Obviously don't want to use the stuff with mineral spirts, but is there a trick to using the wax alone - or just rub it on and buff it out?

Originally Posted by Joegags

I have two big slabs of bee's wax - I take shavings and dissolve them in mineral spirits to use as a final finish/polish for my woodworking projects. Obviously don't want to use the stuff with mineral spirts, but is there a trick to using the wax alone - or just rub it on and buff it out?

You could try substituting w/ grain alcohol to cut it, makes it food safe, as well as mixing it w/ shellac instead of denatured alcohol (the grain alcohol makes the shellac a food safe coating; it's used as coatings on candy and pharmaceuticals aka...time released coatings)

I typically clean my wood block with a soapy sponge, rinse it, hand dry it, and place it on the kitchen table to dry. It has 4 small feet, so the air circulates well under it. For stubborn stains or after cutting meat on it I clean it with white vinegar.

Once a week or so I treat it with mineral oil USP. It's the type from the pharmacy. I give it a good coat with a paper towel, let it sit for 5 minutes, then wipe off the excess.

I've also heard or people using a bees wax and mineral oil mix on their expensive blocks.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The boards I've seen have a bare finish and then they use some finish type liquid made for cutting boards. You don't want to use anything you wouldn't want to eat or some oil which may become rancid over time. Day to day use is just wash of with some soap and water and dry thoroughly.

Bees Wax mixed with Food Safe Mineral Oil is what most use.