Poly board for home use ... let's be real

The countertop height in my apartment is just too high for comfortable endgrain board use. I'm debating going high(er) quality poly but I know many would turn up their nose at the prospect, and I'm trying to get a sense of whether there's anything behind that other than just wanting "the best of the best."

The reality as a home cook is that I'm not cutting for hours per day. And with careful technique, I don't see why I'd have to worry about the edge getting slammed around.

Is there any real drawback to just getting one of those .5" epicurean boards if I'm careful and don't abuse my edges??

Willing to be talked off the ledge here, just wanted some real talk.

I used an Epicurean board for a couple of years. Horrible, horrible feel, plus slippery. Suggest you look/search for some of the poly board threads (i.e., Sani-Tuff and other similar boards). There was a good thread a month or so back that listed another poly board alternative along with links; it was a bit less expensive then Sani-Tuff.

I use a thin (?1/4" ) one as a meat board (can go in dishwasher), so it's mainly gentle slicing, not chopping. Almost exclusively with my Carbonext Suji. The board is quite hard but the edge seems to hold up pretty well (although I did have to resharpen once after the suji hit the carving fork- dumb mistake). Not sure how it would go with chopping though.

Edit: I have just orderd a rubber mat from K&S to see if it suits any better. Might be gentler on the edge. We'll see.

Nothing at all wrong with a ½" Sani-Tuff board of whatever size you need - Amazon carries them ranging from 12" x 18" to 18" x 24". They are as easy on your edges as a regular end grain board, but have a greater tendency to show cuts. Stay away from Epicurean boards, as they are hard on your edges, worse than bamboo.

Yeah, Epicurean boards are evil. I believed their marketing lies before I got clued in on what makes a good cutting board and was wondering why my knives were getting blunt so quickly.

Good to know Wing & Rick. I suspect my Epicurean will be relegated to back up duty.

To steer this slightly elsewhere . . . Let's say I can accommodate an end grain board about 1.5" thick. They tend to come about 2" - 3". Would 1.5" simply not be stable and/or too subject to warping?



https://www.etsy.com/listing/738702...grain cutting board walnut&ref=sr_gallery_11#

Relative of mine has one of these guys, seems high quality. 1.5" thick, black walnut with cherry.

Wish I could get a reduced price without the "free" knife though :clown:

I have a 1 and 3/4 inch thick walnut end grain (feet on one side) that's holding up fine so far. Haven't had it for so long though

My understanding from spending some years in kitchens, plastic-type boards are discouraged (though used but only if run through the dishwasher after cutting fish or meat). For a home, I'd be dis-inclined to recommend one unless the owner is most assiduous about cleanliness aside from the threat they can be to both knife and the wielder. Wood is best all round and far less likely to encourage bacterial growth.

I'll step up for Epicurean. They look better than other wood alternatives - sometimes important in home kitchens. And they clean easy. And they're better on edges than poly. And they are relatively light. I still drop one when cutting proteins at home.<br>
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I prefer Sani-tuff but they ain't pretty and a no go in dishwasher. <br>
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All of them have their place.

I use poly boards for raw meat work because I can just toss them in the sink under running hot water. They cut like crap and you always have to put something below them to keep them from sliding. Annoying little things... but they fill a useful niche, allowing me to just use my wood board without cleaning it all the time.
Personally I'd rather cut on face-grain wood (if that's any thinner) than on plastic boards.

Hmm thanks for your thoughts everyone. Meanwhile I've emailed our resident expert(s) at boardSMITH to see if there's anything that can be done for a thinner board. I assume they've arrived at 2" standard for good reason but you never know.

Sani tuff all the way

What about Ho or Hinoki boards? They come thinner and have been used in Japanese kitchens for ages.

The thickness of boards is usually to prevent warping, however realistically we don't need all that thickness, what I mean by that is that your not really wearing the board down at a fast pace. Used to work in a custom hardwood stair shop (high end curved stairs) and 1 of the "old" carpenters in the shop would always gather the "scraps" to make boards.

He had an interesting technique as well. In short he would trim down the wood to 1/2-3/4 depending on stock and use plywood under it only the surrounding/edge was full thickness. To ensure proper bond and risk of movement from the edge he would router a channel all the way around so that it could "clip" the underside plywood. The way he explained it, and from what I know and understand of wood, this is pretty genius as plywood is pretty inert to movement, due to grains being crisscrossed. Due to this the grains are exerting "equal" pressure in every direction so very little movement. And u can easily make a 1.5in board this way, also makes the boards lighter for certain types of wood, however is alot more work to make I would presume.

I have one of the Jones 12 x 18 x 1 1/2" end grain boards. Since I'm in an apartment, and my kitchen is too small to leave a bigger and thicker cutting board out all the time, this size works for me. I also rarely put a wet towel underneath as it's heavy enough in combination with friction of my countertop to not really move in use. I actually use a smaller 12 x 12 x 1" end grain board more often since I usually am cooking just for myself.

I would probably choose a thin hinoki board before an Epicurean board.

I find epi are OK on normal-to-sturdy edges (~12-15dps on carbon, microbevelled on stainless). No playground for usubas or a 9dps Tak. Probably in the neighborhood of a bamboo board (which you should also take into consideration - there are inexpensive thin bamboos from IKEA).

With the rubber feet on - especially with the rubber feet on - they are L O U D when chopping on. The dishwasher proof material is great when dealing with something messy - not a bad idea to keep one around for things like raw garnishes where you want to be certain the board got cleaned.

Most countertops should be a standard 36" or so, are yours different? I'm only like 5'8" – 5'9" and use a 2.5" boardsmith without much issues.

I also have the epicurean boards but use them with lower HRC knives such as misono carbon or basic stainless for tasks that I don't want to dirty an end grain maple or hinoki. I like that they're low maintenance but the "sound" of cutting when they're brand new reminds me of glass :shocked3:

Hinoki is good but can stain and it is recommended you wet both sides to prevent warping/staining. I like for more delicate edges where end grain maple may be too hard and also because of the weight/probability aspect.

This is the thread that was mentioned about synthetic boards: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/30380-Soft-synthetic-boards
I kinda want to get something like the sanituff to replace my epicurean but the shipping would make it super expensive, plus for the limited tasks I use my epicurean for would make limited benefit

I use poly-boards on a regular basis, the important thing is to properly clean them so they don't develop a build-up of bacteria. To do that one needs to SCRAPE the surfaces with a plastic, metal or wood scraper of any kind that scrapes the bacteria out of the scratches and cuts in the surface of the board, do that while washing the board in warm/hot soapy water.

"cutting when they're brand new reminds me of glass"

Finally someone understands what I meant when I say they're loud

Wonder if any bacteria survives a dishwasher environment (being marinated in hot corrosives)?

I use plastic boards for meat, as long as you don't let it sit out and the juices dry up, basic scotch brite and dishwashing soap. Bam! And roughly once a week, I make a sani solution of 1tbsp bleach (unscented) in 1 gallon of water. Or throwing it into the dishwasher but I don't have one (they are a waste of energy and water, if you do dishes by hand efficiently).

"they are a waste of energy and water, if you do dishes by hand efficiently."

Only if you have space and mindset to store used utensils, mise bowls... (knives excepted of course!) anywhere else ... if you're handwashing all the stuff clean-as-you-go you probably use up a huge amount of towels for all the hand-drying in between... and being able to have anything you're done with out-of-sight helps not getting confused....

aboynamedsuita said:

Most countertops should be a standard 36" or so, are yours different? I'm only like 5'8" – 5'9" and use a 2.5" boardsmith without much issues.

Click to expand...

When you're 5'4" and shrinking, the board thickness makes a difference. I got a face grain boardsmith that's about 1 1/2" thick, and unfortunately it's too tall for me.


(edit) and I love my hi-soft board.