End Grain Boards

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Vaughan

Vaughan

Konosuke taste, Tojiro budget
Joined
Nov 9, 2022
Messages
77
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101
Location
Australia
Hi all,

I’m looking to buy an end grain board.

My main concern, especially after viewing Amazon reviews for Jon Boos boards, is the number of reports of warping, cracking of individual blocks and cracks in glue lines.

It will be a significant upgrade from my ikea poly cutting boards. I’m trying to avoid the frustration of forking out for something that is supposedly “better” only to have the thing break down in a short amount of time.

I understand they require a relatively high level of maintenance, but trust in my ability to meet those needs.

I plan to use it for the majority of my meal prep (except raw proteins).

Pretty keen on walnut and hoping to buy domestically (Aus) to save on the shipping costs associated with such heavy items.

I am seeking some general guidance about purchasing such a board, to hopefully avoid some of the above pitfalls.

Ie is the longevity of the board mainly a matter of maintenance, manufacture, or are results that individual that no real generalisations can be made?

Thanks,

Vaughan
 
Vaughan said:
Hi all,

I’m looking to buy an end grain board.

My main concern, especially after viewing Amazon reviews for Jon Boos boards, is the number of reports of warping, cracking of individual blocks and cracks in glue lines.

It will be a significant upgrade from my ikea poly cutting boards. I’m trying to avoid the frustration of forking out for something that is supposedly “better” only to have the thing break down in a short amount of time.

I understand they require a relatively high level of maintenance, but trust in my ability to meet those needs.

I plan to use it for the majority of my meal prep (except raw proteins).

Pretty keen on walnut and hoping to buy domestically (Aus) to save on the shipping costs associated with such heavy items.

I am seeking some general guidance about purchasing such a board, to hopefully avoid some of the above pitfalls.

Ie is the longevity of the board mainly a matter of maintenance, manufacture, or are results that individual that no real generalisations can be made?

Thanks,

Vaughan
Click to expand...
Keep it dry, oil it with mineral oil and some board wax once or twice a month and you'll be fine. A good end grain board will last decades, especially from boos. I'd recommend cheaper alternatives but not sure if they ship internationaly and might be too pricey. Walnut is a good choice. Don't overthink it.
 
Vaughan said:
Hi all,

I’m looking to buy an end grain board.

My main concern, especially after viewing Amazon reviews for Jon Boos boards, is the number of reports of warping, cracking of individual blocks and cracks in glue lines.

It will be a significant upgrade from my ikea poly cutting boards. I’m trying to avoid the frustration of forking out for something that is supposedly “better” only to have the thing break down in a short amount of time.

I understand they require a relatively high level of maintenance, but trust in my ability to meet those needs.

I plan to use it for the majority of my meal prep (except raw proteins).

Pretty keen on walnut and hoping to buy domestically (Aus) to save on the shipping costs associated with such heavy items.

I am seeking some general guidance about purchasing such a board, to hopefully avoid some of the above pitfalls.

Ie is the longevity of the board mainly a matter of maintenance, manufacture, or are results that individual that no real generalisations can be made?

Thanks,

Vaughan
Click to expand...
Just in case he ships international, this guy is local from me and by day does a lot of big commercial jobs with wood. I've used the board for years and it's held up perfectly. Honestly feels like a steal at the price. Black Walnut Butcher Block Cutting Board New End Grain 14 X 18 Sap Pattern | eBay
 
From posts I have read across several forums, the general recommendation for thickness (to avoid warping) is 2.5” or more. However, even a small board at this thickness would be pretty heavy.

If people are not experiencing issues (given regular maintenance) with thinner end grain boards, I’d rather go that route. I’m hoping to keep it relatively easy to move between the bench, sink and storage cupboard.
 
jedy617 said:
Just in case he ships international, this guy is local from me and by day does a lot of big commercial jobs with wood. I've used the board for years and it's held up perfectly. Honestly feels like a steal at the price. Black Walnut Butcher Block Cutting Board New End Grain 14 X 18 Sap Pattern | eBay
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Another huge thumbs up for 227wood. I have 3 of his walnut end grain boards. I've owned my main 22x16x2 board for over 5 years and it looks as good as new. No warpage, cracking or other issues (I do use the supplied rubber feet which means I can only work on one side). I just give it a soaking in mineral oil every couple of months. These are truly heirloom quality with a budget price.

Yes he ships internationally but not cheap. Import taxes plus shipping to Germany run around $80 for that board according to Ebay.
 
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As an aside. Most of the warpage I have experienced has been with thinner boards YMMV. Ultimately it all comes down to quality of manufacture plus care & maintenance.
 
My observations over the years:
-Watch the shipping costs; since these larger end grain cutting boards tend to be heavy it's rarely economical to buy them from abroad.
-There are plenty of suitable woods; which ones are most cost-effective while still being suitable varies per region. For example in Europe it's beech wood. There's lists floating around somewhere about which woods are and aren't suitable (mostly related to silica content and hardness).
-I'd say the sheer majority of cutting board failures are user error, usually related to insufficient oiling and excessive washing / moisture.
-End-grain boards really don't have to be a hassle; I'm quite lazy when it comes to these maintenance chores and mine survive just fine... oiling it just once every few months. But when I do I make sure I completely saturate them with oil.
-I always seperate my proteins to seperate boards so I can get away with washing my end-grain less (soap tends to be the main thing drying out/de-oiling your boards). I just wipe them off with some paper kitchen towel (wet if need be) and that's usually enough.
-Board wax (mix of oil + beeswax) really helps stave off the drying out of the boards.
-All my boards were modestly priced affordable boards, so it's at least possible to get something good without paying top bucks for a high end brand, but I might have just gotten lucky.
 
Corradobrit1 said:
As an aside. Most of the warpage I have experienced has been with thinner boards YMMV. Ultimately it all comes down to quality of manufacture plus care & maintenance.
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How thin are we talking? The linked board is 1-3/8”. Not the thickest (but maybe sufficient?)
 
I have a Choppa Block. From a mob out of Adelaide IIRC.

Pretty thick. Choose your own wood (within limits). It has feet on it which may help with warping (depending on whose opinion about this you believe).

Mine is 6 years old. No warping. It gets oiled and conditioned when the surface is dry (I guess once every month or 3) and I've resurfaced it twice in that period.

It's too big to fir in the sink. I clean it with vinegar and paper towel. If it gets dirty or someone puts meat on it, I follow up with peroxide.
 
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Nemo said:
I have a Choppa Block. From a mob out of Adelaide IIRC.

Pretty thick. Choose your own wood (within limits).

Mine is 6 years old. No warping. It gets oiled and conditioned when dry (I guess once every month or 3) and I've resurfaced it twice in that period.
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Had a squizz. Boards look nice but they seem to exclusively use Australian hardwoods, of which I have not seen any recommendations as ideal for use in cutting boards. Not that to say they aren’t, just that they don’t seem to be a popular choice.
 
Vaughan said:
Had a squizz. Boards look nice but they seem to exclusively use Australian hardwoods, of which I have not seen any recommendations as ideal for use in cutting boards. Not that to say they aren’t, just that they don’t seem to be a popular choice.
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Mine is Jarrah. Looks great. Probably a bit harder than ideal but it's really not that bad.

Tassie oak is supposed to be pretty soft.
 
I've got 2 Choppablock boards. Great stuff.

There's some good faq's on his website. It seems the main reason why they split or warp is because they dry out a bit - keep it well oiled, especially early on and you'll be fine.
 
The first 6 months seem to be the critical period. After a certain period of time boards hardly need to be oiled waxed at all in my experience. New, watch them all the time, 6 months to two years, oil as needed( the color will change to let you know. After that, emmmm, most decent boards will be fine with steak juice lubes😁
And as said before, wood hardly ever needs dish soap.
 
You don't have to go with end grain. Yes it has advantages but I wouldn't get overly locked in if there's an edge grain that will work for you. I in fact went from many years of end grain back to an edge grain and have no regrets. The board was the right size and the right price.

2" Boos.

I use it for everything from breaking down chickens to dicing carrots.

No big hassle to maintain. Laxative grade mineral oil is widely recommended and what I use for casual maintenance. I also mix up my own board wax with mineral oil and bees wax and apply that every so often.

I'm not trying to steer you away from end grain, just saying that I personally wouldn't make a lot of sacrifices just for that style if I could get an edge grain that had other features I valued more.

It's all about the features (especially overall size) that you want and how much you're willing to spend.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
You don't have to go with end grain. Yes it has advantages but I wouldn't get overly locked in if there's an edge grain that will work for you. I in fact went from many years of end grain back to an edge grain and have no regrets. The board was the right size and the right price.

2" Boos.

I use it for everything from breaking down chickens to dicing carrots.

No big hassle to maintain. Laxative grade mineral oil is widely recommended and what I use for casual maintenance. I also mix up my own board wax with mineral oil and bees wax and apply that every so often.

I'm not trying to steer you away from end grain, just saying that I personally wouldn't make a lot of sacrifices just for that style if I could get an edge grain that had other features I valued more.

It's all about the features (especially overall size) that you want and how much you're willing to spend.
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Sorry, could you expand a little on the features that you prefer in the edge grain over the end grain?
 
At the very least, edge (or face) grain boards are double sided, do not require feet (or some other means of keeping them up out of potential liquids) and while maybe slightly "harder" on blade edges, require less babying and maintenance than a similar dimensioned end grain board. I have both in the kitchen right now and I use them pretty much interchangeably.
 
Vaughan said:
Sorry, could you expand a little on the features that you prefer in the edge grain over the end grain?
Click to expand...

For me it was mainly the size I could get for the cost. I prioritized the size of the board right up front. My last end grain was closer to 16x12. I wanted something close to 20x16x2. Lots of space but still able to wash it in my sink. Trust me, lots of cutting surface is sweet. An end grain board of that size would be around 2x the cost of the edge grain board.

I also didn't want feet or grooves.

I got this one:

https://www.cuttingboard.com/john-boos-reversible-maple-board-20-x-15-x-2-25/
Again, if the cost isn't a concern, by all means pursue the end grain. It was just more than I wanted to spend and at this thickness, my board holds up well.
 
My attraction to the end grain was mainly for edge preservation. I’m not sure how much of a difference using an edge grain board would make in that regard.

Is your reason for not wanting feet simply so that you can use either side of the board?

As for dimensions, something around 20” x 14” would be ideal.

Price is somewhat of a factor. Hopefully something no more than $400 AUD. Finding a local board maker will likely be crucial to avoid big shipping fees.
 
Vaughan said:
Had a squizz. Boards look nice but they seem to exclusively use Australian hardwoods, of which I have not seen any recommendations as ideal for use in cutting boards. Not that to say they aren’t, just that they don’t seem to be a popular choice.
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Keep in mind that the forum population is predominantly American with a sprinkling of Europeans. That's what I was hinting at with variation in local woods; the 'popular choice' in the US or Europe is largely dependent on what's locally available and economical. There might be perfectly suitable more local Australian alternatives that make more sense.
deltaplex said:
At the very least, edge (or face) grain boards are double sided, do not require feet (or some other means of keeping them up out of potential liquids) and while maybe slightly "harder" on blade edges, require less babying and maintenance than a similar dimensioned end grain board. I have both in the kitchen right now and I use them pretty much interchangeably.
Click to expand...
End-grain boards don't require feet? Of course this might depend on your kitchen setup but none of mine had feet, all of mine were reversible, and I always used them directly on the countertop with at most a towel under it (to catch any oil that might still be sweating out after I just oiled it). I never particularly felt like I had to baby my end-grains... though there is the one caveat that I always used seperate boards for proteins. Considering they require a lot of washing I'd lean towards edge-grain for a protein board.
HumbleHomeCook said:
For me it was mainly the size I could get for the cost. I prioritized the size of the board right up front. My last end grain was closer to 16x12. I wanted something close to 20x16x2. Lots of space but still able to wash it in my sink. Trust me, lots of cutting surface is sweet. An end grain board of that size would be around 2x the cost of the edge grain board.

I also didn't want feet or grooves.

I got this one:

https://www.cuttingboard.com/john-boos-reversible-maple-board-20-x-15-x-2-25/
Again, if the cost isn't a concern, by all means pursue the end grain. It was just more than I wanted to spend and at this thickness, my board holds up well.
Click to expand...
Honestly if you shop around you can have your cake and eat it too, as long as you stay away from the 'luxury brands' and more expensive woods. Boo's Blocks is definitly one of the brands on the higher end of the price-scale.
I'm currently using a 60x40x6 cm end-grain board (23,62 x 15,75 x 2,36) that only cost me 80 euros. Previous board I bought from the same cheap brand in a smaller size has been going strong for 15 years already and still looks virtually brand new.
 
People differ on opinion on whether or not end grain helps edge retention (for me anecdotally it does, but others disagree with that), but for me personally the biggest boon of my end-grain board is that I quite prefer the cutting feel over that of my edge grain boards.
But admittedly 'cutting feel' is one of those personal preference things where people can have diametrically opposing opinions.
 
Jovidah said:
There might be perfectly suitable more local Australian alternatives that make more sense
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Indeed, however I know very little about how they compare to the commonly used maple, walnut and cherry.

Jovidah said:
I'm currently using a 60x40x6 cm end-grain board (23,62 x 15,75 x 2,36) that only cost me 80 euros. Previous board I bought from the same cheap brand in a smaller size has been going strong for 15 years already and still looks virtually brand new.
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Essentially after this. Could be that Choppablock is the answer. Just hoping to find out a bit more about how our hardwoods compare.
 
Jovidah said:
People differ on opinion on whether or not end grain helps edge retention (for me anecdotally it does, but others disagree with that), but for me personally the biggest boon of my end-grain board is that I quite prefer the cutting feel over that of my edge grain boards.
But admittedly 'cutting feel' is one of those personal preference things where people can have diametrically opposing opinions.
Click to expand...
It sounds like something that’s worth the added expense to me. Especially if this board is going to be my primary cutting surface for the next 20+ years
 
deltaplex said:
I agree that they do not require feet, but a plurality of them come with feet or something similar so they are kept up off the surface.
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Is there likely to be any issues that arise from the board having feet? Say maintaining flatness? I’d imagine the board would have to be fairly long and thin for that to be a problem though.
 
Vaughan said:
Indeed, however I know very little about how they compare to the commonly used maple, walnut and cherry.


Essentially after this. Could be that Choppablock is the answer. Just hoping to find out a bit more about how our hardwoods compare.
Click to expand...
Yeah there's enough Australians on this forum that I hope sooner or later someone can exhaustively answer your question. ;)
In Europe the 'default bang for your buck' choice is beech wood.
Vaughan said:
It sounds like something that’s worth the added expense to me. Especially if this board is going to be my primary cutting surface for the next 20+ years
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In general I'm off the opinion that unless you're for whatever reason extremely limited in your budget, cutting boards are a place where it makes sense to splurge. It's something you'll use every day for decades to come (if you give it some limited care and attention).
 
Vaughan said:
Is there likely to be any issues that arise from the board having feet? Say maintaining flatness? I’d imagine the board would have to be fairly long and thin for that to be a problem though.
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The end grain of the wood wicks up liquid like it was specifically designed for it, so the feet keep it up and out of any potential spills. With the thickness of boards that have been discussed, there's no additional chance of warpage with added feet.
 
I could envisage some fibre loss with a heavily used edge grain board. Most of my cutting occurs in a fairly confined area (centre) of the board and over the years I could see this area being less stable. Just a considered guess since I've never used an edge grain.
 
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