i know it may be a dumb question but how do you clean your big butcher blocks and big cutting boards that don't fit in the sink ?
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BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
Jam one corner in the sink, and let gravity be my friend while I wash.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
If they're just barely too big you can often at least angle them in somewhat. Otherwise just move it next to the sink and accept that you will get a wet mess all over the place I guess.
Most important for me is that I try to cut down on the amount of cleaning I have to do on my big boards. So I don't cut my meat on it (seperate boards for that), and whenever I'm done with anything I just wipe it off with some paper towel straight away after I'm done cutting. That way they tend to stay fairly pristine for quite a while without constantly having to wash it. Also cuts down on the amount of oiling you have to do (since it's the washing that tends to dry out the boards).
Alternatively you can also screw around with salt slurry or lemons / vinegar to sanitize it.
Most important for me is that I try to cut down on the amount of cleaning I have to do on my big boards. So I don't cut my meat on it (seperate boards for that), and whenever I'm done with anything I just wipe it off with some paper towel straight away after I'm done cutting. That way they tend to stay fairly pristine for quite a while without constantly having to wash it. Also cuts down on the amount of oiling you have to do (since it's the washing that tends to dry out the boards).
Alternatively you can also screw around with salt slurry or lemons / vinegar to sanitize it.
parbaked
Senior Member
- Scrape with a bench scraper to get rid of as much food and moisture as possible.
- Sanitize with diluted bleach solution - or lemon and salt, if you're not into bleach.
- Let the bleach sit for a minute, then wipe clean.
- Oil the board.
how do you get the soap off ?
MarcelNL
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I find that when I occasionally cut proteins on the end grain board that getting rid of excess moisture on the meat before putting it on the board also helps cleaning up afterwards.
As of today I decided to get rid of wet mess supermarkets call meat around here alltogether...
As of today I decided to get rid of wet mess supermarkets call meat around here alltogether...
RRLOVER
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Paper towels and hot water
I keep my big board well oiled and waxed so juices just bead on top. I only cut vegetables on it, use a separate board for cooked meats and a plastic one for raw. Bench scraper to remove any herbs/bits and then a 60/40 vinegar/water solution sprayed over top and wiped off with a paper towel. I use a wax+oil from Teakhaus that looks like a deodorant stick. I rewax maybe once every 2-3 weeks? It holds up pretty well.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
Yeah I should have mentioned that. Cleaning straight away works, but having it properly oiled or waxed is a prequisite for this to work, otherwise stuff just ends up soaking into the wood. But if the wood is properly saturated it will just stay on top and can be wiped off easily.
Despite the aesthetic and environmental arguments for wood boards my end grain board mostly sits unused these days - too heavy and too thick (bad ergonomics/bio-mechanics for a not tall person). When I was using it regularly I just used a kitchen sponge that was barely damp and had a very minimal amount of dish detergent left in it to wipe it off followed by another wipe with a barely damp sponge or dish cloth with absolutely zero soap or detergent. My alternative cleaning approach was a dilute (three parts water to one part vinegar) white vinegar solution. If you've created enough mess that you really need to immerse it you've picked the wrong board for the task. The caveat is that I never used it for messy proteins. I dealt with those either entirely on synthetic boards or with a synthetic board mat on top of the end grain. Per other posts wood boards have to be kept oiled and occasionally waxed.
I spray my board with hypochlorous acid, which I make at home, or you can use 1:1 water/vinegar to sanitize and wipe it off. I cut pretty much everything but raw meat on my block.
If I'm cutting raw meats, I use my Hasegawa board.
If I'm cutting raw meats, I use my Hasegawa board.
MarcelNL
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Myth or Fact: The Antibacterial Properties of Wood
HomeBlogChopping BoardsMyth or Fact: The Antibacterial Properties of Wood
A few years ago, a group of health and safety experts employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended the use of cutting boards manufactured from plastic materials as being safer and more hygienic than those made from wood. Shortly afterwards the department admitted that they had made the claim in error without doing any background research beforehand – meaning that the advice offered previously was based on a potentially incorrect assumption.
Can Wood Cutting Boards Really Prevent Bacteria From Breeding?
According to a scientific study on Plastic and Wooden Chopping Boards, which was conducted by Dean O. Cliver, Ph.D, it has transpired that wooden chopping boards are in fact hygienic owing to the fact that certain types of wood do seem to exhibit antibacterial properties. The research was carried out at the University of Wisconsin and involved the testing of an extensive range of wooden and plastic chopping boards made from different source materials in order to see how long various examples of dangerous bacteria could survive on each type of cutting surface.
In order to test the safety of the boards, three main types of bacteria, well known to cause serious food poisoning, were used. The bacteria used in the experiment were E. Coli, Salmonella and Listeria. Quite surprisingly, when considering the initial ‘unfounded’ advice that plastic is safer, the wooden chopping boards provided outstanding results on every occasion.
Although plastic chopping boards have a nonporous surface when new, many of the cheaper boards can scar quite easily when used with sharp cutting implements. With regular use, the damage accumulates over time and creates a rough surface that can become awkward to clean regardless of whether the board is soaked, cleaned manually with hot running water or placed in dishwasher using bleach and detergents. Of course, high-end plastic cutting boards are not as susceptible to such damage in everyday use.
The tests results indicate that the surface of a wooden board will actually stop dangerous bacteria from multiplying and the germs simply die out after a period of about three minutes. Following the experiment, the scientists at the University of Wisconsin found that 99.9% of the bacteria placed on the wooden chopping boards had died out completely within minutes whereas some of the cheaper plastic boards had very little effect in terms of killing dangerous microbes.
After being left overnight in normal room temperature conditions, the wooden chopping boards had no living bacteria left on them at all. Although the researchers were unable to identify how or why the wood cutting boards were able to kill off the bacteria – it really does seem that wood does have antibacterial properties after all.
A high quality chopping board should last a good number of years, and even the older wooden boards that were tested performed exceptionally well after prolonged usage with sharp cutting implements. This is because the fibres are seemingly able to heal themselves – provided the chopping board itself is made from a quality wood source using traditional manufacturing techniques as opposed to the cheaper, mass-produced cutting boards that tend to be imported from overseas.
As to which type of wood the research favours, pine and oak seem to be the most effective in terms of stopping bacteria from breeding and killing off the germs. However, many other types of wood such as maple can be just as effective.
If you would like to know more about the tests that were carried out at the University of Wisconsin by Dean O. Cliver and his team, you can read the full report here:
http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm.
My boardsmith gets wiped during use. I spray with 50/50 water and vinegar but not every time. Oil when it looks like it needs it. Don't use wax anymore. The board is 10 years old and still going strong…
how many times have you sanded it down in the past 10 years ?
I have used a card scraper to resurface it three times since I got it.
how hard is it to use the scraper ? and how scratched was the board when you went to do it ?
If practical, you can use your bathtub or shower at least for the occasional proper wash on both sides.
Even when saturated with oils i like to wash or at least wet both sides to avoid warping.
Even when saturated with oils i like to wash or at least wet both sides to avoid warping.
It's easy enough, but it would be a good idea to practice on something else first if you never used a scraper before. No deep scratches, I'm pretty nice to it.
The ideal answer is to buy a big sink. You can gently tilt them in if they are too big. Otherwise, relocate it close to the sink and prepare for a wet mess. I just bought a portable sink for my house that is comfortable and convenient.
Edit: M, Pls no links, attachments until you've had a few (5) posts. It drives the spam software nuts until it gets to "know" you.
Edit: M, Pls no links, attachments until you've had a few (5) posts. It drives the spam software nuts until it gets to "know" you.
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I don't sand my cutting boards and some are more than 20 years old. I use a green scotch bright pad when I clean my cutting boards. And sometimes I just use water to clean my cutting boards. So, it depends. Here is a 20 inch by 15 inch board. I can go a lot bigger.
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oh this extremely aggressive dish-washing sponge ?
does it remove the scratches the knives do on the board ?
seems extremely interesting
No not really. Over a long time then yes. I don't use the green pad on my All Clad as it will scratch it. My really old cutting boarda have knife marks in them. This is one of my newest cutting boards. It is a little over a year old. Here is my oldest cutting board and it is over 40 years old and probably closer to 50 years old. The second picture is a 30 year board going on 40 years. It is my BBQ board. I BBQ a lot and this works well as it is thin and does not add a lot of weight when carrying BBQ. You need a juice tray with BBQ as the juice will drip everywhere when carrying it in from the smoker. Sometimes I have 30 pounds of BBQ.
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Knivperson
Senior Member
I have a huge cutting board that dont fit into the sink. I don't use it for raw meat. I clean it with water and a cloth. Wood is antibacterial in itself. Have done this for 3 years and we have never been sick. 
that board looks as good as new
how do you treat the scratches if you do not sand it ?
does the aggresive sponge remove the scratches ?
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
In home usage you don't necessarily get a lot of damage or deep scratches on your boards to begin with if:
-you keep it properly treated so it doesn't dry out
-you keep it clean (even if just a rub-down with a paper towel; keep in mind that washing with soap will dry it out faster)
-you get a seperate board for your bread / serrated knife work ; they really chew up the boards
-as a bonus end-grain shows even less damage than other orientations
My end-grain board that has seen almost daily usage for around 10 years still looks almost brand new. Never scraped it, never sanded it. Never had any need to.
But I kept seperate bread and protein boards. That meant that serrated knives never touched it, and it didn't actually see soap all that regularly, and as a result it was easy to keep up with the oil / wax maintenance since it didn't require it all that often.
-you keep it properly treated so it doesn't dry out
-you keep it clean (even if just a rub-down with a paper towel; keep in mind that washing with soap will dry it out faster)
-you get a seperate board for your bread / serrated knife work ; they really chew up the boards
-as a bonus end-grain shows even less damage than other orientations
My end-grain board that has seen almost daily usage for around 10 years still looks almost brand new. Never scraped it, never sanded it. Never had any need to.
But I kept seperate bread and protein boards. That meant that serrated knives never touched it, and it didn't actually see soap all that regularly, and as a result it was easy to keep up with the oil / wax maintenance since it didn't require it all that often.
I think the green scotch brite pad does perform a very light sanding over time. As the boards age they require less oiling. I use just mineral oil only.that board looks as good as new
how do you treat the scratches if you do not sand it ?
does the aggresive sponge remove the scratches ?
These are both meat boards for me. I never cut vegetables on them. The top new cutting board for me is mainly for vegetables.
Since it was talked about above, I have 2 bread knives. One is much more aggressive than the other. I try to stay with the less aggressive bread knife as they are hard on cutting boards.
naptight
Well-Known Member
A paper towel's amount of water isn't going to hurt anything. But, in general you don't want hot water near your board.
