When I decided to write this I thought about suppressing my preferences and presenting facts about the two big cutting board camps, allowing you to decide which is right for you, but then I remembered that this is a blog, my blog, and I don't have to maintain any semblance of journalistic integrity. So I'll just be up front about it; I prefer wood and I always have. That's not to say that I didn't learn anything. In fact at the start this article there were two plastic cutting boards in my kitchen. Of course they were for emergency use only, or for use with sticky or hard-to-clean things that I just didn't feel like scrubbing, but that was before I knew that the grossness of plastic extended far beyond how it looks. Now that I do know, the plastic is out. I can hear some of you now, "Wait... what?!? But plastic is nonporous and you can put it in the dishwasher! No f'n way is it gross! How is that even possible?"
Well, yes way. Totes way. Scientifically proven way, by real live respected science guys and ever'thing. Way.
There are several obvious reasons (read: my original reasons) to choose wood over plastic. It's better looking, it's easier on your knives, and if taken care of properly a good wooden board can become an heirloom. But in a world with a pathological obsession with sanitation it all comes down to germs, and I have shocking news for some of you: Wood harbors far fewer germs than plastic.
Just how gross is plastic? According to a study done at U.C. Davis, pretty gross. They originally set out to find a method of cleaning wood cutting boards to a standard that would make them "almost as safe as a plastic board", but what they actually found out was that after contaminating the boards with either a cultured nutrient solution or just plain raw chicken juice, wood yielded fewer bacteria than the plastic. In fact, they "encountered unexpected difficulty in recovering inoculated bacteria from wood surfaces, regardless of wood species and wether the boards were new or used and untreated or oiled." It seems that while bacteria can be easily found on a plastic surface, you actually have to partially destroy the wood in order to get the same bacteria out of it.
The thinking on the street is that because a plastic board is non-porous it is easily sanitized. Turns out that's just not the case. When it's brand new a plastic board is non-porous and very easy to clean, unfortunately that's not when it needs it. Once you break the surface of the board with the edge of your knife (which you do every time you slice something) you create a valley of doom that is nearly impossible to clean. Dr. Cliver et al. found in their extensive testing, "that disease bacteria such as [E. coli and Salmonella] were not recoverable from wooden surfaces in a short time after they were applied, unless very large numbers were used. New plastic surfaces allowed the bacteria to persist, but were easily cleaned and disinfected. However, wooden boards that had been used and had many knife cuts acted almost the same as new wood, whereas plastic surfaces that were knife-scarred were impossible to clean and disinfect manually, especially when food residues such as chicken fat were present." Take that, plastic board beeyotches!
How's it do it? Well, it seems that there are a couple things in play here.
First off there's the oil. Conditioning your board with mineral oil helps preserve the 'self-healing' quality of the wood. What this means is that when the knife makes contact with the board and cuts the surface just a bit a well-oiled board will expand to fill in the cut. A dry board will also reseal itself, but it takes longer, plus it's just plain bad board maintenance.
Secondly, there's what the board absorbs. Yes, some of that chicken juice gets absorbed, and I'm pretty sure that's the idea that has perpetuated the myth that plastic is cleaner. Thing is though, once something has been absorbed the wood reseals and traps any bacteria well below the surface where they stagnate and die. The only way to find bacteria once it has been absorbed is to split or drill the board.
So, once you've finished cutting raw meat on your wooden board simply clean it with soap and water and then use a clean towel to dry it. When it dries completely your cutting surface is once again sterile. If you're one of those people who is über-paranoid about germs and you still don't trust that it's clean then you can wipe it down with white vinegar, but you should avoid bleach. Bleach dries the wood out very quickly and will shorten the life of your board. Also it will leach the natural color from the wood.
Finally, let's cover the dishwasher issue. I'll just break this to you quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. Most home dishwashers only reach temperatures of between 120°-140°F, less if your water heater has been adjusted to a more energy-efficient setting. Water must be much hotter than that—about 190°F for several seconds to make sure items are actually sanitized. Sorry, germophobes, but if you're counting on hot water to kill germs then your Amana just isn't cutting it the way you think it is. It does, however, do a very nice job of conserving water when compared to the running water method of hand washing.
So you've gone and gotten yourself a brand new butcher block. Mazel tov! Now what?
As much as I love wood boards, and as awesome as they are, they're sort of a pain in the ass when they're new. When you get your board home give it a quick wash. Don't scrub it, don't submerge it in water, and don't (now or ever) even think about putting it in the dishwasher. For this first time you're just looking to remove any surface debris so just give it a wipe with some hot, soapy water and then let it dry.
Once it's dry apply a thick layer of food-grade mineral oil, which is shelved with the laxatives in any pharmacy. (Sometimes I see a very small bottle of thin "cutting block oil" in the kitchen gadget section at Fred's for an outrageous price, but since that's also mineral oil I never purchase it.) Rub the oil over all sides of the board until it is completely absorbed. Repeat several times. By the fourth or fifth coat you'll notice the absorption rate slowing down. This is your cue to really slather it up and then let it sit for a few hours. If it takes less than two hours to absorb then add another coat. Repeat until it stops absorbing oil. Use a clean cloth to wipe off the excess and your new board is ready for use. You will need to apply more mineral oil periodically, about once a week for the first month, then once a month or so for the first year, then as needed after that. Treat it right and you will be passing it on to your children.
*P.S. - Just so they don't feel left out I'll take a moment to talk about other types of cutting boards that are currently on the market. Namely glass, marble, granite and steel. While one of these may strike your stylistic fancy and look great in your kitchen you should consider using them as serving platters as they are not appropriate cutting surfaces. They are much too hard and will blunt, and possibly chip, your knife edge. This is a one-way ticket to the cutler.
There are also a couple fresh horses in this race, but I don't know much about either one. First up is bamboo, and it is certainly good looking, though I'm not sure how well the laminate wears. Second is hard rubber. It is said to have the same healing properties of wood, but as far as I could tell that is just a rumor and not something I could confirm. And that literally exhausts my knowledge of them as cutting boards.
*P.P.S. - Unfortunately I could only track down pieces of the referenced study here and there because The Journal of Food Protection®, wanted $37.00 to download the entire article. $37.00?!?! So if you want to read all of the findings you'll have to pay for it yourself.
Kelly Sink
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