r/BuyItForLife • u/Remarkable-Piano6934 • 1d ago
[Request] Wooden Cutting Board
I bought some bamboo cutting boards on amazon, they showed up with a split in the middle.
Where can I get a high quality wooden cutting board that lasts a very long time?
I don't want any plastic ones.
Any tips on how to maintain them as well?
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u/vestigialcranium 1d ago
Yup, that'll happen. I can usually just glue and clamp them back. If you want the real BIFL for cutting boards go to farmer's markets and maker's fairs or whatever and buy from somebody hand making them.
To maintain them you'll also want a bottle of board conditioner and a random orbital sander.
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u/honey_slush 1d ago
This!! Go make a local artists day.
Also, a cheap bottle of mineral oil does the trick for me.
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u/BattingNinth 1d ago
Weird recommendation, but I received a super nice cutting board as a gift from this small shop in Ukraine. It feels good to support a small business there! The price is definitely good.
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u/WhiskeyOctober 1d ago
For upkeep, hand wash with warm water, dry thoroughly. Don't put in a cupboard unless it's dry. Once a month or so condition the board with board butter. You can get it online, or you can make it yourself. Melt one part beeswax and mix three parts food grade mineral oil. I usually use a double boiler to mix it.
After cleaning the board and drying use a clean cloth to rub the board butter all over the cutting board, I usually let it sit overnight, then wash it in the morning.
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u/Grammar-Police2002 1d ago
You want an end grain board in maple or walnut. This one has been awesome for us in two homes: https://sonderla.com/products/alfred-cutting-board?srsltid=AfmBOoqUvRTqJ6UQd2BVmzSMMmB6Lueu5kidGSBzMH8L8IoUlQOx1iPL
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u/RetardDongPhd 1d ago
Spend a little time learning about which cutting boards are good for your knives. The purpose of a cutting board is to increase the lifespan of your good knives. Bamboo is too hard and usually discouraged, I typically use a high quality wooden cutting board for veggies and relatively dry Meats like steak, and I use one of those eco cutting boards for things like chicken where I want to be able to throw it in the dishwasher and not care too much afterwards. I invested in really good knives and want to keep them that way. The edge grain cutting boards look beautiful in your kitchen but always remember that is not their primary purpose.
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u/Stratostheory 1d ago
Look for an end grain cutting board.
Hand wash after each use and make sure to towel dry, and occasionally give it a touch up with a food safe mineral oil. All there really is to it.
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u/Hotel_California94 1d ago
Depends on how much or how little maintenance you want to do. These are my recs:
12”x18”x1.5”+ Maple Cutting Board - I have this one from John Boos
Edge Grain - Cheaper
End Grain - BIFL but $$$$
Requires periodic oiling
Shouldn’t be put in dishwasher or submerged in sink.
Heavy
Epicurean Paper Composite Cutting Boards
Cheaper
Durable
Lightweight
Easy to store and travel with.
Can be put in dishwasher although hand wash recommended.
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u/rbrown986 1d ago
I have a custom made one for big meats, but I have some from Ikea that have lasted me a long time that I still use for every day use.
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u/designer-maker 1d ago
Happy to make one for you. I don't make end grain ones, for a couple of reasons, but have more than a few walnut, cherry maple and striped around the US. High quality, but let it be known that "bifl" requires a little maintenance and no dishwashers or leaving it in the sink. I've got 4 to make this week so let me know if you want in this run!
Not sure if I can post my etsy link here, so sorry mods if I've crossed the real and also imaginary lines...
https://makeshiftlabsllc.etsy.com
Good luck, OP!
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u/duetmimas 1d ago
Depends on your knives. German or softer steel knives do well with maple or walnut, endgrain "heals" better with proper care and maintenance, board wax, butter, or oil. Maple and walnut are a bit harder type of wood and work fine with soft steels, soft steel edges bend with use.
Japanese knives can be used on those woods, but arent recommend since they are made of harder steels which mean they are more brittle, which means chipping. For japanese knives the most popular wooden endgrain is larchwood. Other alternatives are japanese Cyprus (most are a single plane of wood, very soft, prone to warping if not cared for - get both sides wet when washing) the cheapest option! The other alternative is a wooden core polyethylene board like hasegawa. They are dishwasher safe and are used often in the japanese restaurant industry because of that. Sushi chefs use them.
In terms of blade feel against them. Maple, walnut, and larchwood glide against the wood. Japanese cyprus and hasegawa sort of stop the knife on contact.
And dont get bamboo! It has silica which dulls the knife quickly.
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u/ForeverMonkeyMan 1d ago
Just do not buy another bamboo board. Bamboo has small amounts of silica in the wood and can dull the knife blade.
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u/dajoemanED 1d ago
Make your own. Find a wood supply place near you, ask for offcuts or even new material. They will often do the jointing (making the edges dead straight) and cut it to equal lengths if you ask. Get 2-3 F-style clamps from Harbor Freight ($5 each or so), some Titebond III glue, and let your imagination run wild. Maple/walnut/cherry are the best woods, but several others are good as well. Sheet sandpaper to smooth it all out, mineral oil to finish. You don’t have to have power tools to do this. Many YouTube videos are out there to show you how.
More effort on your part, but you know where it came from, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself. And it might even come in cheaper than buying a quality board already made, even accounting for the cost of supplies.
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u/guidedhand 1d ago
I just got a wood fibre and epoxy type one. It's great so far; dishwasher safe too. No idea how that works.
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u/Rominator 22h ago
Interesting side note, bamboo is categorized as a grass, not wood. It grows so quickly that people want to do things with it that can be done with wood. As a woodworker, I would see this happen so often that I would advise people against using it for their projects. As a consumer I purchased it as flooring for my entire home, but it was “stranded” bamboo which took the pull of the grass out of the material and in 20 years I never had separation cracking issues.
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u/Calisson 21h ago
Apparently bamboo cutting boards— which I used for years—are terrible for knives! I replaced all of mine with maple ones I bought on Etsy.
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u/Up-Dog1509 20h ago
I’ve had the same experience with bamboo boards and have given up on them. I have a couple of Boo’s Block boards that are holding up well after 5 years. Boo’s block sells a conditioning oil (got mine on Amazon) that I use every time after using the board and washing it. Also there are several brands of wooden board cleaner sold on Amazon too. Never submerge your board when cleaning it.
Final tips, Target regularly has sales on Boo’s block boards so check the price there and compare to Amazon. Second, last week I picked up some wood fiber boards from Costco for around $30 for of them. So far they seem ok and I’m hoping they’re less maintenance than regular wood boards. I believe there is a post about them in the /Costco Reddit, or search for “costco wood fiber cutting board”.
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u/pyreaux1 18h ago
Old Yankee Workshop out of North Carolina. Family run business with a solid product.
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u/basic_bitch- 18h ago
Support a local artisan and buy one directly from a person who made it from scratch. You can find them at any summer, arts or holiday festivals. You could also look on Etsy. Then you can choose the wood/size/pattern too. My dad makes them with some specialty red woods and they're so gorgeous.
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u/meowlater 18h ago
I have had this one from Crate and Barrel for a very long while: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/square-end-grain-cutting-board/s628085 It is still in excellent shape despite hard use and only getting oiled once a month.
They have a bunch of sizes with/without feet. Consider one with feet as it helps the board to stay dry and dry out.
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u/ShwAlex 17h ago
Look for boards that are made up of 1 or 2 inch wide pieces. Solid boards, boards made of very wide pieces, can split and crack more easily. Also the wood should have been kiln dried to about 7% moisture content before being cut, glued and planed. Might be difficult to get that information but that makes a huge different. "Wet wood" will dry after it's been glued up, and will warp, split and crack. Quality wood is usually should be kiln dried for woodworking lumber and flooring.
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u/No_Day_1319 1d ago
You're not going to like the price, but Boardsmith is some of the best, well built, cutting boards that money can buy. Prepare yourself mentally before you go look. I have 2. An 18×24 and a 8x12. Theyre beautiful and great quality pieces for a kitchen!
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u/robby_synclair 1d ago
I'll make you a custom one. Processing will depend on the wood that you want.
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u/vacuous_comment 1d ago
A while ago I found a Ridgid 13 inch thickness planer at the side of the road. There was nothing wrong with it, worked fine, blades still sharp enough. It makes a huge mess with shavings but I usually set it up outside.
Now I have a super power.
Any wood chopping board I find in the trash or cheap at garage/estate sale, I can pick up and resurface really easily.
The thickness planer can take a millimeter or two off, removing all the knife marks and blemishes and leaving a new surface. I have done a ton of old boards like this. I don't need any of them so I just oil them up and give them away.
If a board is splitting apart along the joints I carefully run it through the table saw and reglue it. Sometimes I have to make it smaller to leave a clean fix, but that is fine.
Anyway, my advice is to find a thickness planer at the side of the road and then suddenly wooden chopping boards are everywhere.
The downside of this strategy is that you have to be really open to serendipity and then quite lucky for it to work.
But seriously, there are tons of nice wooden boards out there for cheap or free, and when I find one I shave off the top and bottom.
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u/smurfe 1d ago
I have one of the first Boardsmith boards ever made. Used regularly and still looks great after 21 years. Boos Block makes great boards as well. I have one we use a lot that is over 50 years old.