Cutting board

[Wayne02]

Seems like chopping, slicing, and cutting in general happens everyday in the kitchen. Our thick wood cutting board that we keep on the counter is nice for marathon knife sessions but it's not the easiest thing to clean.

I'm wondering if they make some type of almost 'disposable' cutting board or mat that may be more suitable to daily use and easy cleaning. Maybe even have a half dozen of them and rotate them through the dishwasher or something?

Thanks

[Windy in Kansas]

I personally like the high density polyethylene cutting boards. They don't absorb liquids, are easy to clean, and are easier on a knife than glass boards.

I like the largest one possible, but my daughter does have a small one which is extremely handy as well.

A place I used to work was given scraps of cutting boards left over from a new commercial installation. That plastic was great for many many uses.

[PinkBat]

I like my glass cutting board...it's noisy but very easy to clean. Had the same one for years.

[Tiempo]

I guess cutting boards are a very personal thing, I have glass, plastic and wood, and I by far prefer the wood, with the plastic coming in a distant second and I'll probably chuck the glass one as I hate it

[wyld thang]

I cut fruits and veggies on a wood board, I just can't stand the plastic or glass kind. If I want to cut raw meat I put it on a cookie sheet or a plate and cut carefully(not hitting the sheet/plate. Same thing with cooked meat. Also I found out it's actually easier and no need for a cutting board to use scissors to cut up cooked meat, like into strips for burritos or stir fry(like I grill up a bunch of chicken thighs, then cut them into strips then freeze to pull out for dinners, heat up in the pan and put the sauce on them). I used to have some poultry shears, those were awesome for cutting up whole raw chicken.

So give scissors a try, for cooked meat they don't need to be that sharp, so you can use an old pair of paper scissors that have gone dull. You can put them in the dishwahser or boil to sterilize.

And then wood cutting boards are just plain prettier I've had the glass ones spontaneoulsy explode on me, so I refuse to have one enter my house--it was just sitting there too, I didn't put hot orcold stuff on it(not to mention I hate having to worry about remembering that, wood don't matter)

[Yvonne's hubby]

My cutting board was already disposable when I got it. I just grabbed up a "cutoff" from one of the oak planks when I was putting up the walls in our cabin. It was headed for the burn pile anyway. It works really well for me.

[gone-a-milkin]

I have 2 cuttingboards. One is plastic which I use for meat. The other is bamboo. I really like the bamboo, it is not as 'absorbing' as wood.

I have never understood the idea of a glass cuttingboard. It is noisy and hard on knives and...breakable.

[Kmac15]

when shopping for a plastic cutting board, remember that dishwasher safe does not mean it will actually FIT into the dishwasher....sigh...but it does cover the whole sink.


I have a 4 small plastic for quick cutting of small things and they go into the dishwasher no problem
Large wooden for large cutting jobs
large plastic for cutting up large cuts of meat

[bubbahead]

I buy plastic cutting mats at my grocery store for $1.00. I can use it easily for a month before trashing it. It's flexible like silicone baking pans. You can just fold it into a funnel and dump your chopped stuff into the pot.

[megafatcat]

Check with a local cabinet installer or cabinet/countertop shop. The cut-outs from sinks in corian or similar tops make great cutting boards.

[BlueberryChick]

I have two plastic ones that I use often and put in the dishwasher. I also have a Corian one, shaped like a rooster, that can go in the dishwasher. I love the look of the rooster one, but it's a weird shape to use. As much as I've liked wooden ones, I always worry that I'm not getting them clean enough, even without putting meat on them.

[EDDIE BUCK]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

I have 2 cuttingboards. One is plastic which I use for meat. The other is bamboo. I really like the bamboo, it is not as 'absorbing' as wood.

I have never understood the idea of a glass cuttingboard. It is noisy and hard on knives and...breakable.

lol,also heavy.I bought a plastic one for bopeep,then she retired the glass one.
Oh,I made a cutting board out of a piece one half inch thick white plastic I got from lowes and attached a cleaver held with brackets, to cut the ends of corn off,when we put up corn.Works like a dream and my hands aren't sore anymore.Been using it about ten years and the cleaver has not harmed the plastic at all,Maybe just a slight scratch where the blade touches it.That cutting board will be around long after I'm gone.

[Ohio dreamer]

I love my wood ones. I have plastic for meat, but not always do the occupants of the house (myself included) remember and go for the wood. I just bleach my wood cutting boards when I bleach my counters. I don't soak the cutting board in the water, but drizzle it over an let it soak in a bit then set it out in the sunshine to dry. I have one wood cutting board that is for bread only...that one has kept to it's task and has yet to see a veg, fruit or meat on it.

[Natural Beauty Farm]

Dollar store has a two pack of plastic flex mat cutting boards. We use them until they are torn up and then throw out.

[Murray in ME]

I prefer wooden cutting boards but the high density polyethylene ones also work well. They come in many sizes and thicknesses and can be tossed in the dishwasher. I have a small, thin one that is great for picnics.

Wood and high density polyethylene are the only cutting boards I use. Most of the others are to hard on the edge of a knife in my opinion. I especially dislike glass cutting boards. For several reasons. They're hard on knives, they break far to easily for me to be comfortable with them, and, they're to slick. Food tends to slip around on them which is a serious safety issue.

A note about sanitation. Studies in the last few years have shown that wooden cutting boards are, in general, actually more sanitary than plastic ones. It turns out that many of the hardwoods used have natural antibiotic properties.

[pogitondo]

Sold knives for close to twenty years.
Never put them in the dishwasher.
Never use the sharpener on the back of your can-opener.
Never use glass or marble cutting boards.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

I have never understood the idea of a glass cuttingboard. It is noisy and hard on knives and...breakable.

They are made for the germ freaks, seems as though wood and plastic ones cannot be sanitized like the glass ones. The way I look at it is if you set it down for the dog to clean as soon as yer finished, those germs wont have a chance to penetrate the wood.

[Kris in MI]

Originally Posted by Murray in ME

A note about sanitation. Studies in the last few years have shown that wooden cutting boards are, in general, actually more sanitary than plastic ones. It turns out that many of the hardwoods used have natural antibiotic properties.

I was about to say the same thing!

I much much prefer wood to plastic, and have tried the little flexible plastic mat-type ones too.

I'm sure someone here will warn me of the 'dangers' of cutting meat on this since it can't be put in the dishwasher to sanitize, but. . . We process venison right on my butcher block island. It's a 6' x 3' cutting board. When done, I wash with a clean soapy wash cloth, rinse with another wash cloth that has HOT water on it, and spritz with white vinegar. Also cut up my whole chickens on there too, and wash up the same way afterward. Been doing it for years now, and no one in my family has gotten food poisoning yet.

Now my plastic cutting boards after using them to cut meat on. . . it's about impossible to get the little pieces of meat out of the grooves left by the knife. They look nasty even after being scrubbed and run through the diswasher to 'sanitize'.

[Cabin Fever]

We also use the flexible poly cutting mats. They are very cheap, easy to clean, extremely sanitary, easy to handle, and take no room to store. Ours last about a year before they have to be replaced.

They look like the photo below, except ours are colored.

[Ardie/WI]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

We also use the flexible poly cutting mats. They are very cheap, easy to clean, extremely sanitary, easy to handle, and take no room to store. Ours last about a year before they have to be replaced.

They look like the photo below, except ours are colored.

That's what we use too.