Cutting Boards? I received a plastic cutting board as a gift and am not sure

[patricia92243]

about using it. Will it dull my knives and/or make bacteria growth worse?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

[Chainfire]

1. I don't think that it is any worse than hardwood on an edge.

Yes, they are much easier to keep sanitary. I put mine in the dishwasher and I can't do that with a wooden cutting board.

[hlthe2b]

2. Not sure about dulling knives, but they are infinitely easier to disinfect so there is that.

Some even have an antimicrobial component to the plastic.

I tend to prefer them for cutting raw meat of any kind because they are so readily disinfected. Veggies, I still go to my tried and true wood cutting boards which I clean thoroughly with white vinegar and then oil with food grade mineral oil.

[sir pball]

22. Wood is naturally antibacterial, it's far superior to plastic in that regard

They're so sanitary, once raw chicken juice has fully soaked into them it's almost impossible to get any bacteria back out! It's why I only use wood boards at home, sadly the Department of Health isn't up on the science.

Bacteria inoculated onto Plastic blocks were readily recovered for minutes to hours and would multiply if held overnight. Recoveries from wooden blocks were generally less than those from plastic blocks, regardless of new or used status; differences increased with holding time. Clean wood blocks usually absorbed the inoculum completely within 3-10 min. If these fluids contained 103-104 CFU of bacteria likely to come from raw meat or poultry, the bacteria generally could not be recovered after entering the wood. If ?106 CFU were applied, bacteria might be recovered from wood after 12 h at room temperature and high humidity, but numbers were reduced by at least 98%, and often more than 99.9%.

(emphasis added)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113021/

[hlthe2b]

23. Cross-contamination is an issue. I thus do not use wood for both meat and veggies.

Which you use when is one thing. However, NOT using the same one for both at the same time, is indisputably an important issue and precaution..

[sir pball]

24. That policy applies to all cutting boards though

Plastic, wood, bamboo, glass, rubber (great but $$), whatever you use needs to get rinsed/washed/rinsed/sanitized after being used for raw meat. Plastic can actually be worse in that regard as well, since the surface gets chewed up and can provide tiny nooks and crannies for bugs to hide in, without killing them in the process.

[hlthe2b]

25. I think that goes without saying. n/t

[4dog]

3. We use four plastic boards

Two favorites, ~ 8 x 11 inches, were made by, I believe, Oxo, white with black handles at the ends. The surface does not show significant cuts over some decades. Anonymous transparent pebbled look, one white with gutter and a metal loop. All get a rinse and a run through the dishwasher after use. No dulling issue. Use an alumina two-rod knife edge finisher a couple times a month.

I only use the transparent one for cutting bread with a serrated bread knife, though I couldn't really tell you why.

[Scrivener7]

4. I got a very nice knife sharpener because I tend to chop on my granite. (I know! I know!)

It's a good investment. Mine cost around $15. Just pull the blade through three or four times and you have a new edge.

[2naSalit]

5. Another plus...

You can put them in the dishwasher if you use one. I have several, some are of thin, flexible material so I can pick them up and make a curl and spill items into the pan or whatever, then I turn around and put it in the dishwasher. This is the first place where I've had a dishwasher in ages and have learned to appreciate it. It uses far less water than I would if I washed all my dishes by hand.

[Hortensis]

15. This. I have several of different sizes, use for various purposes,

carry to the stove or wherever needed, and toss in the dishwasher.

The ones I get are all rated for dishwashers

[2naSalit]

16. I first encountered...

The cutting mats when I was cooking in restaurants and commercial kitchens in tourist town, I also learned to love the big chefs's knife after nearly losing all my fingers... I'm kind of clumsy.

[Hortensis]

19. :) A friend who makes knives as a hobby made me a cleaver

as a surprise present. It's very handsome, but I prefer slicing with a chef's and my own serious "kind of clumsy" problem has kept me too scared to learn to chop with it. I gave up while all my fingers were still intact. I sometimes turn it upside down and pound meat with the thick edge.

I should just cut my one flexible mat down and try using it more. I bought one clumsily large, a nuisance to hand wash and dry and too big to stand/lean in the dishwasher.

[2naSalit]

20. Funny thing...

I am a rather good cook and have been hired to do so on many occasions. I never thought I could handle a commercial gig until someone Tom Sawyered me into it late in life. As far as my "knife work" ...I do not deserve a hand made knife of significant quality. Seriously, I embarrass my friends who are real chefs when they see what I use in my kitchen without shame. I have a set of five - some roommate stole one years ago - wooden-handled serrated steak knives that I bought at a Jewel store in San Diego back in the 1980s, they are the best when it comes to slicing fresh tomatoes.



I do have a proper bread knife and a proper carving knife but they only come out when there's something bigger than the steak knife can handle like a watermelon or a loaf of bread or something. It's like a mechanic, they keep your car running like a top while they drive around in a heap. I can use all those fancy knives in a big kitchen, I know how, but at home, I've got my steak knives. I never got the chopping thing down and I am certainly not fast like some you see on teevee but I get the job done well. When I first got started as a cook, I lived in a tiny town so everybody knew where I worked, and I always had band-aids on all or most of my fingers, for a couple weeks at least. People at the bar and around town would jokingly inquire about the wounds, I would just tell them that I hadn't quite got the knife juggling thing down yet.

[Hortensis]

21. Lol to the Band-Aids. I never told my friend,

but with good knives available for quite little courtesy of modern technology and production, I never got into the knife thing either. However, my husband is my knife sharpener, and he is old fashioned, so I take better care of them than I would on my own.

Nice thing to be a good cook. Our son started enjoying cooking in his 40s and is getting pretty good. I’m happy for him, and his wife , but he didn’t get it from me. I cook a fair amount from scratch, but don’t seem to have any special talent. My best dishes are ones I have a good recipe for.

[Grokenstein]

6. As a last resort you can always repurpose them!

I use a lot of old cutting boards and trays to protect surfaces. Recently bought a water filter/dispenser with a large pitcher. Love it, but the pitcher is designed so that it has to be dragged forward to access the spigot, then pushed back lest the spigot get snagged on something, and the underside will scrape the countertop/refrigerator shelf. Small cutting board sitting unused in the cupboard solved the issue.

Someone in my apartment building threw out a HUGE, THICK solid-wood cutting board with rubber feet. I don't normally pick through the trash, but this board was pristine and expensive and I knew exactly how to use it; after cleaning it very thoroughly and letting it sit for a few days, I flipped it upside down, took a few seconds with a drill to rearrange the screws for the rubber feet, applied a little museum putty, and put it under my microwave. The rubber feet (now facing up) keep the microwave from sliding around and the board itself elevates the microwave just enough so that its door no longer collides with dishes in front of the unit.

[Major Nikon]

7. I use one wooden cutting board and HDPE plastic ones of varioius sizes.

The end grain wooden one is fairly large, thick, and heavy. I never use it for raw meats. It is a pleasure to use, but is more maintenance intensive. I clean it with soap and water, rinse, and then spray it down with household vinegar. About once per month I wipe it down liberally with food grade mineral oil. I've had it for at least 20 years and it will almost certainly outlive me. The biggest threat to a wooden cutting board is cracks which can form if you don't keep it oiled. If you get a crack you should either throw it away or repair it properly with an epoxy filler. Otherwise bacteria can and will develop in the crack and will be too difficult to keep out.

HDPE cutting boards are much easier maintenance. They can be washed in the dishwasher. Other than keeping them clean there's no maintenance. They can warp, but you can heat them up and level them again. I use a silicone baking mat under them for stability. They work well for raw meats and small jobs.

Both wood and HDPE are fine for knives. Either way you should be using a knife steel regularly to maintain the knife edge between sharpening.

One alternative to both is bamboo. I don't have one so I can't speak from experience on how well they work, but you should be able to put them in the dishwasher yet still have the properties of a wooden board.

[2naSalit]

17. I recently bought a bundle of bamboo...

Utensils and I got brave and put a couple in the dishwasher to see what would happen. They didn't fare so well that I would consider doing that again. I decided bamboo isn't really dishwasher safe.

[Major Nikon]

18. Some of them are advertised as dishwasher safe

https://totallybamboo.com/collections/greenlite-dishwasher-safe-bamboo

How they actually perform in the dishwasher I have no idea, but this company has some they recommend hand cleaning and some that are rated for the dishwasher. I have no idea what the difference is.

[spinbaby]

26. I think it depends on how it's made

I have bamboo spoons that do not fare well in the dishwasher, but also have a bamboo butter dish that has no problems. The difference seems to be that the spoons are straight bamboo, whereas the butter dish is some kind of composite of bamboo and something else—I want to say plastic, except it doesn’t feel like plastic.

[Major Nikon]

28. Makes sense

Bamboo isn’t going to deteriorate like wood does when exposed to water, but it can warp.

[Warpy]

8. Studies have shown that wood tends to reduce bacterial growth

but both types need soap and water. Wood can be cleaned, and a periodic treatment with mineral oil (the horrible stuff they use for constipation) applied to keep the wood from drying out from the soap. Mineral oil doesn't go rancid, which is why you use that instead of vegetable oil.

Plastic doesn't have the bacteria fighting properties, so the soapy water scrub after use is essential. In addition, you can spray it down with a 10% Clorox in water solution (leave it for at least 4 minutes) to kill anything that thinks it wants to live there.

I've used both, and I prefer a sheet cutting board for meat of any kind, I can roll it up and take it over to the sink easily for cleaning, then spray it down at the sink. Just give me a round cutting board and Chinese cleaver for veg, thanks.

[chowmama]

9. I have both

My cheap plastic is for cutting meat and anything that won't be eaten raw. Wood is only for things that won't be cooked. That way, I never mix them up while I'm cooking. Of course, I clean them afterwards.

I really loved the cheap bamboo ones that I got from United Noodle, but they didn't survive many exposures to the dishwasher. On the other hand, cheap. My good wood one is a pressed composite type. I'd love a thick end-grain one, but they're so expensive.

I don't notice that either dulls the knives more than the other. I try not to cut on my marble island top, but sometimes I'm guilty.

[tishaLA]

10. Bamboo boards are worse for your knives than plastic is

I use a maple board for most things and an OXO plastic one for poultry (even though I know it's not really more sanitary than using the maple would be....it's just habit at this point).

[hippywife]

11. I personally hate anything plastic, but...

someone gave me an HDPE board several years ago. I use it.

My take is to use what you're comfortable with, but don't support plastic anything if you can possibly help it.

[patricia92243]

12. Thanks for all the helpful answers. I love DU :)

[Retrograde]

13. I've been using a maple cutting board for nearly 50 years

It's about an inch and a half thick. I wash it in hot soapy water after using it for raw meats, and every other year or so I do a light sanding and rub fresh mineral oil into it. At this rate it will probably outlast me.

I also have a bamboo cutting board, a small maple one, and a large one made from leftover scraps of maple flooring. I do not have any plastic ones in my kitchen: I've used them in the past, and don't like how the knives slip on them. And don't get me started on glass or ceramic cutting boards.

[patricia92243]

14. I had not even thought of the slipping. Thanks for the tip.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. No & No

The softer the surface the less it will dull an edge. That's why wood is good.
Of course, cutting anything slowly wears on an edge. That's why no knife, no matter how well made, doesn't stay sharp forever.
As to bacteria, just wash it. Any commercial dish detergent has sufficient surfactancy (trade term) to reduce surface tension to rinse bacteria from the surface. While some bacteria won't survive the drastic shift in electrolyte balance, killing bacteria isn't the goal. It's washing it away & down the drain that's critical.
And, plastic is easy to thoroughly clean.
All that said, I don't like them because they are too lightweight and they move, as someone already mentioned.
Now, if one is worried about dulling, avoid engineered stone unless you never do chopping. Those surfaces are nearly as hard as the knife.
Some kitchen science for ya!