Choosing the Perfect Cutting Board

No kitchen is complete without the perfect cutting board—or two! When creating all the culinary delights of your dreams, you’ll want something ready to cut, chop, fillet, dice, knead, and more. And luckily, today, there are tons of options.

From wooden boards to marble, stone, or plastic options, how can you make the best decision? After all, this is likely something you’ll use almost every day! Keep reading to find out more about how you can choose the perfect cutting board for your needs.

Types of Cutting Boards

When choosing the ideal cutting board for your kitchen, it’s worth knowing that each type offers unique characteristics deriving from different materials. Let’s take a look at the most popular options below.

Wood

Wood cutting boards are widely considered the gold standard for kitchen prep, offering a balance of durability, aesthetics, and knife-friendly surfaces. Typically made from hardwoods like maple, walnut, or cherry, these boards provide a sturdy cutting surface while being gentle on knife edges. Premium end-grain boards allow knife edges to slip between wood fibers instead of cutting through them, which helps extend the lifespan of knives.

Wood may also offer natural antibacterial properties, which other varieties don’t necessarily have. Many quality wooden boards also become family heirlooms, improving with age and developing character with use. They also double beautifully as serving platters or charcuterie boards, making them multifunctional kitchen investments. 

Marble or Stone

Marble and stone cutting boards add a touch of elegance to any kitchen with their cool, polished surfaces and unique veining. They are especially great for pastry-making since their naturally cool temperature keeps the butter from melting too quickly, helping create flakier crusts and delicate pastries. The same benefit makes them ideal for working with chocolate as well.

However, the hardness that makes them so attractive could potentially damage your knife’s edges—a single cutting session can dull even high-quality blades. They’re also quite heavy, making them difficult to move and clean. Being naturally porous, they can further absorb oils and liquids if not properly sealed, potentially leading to staining and bacterial growth over time.

Plastic

Plastic cutting boards gained popularity in commercial and home kitchens due to their affordability and convenience. Made primarily from polyethylene or polypropylene, these lightweight boards are also available in various colors.

While initially appealing because they’re dishwasher safe and relatively inexpensive, plastic boards deteriorate faster than other materials. Knife cuts create grooves that harbor bacteria even after washing, potentially becoming breeding grounds for foodborne illness. 

There are also growing concerns about microplastics that may shed from these boards during cutting, meaning more of these end up in your body. They also don’t last too long, with most of these types of boards needing replacing every year or two. To really drive the downside of plastic homes, they also aren’t great for the environment, with many ending up in landfills.

Other Things to Consider

Beyond the material that makes up the board, here are a few things you might want to think about before diving in headfirst:

Design Features

Certain features can be great additions. Meanwhile, others might be a bit more annoying.

For example, handles or cutouts make transportation easier, especially for heavier wooden boards. These features prove particularly useful when transferring chopped ingredients to a pot or serving a charcuterie spread. However, they do reduce the overall cutting surface area available.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that boards less than one inch thick tend to warp more easily and provide less stability during vigorous chopping. For reference, professional-grade boards typically range from 1.5 to 2 inches thick.

Rubber feet may also be a useful design feature as they prevent slipping during use. However, feet remove the option of using both sides of the board, which may make storage more awkward. (In contrast, boards without feet can be secured with a damp paper towel or silicone mat underneath to prevent movement.)

Reversible Boards

Reversibility—which wooden boards offer—provides two cutting surfaces in one board. One side might even include juice grooves for meat preparation. Meanwhile, the flip side may have a simple, flat surface ideal for bread or vegetable prep. You basically get two boards in one!

Cross-Contamination

Bacterial growth and uses necessitate proper cleaning and the use of separate cutting boards for different food types, such as raw meat, vegetables, and dairy. This helps prevent cross-contamination and ensures food safety. In particular, it’s never wise to use the same board for raw meat as you do for raw veggies or fruit.

How To Maintain & Care for Your Wooden Board

While we may be biased, nothing quite beats the classic wooden cutting board. But how can you make it last? This all comes down to proper maintenance and cleaning! Here are some tips:

• Always hand wash your wooden boards. (Heat from the dishwasher can cause them to warp.)

• Use soap and water and a soft sponge or cloth to clean.

• Try not to leave it in the water long, as this can warp the board as well.

• Dry the board immediately with a towel or cloth.

• Never soak your wooden boards.

• Once dry, add food-safe oil to the board and allow it to sit overnight. Do this every few months to keep your wooden board in the best shape!

Quality Wooden Boards for All Uses

From charcuterie to cutting, Hammont’s wooden boards offer the perfect blend of functionality and craftsmanship for every kitchen task. When it comes down to it, investing in a high-quality cutting board and taking good care of it will give you a durable and reliable surface that can become a favorite kitchen essential—one that you may just recommend to all your friends and family!