Caring For Your Wooden Cutting Board


Researchers have found that bacteria have a tougher time surviving on wood cutting boards. However, plastic cutting boards are less porous than wood, making it less likely to harbor bacteria over a long period of time, but only if it is immediately cleaned. Here are a few tips to caring for your cutting board.

1. It is best to apply the oil slightly warm and with a soft cloth in the direction on the grain. Warming the oil allows it to penetrate deeper into the wood. "Season" your board by applying mineral or butcher block oil and letting it soak into the wood for 15-30 minutes. Apply 4-6 coats before using the board.

2. Oil your cutting board when it looks dry, sometimes as frequently as once a week. If you allow your board to become dry it may begin to crack.

3. Scrub and wash your cutting board with soap and water but don't immerse it completely in water. In addition, don't put your wooden cutting board in the dishwasher because it will warp the wood.

4. Spraying vinegar on your cutting board with a spray bottle is a good way to sanitize it. Using bleach on a wood cutting board isn't a good idea because it is not as effective because the organic composition of wood neutralizes the disinfectant quality of bleach.

Daniel Urmann is a contributor and author for the website Vermont Cutting Boards.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Cooking Information:

Related Articles

Two for One Dinners: Beans
If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then here are some ideas to put the "zing" back into mealtime. With a little creativity your home-cooked meal can easily become a delicious meal another night.
6 Tips for Perfect Homemade Hard Candy
There's nothing better than the juicy, flavorful hard candy from your local gourmet candy shop . .
10 Smoky Tips To BBQ Food Safely
Cooking outdoors was once only a summer activity shared withfamily and friends. Now more than half of Americans say theyare cooking outdoors year round.
How to Prepare the Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Would you like to prepare the best Garlic Mashed Potatoes that you enjoy at your favorite restaurant, but have no idea where to start to achieve that wonderful and delightful flavor?There are a variety of ways to create the best garlic mashed potatoes that you have ever tasted but when it comes down to which way is best is according to your own taste buds.When you take a look at garlic you will see that there are various kinds of garlic that you can use for your mashed potatoes such as German red garlic, Spanish Roja garlic, Leningrad garlic, and Yugoslavian.
Preparing Lobster Tails
Lobster, once the food of poor farmers, is now considered a special treat for many. Although some people prefer the meaty claws, I think that lobster tails are the best tasting part of this delicious creature.
How to Care for Your Cast Iron Skillet (includes recipes)
Some of the best meals I've ever eaten were made by my grandmothers in their cast iron skillets. Tender, flaky catfish; finger-lickin' chicken; and mouth watering cornbread were the traditional scrumptious fare.
Why do We Need to Knead?
Bread dough needs to be elastic in order to capture the gases created by the yeast, stretch as bubbles form in the dough, expand, and rise. Without that elasticity, bread would not have the open texture we enjoy nor would bread be chewy.
Secrets of Great Breads
Often we field questions about making great bread. Great bread is a matter of using the right ingredients and the right techniques-there's no single secret that will make perfect bread.
Chinese Cooking Technique: Thicken
"Thicken", or "Thickening" is a very common technique used in both Chinese restaurants and household kitchens. It is very easy to prepare, but if not used properly, can really mess up the presentation.
Picnic Checklist
In the previous article, we suggested that you start a picnic checklist, improve it over time, and keep it handy for picnic prep. Here's a list to get you started.
Barbeque Grilling has Reached a Whole New Dimension
Grilling on the barbecue has never been more exciting. Not only do barbecues come in a myriad of designs and options, but also with the advent of popular cooking shows, cooking books and magazines', grilling has reached a whole new dimension.
The Art of the Marinade
It's a sad fact that these days it has become almost essential to marinade most cuts of meat, unless you intend to casserole them.I'll go into why that is the case a bit later on, but for the time being let's just examine why we use marinades at all.
Low-Budget Meals In a Minute
Ever go home and look in the fridge only to find it sadly, echoingly empty? Well, look again my friend..
10 Convenient Ways To Eliminate Food Poisoning With Your Microwave
Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, butspecial care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat,poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are preparedsafely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave "coldspots," where harmful bacteria can survive.
Barbecue Success With The Rule Of Thirds
Ever been to a barbecue party where the 'chef' placed as much food as he could possibly fit onto the barbecue grill, every so often stabbing the food with a fork and juggling it around so that it cooks evenly? Ever noticed how, within a few minutes, the flames start gently flickering under the food, the chef proudly standing back admiring the char grill effect that he's creating? Ever notice the panic that sets in when the flames suddenly leap up and around the food burning it black on the outside and leaving it raw on the inside?The difference between great char grilled barbecue food and burnt offerings lies in a few small precautions. The chef that we've just described made a few fatal errors that could easily have been avoided.
Grill Your Corn for Maximum Flavor
There's two basic theories on grilling corn. Some people prefer wrapping the corn in aluminum foil or its own husk, maybe with a little butter and seasonings, then cooking it on the grill until done.
How to Cook a Lobster
French chefs plunge them into boiling water; English ones, in an attempt to appear more humane, drive kitchen knives through their skulls before doing the same thing.No wonder the miserable creatures go red.
Ten Proven Tips to Buy the Best Meat Available
Ten Proven Tips to buy the Best Meat AvailableAs you look through the meat section at your local grocery store you are probably like so many others asking yourself if the steaks you have chosen is really good meat. Here are some tips on how to make sure you buy good meat.
Cooking Lobster at Home
Lobster has always be one of those extravagant meals which few people ever try because of the high cost. With restaurants paying thirty dollars a pound, by the time they put their markup on it, you're easily paying sixty dollars for a ten ounce tail.
Whats a Pan Dowdy?
Cobblers and dowdies, crisps and crumbles, buckles and betties-what are all these desserts?With a little help from American Desserts by Wayne Brachman, we thought we would give you the answers-since you're just dying to know.Cobblers: Cobblers are desserts with a syrupy fruit filling topped with biscuits or cake.