I used to just chop veggies and never think about what I was cutting them on. But I guess now there’s a debate about plastic vs. wood cutting boards. In one camp, people claim that wooden cutting boards harbor bacteria and can make you sick. The other side says that wood is the only way to go because it actually won’t spread bacteria and it also helps keep your knives sharp—plastic cutting boards dull them.
I’m a wood cutting board user for the most part, although I do own both {I have the Norpro Cut-N-Slice Flexible Cutting Board & the OCD Cutting Board.} A good quality wood cutting board, even with all of the marks, will last you years if you keep it cleaned, deodorized and oiled. I’ve never worried much about the bacteria thing since I keep them clean, but this article explains why we shouldn’t freak out over those “wood cutting boards are awful” claims.
“Wood absorbs residual food-borne bacteria after manual cleaning with soapy hot water, but it holds the bacteria inside, where it cannot multiply and eventually dies. Studies have found that, even when a ‘contaminated’ wooden cutting board is sliced open with a sharp knife, the bacteria do not come out.”
So I’ll continue to use my wood cutting board without a worry. What do you use? Did you switch after hearing claims about plastic vs. wood?
Chop on,
Mavis
Katherine says
I have a wooden board I use for bread, a bamboo board I use for fruit and veggies, and a 1/2″ plastic board I use for cutting raw meat that is dishwasher safe.
Mary margaret says
Me too Katherine. Exactly. I use a plastic one for meat so I can sanitize it in the dishwasher. But the wood board for everything else. Especially rolling out pie crust and kneading bread.
bobbi dougherty says
Love my wooden boards. I tried plastic, but just don’t like them. 🙂
Patty P says
I use a plastic board for meat, but wood for everything else.
Jenny Young says
I have a set of flexible plastic that’s labeled for each food group. I clean them well after each use but I like having one for each kind of food. I’m a little paranoid about sanitizing after cooking raw meats.
Lauren says
I only use wood and I wash them with hot soapy water and sometimes rub a cut lemon across them and ensure that they dry out completely before being stacked or stored away.
I’m careful about cross contamination but I think this over sterilised world is having the opposite effect.
Mable says
I feel like we have gone nuts over worries about bacteria, everything from the cutting board debate to constant use of antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers to refusing to wash and reuse plastic bags that have been in touch with meat. Wash and rinse and if you are really paranoid wash and rinse with a vinegar/water solution.
At the same time we court disaster by drinking raw milk, when we know pasteurization made a huge difference in death rates and illness. I have never known anyone ending up in the hospital from reusing rinsed formerly-held-meat Ziplocs or cutting boards that were used for meats and then washed and used for veggies. But I have known two people who ended up in the hospital from buying and drinking raw milk.
Deb K says
I once took a knife skills class at a local cooking school and they taught that plastic cutting boards dulled the good, expensive knifes so I switched to all wood.
Suzanne says
I use wood.
Laura Z says
I use a wooden one, but replace it every year or two. I wash it with hot soapy water and after cutting meat might rub it down with diluted peroxide spray.
Nancy says
I use a plastic board for veggies, a wood one for bread and to roll dough, and I use glass plates to cut meat on. They are then put in the dishwasher. The knives may get dull, but that is what a good sharpening steel is for. I have had my same Chicago Cutlery for over 35 years, so it must be okay.
Lace Faerie says
I prefer wood. I have a large one that I cut and chop on one side, and roll pastry on the other side (it’s smoother). I wash with soapy water and rinse, allowing to air dry before putting it away. Every few years when the cuts get deep, I sand and rub’n buff with a small brick of beeswax from my sister’s hive. Used to seal with mineral oil, but then decided not to use a petroleum product. Made the mistake of using veggie oil but it went rancid and I was back to sanding for me.
Deb K says
That’s a great tip about using the beeswax instead of mineral oil. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.
deb
Lisa Millar says
I have several wooden chopping boards – I love using them.
I had a plastic one in the dim dark past but never liked using it like the current ones.
Hot soapy water. Never had a problem.
Leslie says
Plastic for meat, so I can throw it in the dishwasher. Wood for produce. I received a bamboo board as a gift, but without knowing that it used formaldehyde-free glue, I tossed it.