Low cost Vs. Costly Wood Chopping Boards

Wood chopping boards are ubiquitous in lots of kitchens: they’re the workhorse of meal prep, the Ginger Rogers to your knife’s Fred Astaire. However do you actually need a dear one? After we tested wooden cutting boards, our prime three picks all got here from smaller producers who make their chopping boards from high-end woods, and most of them had been at the very least $120.

With so many sorts and supplies on the market, we took a while to interrupt down simply why our prime chopping board picks are typically dearer—and why they’re value it. 

They’re Made From Higher Supplies

Our prime three picks come from The Boardsmith and Brooklyn Butcher Blocks, who solely work with maple, walnut, and cherry wooden. All three of those woods are well-regarded for his or her sturdiness whereas nonetheless having sufficient give to be mild in your knives (although some folks assume cherry is just a little too smooth). These aren’t the most costly woods on the market, however the boards need to be straight and with out blemishes in an effort to mix them right into a high-end chopping board, making the uncooked supplies for well-made boards costlier than their bulk lumber counterparts. 

Cheaper chopping boards are often constituted of bamboo, acacia, teak, and even compressed paper. All of those supplies are hailed for his or her pure water resistance, however each bamboo and teak have excessive silica content material which might be actually powerful on knives, whereas compressed paper boards are the toughest materials of all of them. Acacia’s hardness can range relying on the place it was grown, and whereas we choose maple, our budget pick is constituted of acacia. 

They’re Usually Made Finish-Grain Fashion, Which Is Simpler on Knives

Most cheap chopping boards are constituted of edge-grain wooden, that means the boards are aligned lengthwise earlier than assembling. It’s a less expensive building technique as a result of there are fewer items to assemble. 

Finish-grain boards, which make up three of our 4 prime picks, expose the ends of the boards on the chopping floor in a brick-like sample. As a result of there are such a lot of extra wooden items concerned within the building course of, it takes much more time and precision to assemble. This type of board can be gentler in your knives as a result of the wooden fibers are oriented vertically, permitting the knife’s edge to go between them. You’ll be able to learn extra in regards to the two varieties of board building in our review. 

Excessive-Finish Chopping Boards Final Longer

Properly-made chopping boards last more than cheaper ones, and our senior culinary editor Daniel Gritzer has been utilizing his Maple End Grain Boardsmith board for greater than six years. As a result of end-grain boards have a pure self-healing high quality, he reviews that there isn’t any seen deterioration within the floor high quality, despite the fact that the board has gone by some durations of neglect.

So whereas our favourite chopping boards may be dear, they’re much less more likely to break up, not like the cheaper ones Daniel ordered for the Critical Eats kitchen that failed solely after a number of months. 

Thicker Boards Keep True 

The thicker the chopping board, the more true it’ll keep—thinner chopping boards are at a better danger of warping as a result of there’s simply much less materials to carry them straight. And the extra materials you utilize—you guessed it—the dearer the chopping board turns into. Our picks from The Boardsmith and Brooklyn Butcher Blocks are each two inches thick, whereas our Ironwood Gorumet funds decide is barely one-and-a-quarter inches thick. It could be lower than half the associated fee, nevertheless it’s nearly half as thick and might be extra more likely to warp if it absorbs an excessive amount of water. 

Customization

Each The Boardsmith and Brooklyn Butcher Blocks provide numerous ranges of customization, like including a juice groove, toes, or handles. It’s an effective way so as to add a private contact to an even bigger funding: in case you’re going to have certainly one of these chopping boards for a very long time, you may as nicely make it your individual. Our updates editor Jacob Dean custom-made his end-grain board to be at the very least two inches thick and custom-sized to his countertop, with beveled edges that make it simpler to select up. 

Since cheaper boards are made in bulk, most of these customizations aren’t attainable. Our budget pick comes with toes connected, which we’re torn on: whereas rubber toes can stop skidding, additionally they render one facet of the board unusable as a chopping floor. With a {custom} order, you may make the selection on whether or not you need toes or not, which may double the workspace your chopping board presents. 

So, Are Costly Wooden Chopping Boards Value It?  

We predict so! Our prime picks from The Boardsmith and Brooklyn Butcher Blocks are constituted of high-end wooden, and so they’re gentler in your knives and last more than many lower-cost choices. In the event you do have a tough time with their value level, nevertheless, we additionally advocate this acacia choice from Ironwood Gourmet. It received’t be as much as the standard of our prime picks, nevertheless it’ll nonetheless carry out fairly nicely. 

FAQs

What’s the greatest hardwood for a chopping board?

The most effective hardwoods for chopping boards are maple, walnut, and cherry. All three have barely totally different properties, however they’re all sturdy sufficient to forestall kitchen knives from making deep cuts whereas nonetheless being smooth sufficient to be mild on a knife’s edge. 

Can I reduce uncooked meat on a wood chopping board?

When you can reduce uncooked meat on a wood chopping board, it’s more durable to sanitize and clear than a plastic chopping board. On the similar time, older plastic chopping boards can have deep grooves that accumulate micro organism and are more durable to wash, so make sure to throw out any chopping board when you begin to see deeper knife marks displaying up on its floor.

Do you have to seal a hardwood chopping board?

Sure—hardwood remains to be porous, and an unseasoned chopping board dangers swelling, cracking, and warping if it isn’t correctly sealed with mineral oil. We’ve a information to point out you the way to carry out regular seasoning, and we advocate reasoning your chopping board everytime you discover drops of water are not beading on the floor. 

Why do folks choose wood chopping boards?

{Most professional} kitchens use an array of plastic chopping boards as a result of they’re simpler to wash (and so they’re cheaper, which issues if you want one board for every prep station), however at residence, many cooks {and professional} cooks choose wooden. Wood chopping boards are versatile and so they’re simpler on knives. If somebody has a group of high-end knives that they’d like to guard, a wood chopping board is your best option. Additionally they are available in a wide range of configurations and dimensions, and high-end wood chopping boards might be custom-made to the consumer’s liking.