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You Need a Big Cutting Board :-)

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
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What size cutting boards do you like (wood, rubber, plastic)
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The Mrs. and I are currently using 18in x 24in - 1/2in thick - (color-coded for different food groups) Plastic (HDPE) Cutting Boards (Commercial Grade FDA/NSF/USDA), and we replace these boards when they begin to 'snag' our dishcloths when we hand wash them. :thumbsup:

By Carey Polis - Basically - Bon Appétit - July 2017

Cutting Board.jpg

All your prep work, all in one place. You'll wonder why you ever used that tiny cutting board in the first place.

There are a lot of bad cutting boards out there. Glass? Throw that garbage out. Those "cool" ones in the shape of your home state? Hang it on the wall if you must, but don't bring it close to my kitchen.

If you only have space for one cutting board, make it a decent-sized one, like this one from OXO. (If you want to go fancy and get a wooden board, we like Boos). It sounds dramatic to say that it's changed my cooking life, but it's the truth.

A big cutting board allows me to prep a whole meal at once without having to throw various chopped ingredients in bowls to make space on the board. (You do realize you're going to have to wash all those little bowls later, right?) I can dice onions, smash garlic, chop carrots, and mince herbs all on the same surface, parking each prepped ingredient around the perimeter before moving on to the next task.

Cutting Board - 1.jpg

Who has time to wash all those bowls?! Not me. Not you. Not nobody.

I don't have to clutter my counter with bowls of chopped celery and torn basil anymore. They just stay on the cutting board [not really 'mise en plas']. Look, I'm not swimming in counter space here—the big cutting board pretty much takes up everything I've got. But it's worth it, even if cleaning it is a pain in the *** because it doesn't really fit all the way into the sink. (Again: less of a pain in the *** than washing eight little bowls.)

Over the years, I've tried to convince my mother about a lot of various strong-held food opinions that I have. ([... and] please for the love of God stop using small knives and dust off the nice chef's knife you have instead). And while most of my pleas have fallen on deaf ears [...]...except for one thing: She just traded all of her tiny cutting boards for a big, handsome one. [Maybe] Mom knows best, after all.

Work Cited: Big Cutting Board

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"Better a good [cutting board] than a over priced knife". French Culinary Proverb
 
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Wood, 24" round, about 2" thick, all end grain. I use it for everything. Not as hygienic as some, would probably be more efficient as a rectangle, but there you go.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
I got my wife the last B&B LE cutting board- she has yet to use it. She wants to re-do the kitchen before she starts using a nice board. I need to work on her some more.
 
I have 5 boards. All at least 12 x 18 inches. 4 are plastic (don't know exact type) and are dishwasher safe. I use those for various raw meats and they always get cleaned in the dishwasher. The 5th is a wood board (also my favorite) that I use for ready to eat foods.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
I just went back and found it (5 years- time flies). I stole the picture from the original post. It is 12X20, and even more beautiful in person.

b_b_board2.jpg
 
I've got 3 of plastic ones (middle one was in the dishwasher at the time of the photo), and a bamboo board.
The plastic ones get used the most for lying meat on when seasoning.

The bamboo board (15X21 inches) and my 8 inch Whusthof are what I use the most for cutting.

DSC_0284.JPG

DSC_0285.JPG
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
I'll play devil's advocate here. Bigger is not necessarily better. When asked for an opinion, some people may ask how big your largest knife is or how much counter space you have. I'll ask how big your sink is. Cutting boards can be a gorgeous addition to your kitchen (think of a beautiful Boos or Boardsmith) but ultimately they're just another kitchen tool. Function trumps all, and one of the most important aspects of a cutting board is sanitation. If you want to get the smell (and god knows what else) of fish, onion, garlic, peppers and what not out of your board, you're going to have to scrub it regularly.

I like the heavy rubber boards from Teknor-Apex. You'll see them in every Chinese restaurant. They are practically indistinguishable from wood, can be sanded, scrubbed, bleached and manhandled for decades while being gentle on knives. I use the biggest one that fits in my sink.
 
GOPR0155_DxO.jpg


Homemade, clear pine, 15x22x2. Rubber feet placed to keep it in place over the sink, a slope due to the sink design runs the liquids off into the sink instead of the counter. Limited counter space led to this solution for larger cutting tasks, otherwise the 10 x 10 cheap HDPE cutting boards get the call.
 
I just went back and found it (5 years- time flies). I stole the picture from the original post. It is 12X20, and even more beautiful in person.

View attachment 808146
That is a terrible photo as my knife makes the board look small. I should have used a petty.
Thats a great sized board and don't forget gents if you get a board 2 inches or more thick you can store it on edge at the back of your counter so as not to take up valuable real estate.
If you want a knife friendly board and don't want an expensive end grain wood one,
the Sanituf hard rubber ones are super.
Very easy to sanitize and maintain.
 
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oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
That is a terrible photo as my knife makes the board look small. I should have used a petty.
Thats a great sized board and dont forget gents if you get a board 2 inches or more thick you can store it on edge at the nack of your counter so as not to take up valuable real estate.
If you want a knife friendly board and dont want an expensive end grsin wood one.
The Sanituf hard rubber ones are super.
Very easy to sanitize and maintain.

I thought that looked familiar. What a beautiful combination.
Yep, I picked that picture because of the knife- it looks great
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
The B&B is a great board. I've resurfaced a couple of times and it is still over 2" thick. It is oak so you have to be careful what you leave on it. Metal skewers, carbon steel knives, beer bottle caps will leave a black mark very quickly. That being said this is my every day board . . . got eons of room for resurfacing. I don't think end grain can be beat.

Sanituf is good too. It does stain just like wood. What you call patina on wood pretty much looks like a blotch on Sanituf. Good thing is you can sand down the Sanituf too.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
The B&B is a great board. I've resurfaced a couple of times and it is still over 2" thick. It is oak so you have to be careful what you leave on it. Metal skewers, carbon steel knives, beer bottle caps will leave a black mark very quickly. That being said this is my every day board . . . got eons of room for resurfacing. I don't think end grain can be beat.

Sanituf is good too. It does stain just like wood. What you call patina on wood pretty much looks like a blotch on Sanituf. Good thing is you can sand down the Sanituf too.
I think it was well worth the $120 plus shipping. Seeing that picture I swiped from Jim makes me want to get a proper knife to use on it.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
That is a very interesting comment. If you look back you can see some of the B&B group buys. Jon Brodia from Japanese Knife Imports and Dave Martell from D & R sharpening were key players . . . all organized by our Moderator Jim if I recall. There are miles and miles of threads about the basic knives you need with Moderator Ouch describing the great deal that can be had on Tojiro knives. (I hope I recall the brand correctly . . . I have a couple myself and they are very good value)

I think these would be great places to start looking.
 
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What size cutting boards do you like (wood, rubber, plastic)
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The Mrs. and I are currently using 18in x 24in - 1/2in thick - (color-coded for different food groups) Plastic (HDPE) Cutting Boards (Commercial Grade FDA/NSF/USDA), and we replace these boards when they begin to 'snag' our dishcloths when we hand wash them. :thumbsup:

By Carey Polis - Basically - Bon Appétit - July 2017

View attachment 808130

All your prep work, all in one place. You'll wonder why you ever used that tiny cutting board in the first place.

There are a lot of bad cutting boards out there. Glass? Throw that garbage out. Those "cool" ones in the shape of your home state? Hang it on the wall if you must, but don't bring it close to my kitchen.

If you only have space for one cutting board, make it a decent-sized one, like this one from OXO. (If you want to go fancy and get a wooden board, we like Boos). It sounds dramatic to say that it's changed my cooking life, but it's the truth.

A big cutting board allows me to prep a whole meal at once without having to throw various chopped ingredients in bowls to make space on the board. (You do realize you're going to have to wash all those little bowls later, right?) I can dice onions, smash garlic, chop carrots, and mince herbs all on the same surface, parking each prepped ingredient around the perimeter before moving on to the next task.

View attachment 808131
Who has time to wash all those bowls?! Not me. Not you. Not nobody.

I don't have to clutter my counter with bowls of chopped celery and torn basil anymore. They just stay on the cutting board [not really 'mise en plas']. Look, I'm not swimming in counter space here—the big cutting board pretty much takes up everything I've got. But it's worth it, even if cleaning it is a pain in the *** because it doesn't really fit all the way into the sink. (Again: less of a pain in the *** than washing eight little bowls.)

Over the years, I've tried to convince my mother about a lot of various strong-held food opinions that I have. ([... and] please for the love of God stop using small knives and dust off the nice chef's knife you have instead). And while most of my pleas have fallen on deaf ears [...]...except for one thing: She just traded all of her tiny cutting boards for a big, handsome one. [Maybe] Mom knows best, after all.

Work Cited: Big Cutting Board

proxy.php
"Better a good [cutting board] than a over priced knife". French Culinary Proverb


I use paper coffee filters for prep bowls. No cleaning.

Have three cutting boards, small, medium, large. The small gets used 75% of the time.

I cook 7 days a week.
 
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