Published article
Food Art 34
Cutting Boards
There’s a cutting board in every kitchen, or should be. Holding fruit in your hand to peel it is OK. Holding fruit or anything else in your hand to cut it, is not OK, ever.
What to look for in a good cutting board? First and foremost is knife friendliness, most popular boards meet that standard with the outrageous exception of titanium cutting boards. Second, comes food safety and hygiene. Commercial kitchen favor color-coded polyethylene (HDPE) boards and/or rubber boards, best for heavy use and messy tasks. Far more esthetic and pricier, are end-grain maple wood boards and charred boards. Third criteria, is weight and stability. Good boards don’t slide. Others should rest on a wetted towel. Finally, size, at least 12 inches.
That leaves us with some favorites: Wood-laminated cutting boards by, John Boos (pictured below), and by Boardsmith. are the gold standard for home kitchens. They meet every criterion for serious cutting and butchering. They’re beautiful, durable, big or small, heavy. and expensive. But a must-have splurge, if you’re buying. Also shown is a quite heavy Japanese wooden board, charred black by some ancient process called yakisugi, marketed by Artsn, an Australian company. I really like it, so far. The board at the top, by Epicurean, is a paper-composite board, less popular today, but still great for salad building, sandwich construction, and as a serving board.
So, for price and function go polyethylene or rubber. For quality, class and bragging rights go
John Boos, Boardsmith, or Artsn.
