Wooden Chopping Boards
Wooden chopping boards are a very traditional kitchen accessory, providing a solid and sturdy surface for chopping, slicing, and other methods of food preperation.
Unfortunately, during the 1990s many experts declared that they were unhygenic, and they fell out of fashion in favour of plastic and marble surfaces.
More recently, however, opinion has turned and wooden boards are once again seen as being both the most hygenic and most effective type. Why is this?
On the hygene front, a plastic board will become scarred and marked with knife cuts over time, and these gouges in the surface are an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, even after being thoroughly cleaned.
Wooden chopping boards will also be damaged over time, but as wood is a porous material any bacteria left after washing will tend to be drawn into the wood and out of harms way, dying within a few hours.
Wood also has the edge over marble in terms of hygiene according to laboratory tests, but the main drawback with marble is the damage it's hard surface causes to expensively sharpened knives. The shiny surface also increases the dangers of your knife 'skidding' while chopping, potentially causing injury.
Caring for a Wooden Chopping Board
Wooden boards do have a drawback though - unlike plastic boards they aren't suitable for dishwashers, and if they're left to soak they can easily become warped and split. If you keep your board in good condition though, cleaning is easy with a wipe or two with a hot wet cloth.
To keep your board in top condition, it needs to be regularly oiled to help keep the surface smooth. Although there are many expensive kitchen oils available said to be ideal for the job, any flavourless edible oil will be fine - and it won't come much cheaper than a bottle of vegetable oil!
