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I've been using bamboo cutting boards for years now. They're cheap (Ikea has them for like 10 bucks), durable, easy to maintain (it's not end grain, no need to

I've been using bamboo cutting boards for years now. They're cheap (Ikea has them for like 10 bucks), durable, easy to maintain (it's not end grain, no need to oil them or whatever, and you can wash them properly in water, they won't split). One cool thing about wooden cutting boards is that they are somewhat self-healing. Wood swells with water so small incisions can close by themselves.

latchkey 3y ago
Bound together, so you're eating bamboo and whatever they use for the bonding.
- sublinear 3y ago
  Yes, now imagine what you're breathing by just being anywhere on planet earth!
- Cthulhu_ 3y ago
  Apparently they use urea-formaldehyde glue to do so (source: a cursory google, take it with a grain of salt); I'm sure the bamboo is fine, dunno about the glue or whether it breaks down safely over time.
arp242 3y ago
I really like the Lämplig one, as it's properly sized instead of the small 10×20cm things that some people seem to use; having space to work is just so nice. And at €15 it's the same price or cheaper than most of those plastic ones (when I first got it I believe I paid €10 for it, or maybe even less, and I couldn't believe how cheap it was). > One cool thing about wooden cutting boards is that they are somewhat self-healing. Wood swells with water so small incisions can close by themselves. I believe it's also more hygienic, because with plastic cutting boards the bacteria stay on the surface, whereas in wooden ones they're "absorbed" by the wood (or something along those lines, I'm too lazy to find a reference).
- robocat 3y ago
  > hygienic I always presumed wood becomes a spongy high-surface area surface filled with food - a bacterial heaven - especially cracks! There is a definite funk to wooden boards. However, there are claims that wood is more healthy! Maybe some truth to the myths? Plastic boards get a proper clean if the water is hot enough? They also dry completely - wooden boards stay wet for far longer. I don't think I've noticed plastic boards ever getting a bacterial funk smell. Then again I don't cook heaps so...
  - rpgwaiter 3y ago
    Do you hang your cutting boards up to dry? My most used wood board is technically for pizza but it has a handle and dries very fast when hung up. I do live in a rather dry area though
  - arp242 3y ago
    I can't say I ever noticed a "bacterial funk smell" on wooden boards. According to e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113021/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113021/ "Bacteria inoculated onto Plastic blocks were readily recovered for minutes to hours and would multiply if held overnight. Recoveries from wooden blocks were generally less than those from plastic blocks" Now, I wouldn't put too much stock in a single study like this, as it only tests a single bacteria under a limited set of conditions for starters, and when cleaned thoroughly it probably doesn't make too much difference. But in reality people are lazy, in a hurry, etc. and don't necessarily clean and scrub properly. Either way, I certainly wouldn't just assume plastic boards are more sanitary (ignoring the microplastic issue).
askvictor 3y ago
Bamboo is very hard, so while durable, blunts your knives faster than wood. Or so I've heard.
- arp242 3y ago
  Maybe this is an issue for professional use, but for normal home use you're using a knife for what, maybe 5 to 10 minutes a day on average? I'd be surprised if it makes a noticeable difference, especially if you're otherwise taking care if your knife: get a sharpening steel and use once on every side of the knife after use and for normal "home use" this will keep even cheap knifes more than sharp enough for most people.
  - askvictor 3y ago
    Probably just means you need to sharpen it more often. As I understand it, a steel doesn't sharpen the knife, but aligns the edge - in normal use, the edge folds over; steeling makes it straight again, and should be done before using the knife. It takes a _lot_ of effort with a steel to put an edge on a knife where it's worn away.
- lbourdages 3y ago
  That's possible. I have a Minosharp sharpener which I use frequently so I don't see it as a real problem. My knives are still sharp enough to shave hair!
Angostura 3y ago
All we now is a few studies on the effects of bamboo microfilaments on the human gut
Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Downside of bonded wooden cutting boards is that they're not dishwasher safe. I've been using one made out of a pressed material, dunno what it is, but when wet some of the material can rub off as fibers that remind me of paper / cardboard, and that one's dishwasher safe.

latchkey 3y ago

Bound together, so you're eating bamboo and whatever they use for the bonding.

sublinear 3y ago
Yes, now imagine what you're breathing by just being anywhere on planet earth!
Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Apparently they use urea-formaldehyde glue to do so (source: a cursory google, take it with a grain of salt); I'm sure the bamboo is fine, dunno about the glue or whether it breaks down safely over time.

arp242 3y ago

I really like the Lämplig one, as it's properly sized instead of the small 10×20cm things that some people seem to use; having space to work is just so nice. And at €15 it's the same price or cheaper than most of those plastic ones (when I first got it I believe I paid €10 for it, or maybe even less, and I couldn't believe how cheap it was). > One cool thing about wooden cutting boards is that they are somewhat self-healing. Wood swells with water so small incisions can close by themselves. I believe it's also more hygienic, because with plastic cutting boards the bacteria stay on the surface, whereas in wooden ones they're "absorbed" by the wood (or something along those lines, I'm too lazy to find a reference).

robocat 3y ago
> hygienic I always presumed wood becomes a spongy high-surface area surface filled with food - a bacterial heaven - especially cracks! There is a definite funk to wooden boards. However, there are claims that wood is more healthy! Maybe some truth to the myths? Plastic boards get a proper clean if the water is hot enough? They also dry completely - wooden boards stay wet for far longer. I don't think I've noticed plastic boards ever getting a bacterial funk smell. Then again I don't cook heaps so...
- rpgwaiter 3y ago
  Do you hang your cutting boards up to dry? My most used wood board is technically for pizza but it has a handle and dries very fast when hung up. I do live in a rather dry area though
- arp242 3y ago
  I can't say I ever noticed a "bacterial funk smell" on wooden boards. According to e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113021/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113021/ "Bacteria inoculated onto Plastic blocks were readily recovered for minutes to hours and would multiply if held overnight. Recoveries from wooden blocks were generally less than those from plastic blocks" Now, I wouldn't put too much stock in a single study like this, as it only tests a single bacteria under a limited set of conditions for starters, and when cleaned thoroughly it probably doesn't make too much difference. But in reality people are lazy, in a hurry, etc. and don't necessarily clean and scrub properly. Either way, I certainly wouldn't just assume plastic boards are more sanitary (ignoring the microplastic issue).

askvictor 3y ago

Bamboo is very hard, so while durable, blunts your knives faster than wood. Or so I've heard.

arp242 3y ago
Maybe this is an issue for professional use, but for normal home use you're using a knife for what, maybe 5 to 10 minutes a day on average? I'd be surprised if it makes a noticeable difference, especially if you're otherwise taking care if your knife: get a sharpening steel and use once on every side of the knife after use and for normal "home use" this will keep even cheap knifes more than sharp enough for most people.
- askvictor 3y ago
  Probably just means you need to sharpen it more often. As I understand it, a steel doesn't sharpen the knife, but aligns the edge - in normal use, the edge folds over; steeling makes it straight again, and should be done before using the knife. It takes a _lot_ of effort with a steel to put an edge on a knife where it's worn away.
lbourdages 3y ago
That's possible. I have a Minosharp sharpener which I use frequently so I don't see it as a real problem. My knives are still sharp enough to shave hair!

Angostura 3y ago

All we now is a few studies on the effects of bamboo microfilaments on the human gut

Cthulhu_ 3y ago

Downside of bonded wooden cutting boards is that they're not dishwasher safe. I've been using one made out of a pressed material, dunno what it is, but when wet some of the material can rub off as fibers that remind me of paper / cardboard, and that one's dishwasher safe.