5 ms·

End grain boards, while they may look nice, don't seem to be a good idea: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QdXvBtN3iE&t=4m44s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

End grain boards, while they may look nice, don't seem to be a good idea: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QdXvBtN3iE&t=4m44s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QdXvBtN3iE&t=4m44s Go with edge grain. Also: lean towards teak wood. It has a resin that naturally repels moisture (it's why it was used on boats for so long (until man-made material became popular)). There are also pros and cons to using wood versus plastic: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GETfxYaBj3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GETfxYaBj3w (Sanitation seems to be a non-issue, though if you have a dish washer, plastic may be more convenient.)

whycome 2y ago
Do all these boards use glue to hold the different types of wood together?
- dfc 2y ago
  I have never seen a cutting board that did not use glue for the lamination.
- dekhn 2y ago
  Yes, commonly used Titebond II and III are both food-safe.
e28eta 2y ago
Cutting Board Designer in Strips mode with “flip alternating rows” turned off works acceptably for designing edge grain, although the material estimations are off. So I guess all I use it for is visualizing different strip widths and overall size
duped 2y ago
While teak is an awesome material it's also one of those hardwoods that's hard to source ethically (if you care about it). It's not as bad as the endangered hardwoods that are borderline impossible to source outside of personally salvaging it, but it's not great.
- throw0101b 2y ago
  > While teak is an awesome material it's also one of those hardwoods that's hard to source ethically (if you care about it). The recommended wood-based product is from Teakhuas, who have a bunch of information on their sourcing: * https://teakhaus.com/blogs/why-teakhaus/tagged/certifications https://teakhaus.com/blogs/why-teakhaus/tagged/certification...
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
davexunit 2y ago
America's Test Kitchen is wrong. End grain is way better. They wear better as you aren't cross cutting the fibers of the wood. Sure they absorb more oil... So? I have both end grain and edge grain cutting boards.
- bsder 2y ago
  The point is that the edge grain cutting board absorbs less liquid, period. You'd like your board to not absorb blood from meat too much while you are cutting it. As for strength and hardness, for the vast majority of people the difference will be negligible thanks to modern glues. Maybe you'll notice that your knives won't dull as fast with edge grain over end grain. About the only people it would really matter for are if you need an actual butcher block which is going to be used for chopping continuously for 8 hours every day (do they even use them in commercial facilities still?). However, a genuine butcher block is a very different beast. If you find one it looks like it is made up of a hardwood (like maple) in 1x4ish lumber about 6 to 12 inches long. The rows are dovetailed in one direction and generally held together by a threaded rod in the other since hide glues sucked. In my experience, modern edge gain boards are a marketing optimization to hide crappy wood. You can use smaller wood chunks and use a lot more glue.
- throw0101b 2y ago
  > America's Test Kitchen is wrong. End grain is way better. ATK is basically a commercial kitchen that does a lot of volume with dozens of chefs/cooks. They've been recommending edge grain for at least a decade: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiCNB0fId0U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiCNB0fId0U I'm going to lean towards trusting their review process—that probably wails on these boards more than I ever will—more than anecdata. > They wear better as you aren't cross cutting the fibers of the wood. They did wear-testing with the help of Autodesk and a robotic arm (see 3m14s) that went at the boards thousands of times. This is in addition to the daily use they probably get at ATK. If there is a wearing difference is, I doubt I'll hit volumes high enough for it to matter as a home cook.
  - jimnotgym 2y ago
    Take a look at the block a butcher uses? They cut a lot more cutting than any chef... and they are end grain
jimnotgym 2y ago
Yet butcher blocks used end grain for centuries!

whycome 2y ago

Do all these boards use glue to hold the different types of wood together?

dfc 2y ago
I have never seen a cutting board that did not use glue for the lamination.
dekhn 2y ago
Yes, commonly used Titebond II and III are both food-safe.

e28eta 2y ago

Cutting Board Designer in Strips mode with “flip alternating rows” turned off works acceptably for designing edge grain, although the material estimations are off. So I guess all I use it for is visualizing different strip widths and overall size

duped 2y ago

While teak is an awesome material it's also one of those hardwoods that's hard to source ethically (if you care about it). It's not as bad as the endangered hardwoods that are borderline impossible to source outside of personally salvaging it, but it's not great.

throw0101b 2y ago
> While teak is an awesome material it's also one of those hardwoods that's hard to source ethically (if you care about it). The recommended wood-based product is from Teakhuas, who have a bunch of information on their sourcing: * https://teakhaus.com/blogs/why-teakhaus/tagged/certifications https://teakhaus.com/blogs/why-teakhaus/tagged/certification...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

davexunit 2y ago

America's Test Kitchen is wrong. End grain is way better. They wear better as you aren't cross cutting the fibers of the wood. Sure they absorb more oil... So? I have both end grain and edge grain cutting boards.

bsder 2y ago
The point is that the edge grain cutting board absorbs less liquid, period. You'd like your board to not absorb blood from meat too much while you are cutting it. As for strength and hardness, for the vast majority of people the difference will be negligible thanks to modern glues. Maybe you'll notice that your knives won't dull as fast with edge grain over end grain. About the only people it would really matter for are if you need an actual butcher block which is going to be used for chopping continuously for 8 hours every day (do they even use them in commercial facilities still?). However, a genuine butcher block is a very different beast. If you find one it looks like it is made up of a hardwood (like maple) in 1x4ish lumber about 6 to 12 inches long. The rows are dovetailed in one direction and generally held together by a threaded rod in the other since hide glues sucked. In my experience, modern edge gain boards are a marketing optimization to hide crappy wood. You can use smaller wood chunks and use a lot more glue.
throw0101b 2y ago
> America's Test Kitchen is wrong. End grain is way better. ATK is basically a commercial kitchen that does a lot of volume with dozens of chefs/cooks. They've been recommending edge grain for at least a decade: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiCNB0fId0U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiCNB0fId0U I'm going to lean towards trusting their review process—that probably wails on these boards more than I ever will—more than anecdata. > They wear better as you aren't cross cutting the fibers of the wood. They did wear-testing with the help of Autodesk and a robotic arm (see 3m14s) that went at the boards thousands of times. This is in addition to the daily use they probably get at ATK. If there is a wearing difference is, I doubt I'll hit volumes high enough for it to matter as a home cook.
- jimnotgym 2y ago
  Take a look at the block a butcher uses? They cut a lot more cutting than any chef... and they are end grain

jimnotgym 2y ago

Yet butcher blocks used end grain for centuries!