Do Wooden Chopping Boards Have a Place in Today"s Kitchens?
We may see wooden chopping boards on T.
V showing the ideal family at home but why doesn't the modern kitchen use them? Obviously a restaurant's kitchen has strict health and safety rules so why don't these rules apply for the home kitchen? Well despite the general concern about bacteria with wooden chopping boards don't throw them away quite yet! The media have painted quite a horrid picture for wooden chopping boards saying that it's many scores are the perfect breeding place for harmful bacteria.
As with many over-hyped "issues" in the media there are two sides to the story and they're only telling one to get those all important sales of their tabloid.
Wooden cutting boards are dangerous when you have knife sized gashes in them; they shouldn't be placed in the dishwasher (more about that later) and a bad clean job can mean a big load of raw chicken nastiness is ever breeding till the next time you use the board.
But wait, who in this day of age would make such big scores in a chopping board? A hundred years ago you may have to hack off a lump of meat of one of your backyard pigs with an almighty clever knife but now you'd just use a neat little sharp knife to cut your pre-skinned chicken breast! Funnily enough the wood in a chopping board expands when it's sliced and will close the open gash and you can make sure of this if you buy a quality board made of compact wood or grass types such as bamboo.
So yes I strongly believe wooden cutting boards DO have a place in today's kitchens and let's face it they're way more sexy than a student-type plastic one which has been stained by one too many chili accidents.
Make sure you NEVER dishwasher a wooden chopping board; it may look like a good idea but it starts of a biological time-bomb.
Wooden cutting surfaces are protected with a layer of a type of lamination and extreme temperatures could easily remove this protective layer exposing the bare wood below.
With this layer removed you'll quickly notice that the entire board will start splintering and chipping away making your salad a little bit "woody" tasting.
More importantly scoring will be easier and you'll soon end up with slices and gashes all over the board making it impossible to clean fully over time.
If you've done this already then throw your board away and get yourself a shiny new one and perhaps a plastic one too if you're really lazy when washing dishes!
V showing the ideal family at home but why doesn't the modern kitchen use them? Obviously a restaurant's kitchen has strict health and safety rules so why don't these rules apply for the home kitchen? Well despite the general concern about bacteria with wooden chopping boards don't throw them away quite yet! The media have painted quite a horrid picture for wooden chopping boards saying that it's many scores are the perfect breeding place for harmful bacteria.
As with many over-hyped "issues" in the media there are two sides to the story and they're only telling one to get those all important sales of their tabloid.
Wooden cutting boards are dangerous when you have knife sized gashes in them; they shouldn't be placed in the dishwasher (more about that later) and a bad clean job can mean a big load of raw chicken nastiness is ever breeding till the next time you use the board.
But wait, who in this day of age would make such big scores in a chopping board? A hundred years ago you may have to hack off a lump of meat of one of your backyard pigs with an almighty clever knife but now you'd just use a neat little sharp knife to cut your pre-skinned chicken breast! Funnily enough the wood in a chopping board expands when it's sliced and will close the open gash and you can make sure of this if you buy a quality board made of compact wood or grass types such as bamboo.
So yes I strongly believe wooden cutting boards DO have a place in today's kitchens and let's face it they're way more sexy than a student-type plastic one which has been stained by one too many chili accidents.
Make sure you NEVER dishwasher a wooden chopping board; it may look like a good idea but it starts of a biological time-bomb.
Wooden cutting surfaces are protected with a layer of a type of lamination and extreme temperatures could easily remove this protective layer exposing the bare wood below.
With this layer removed you'll quickly notice that the entire board will start splintering and chipping away making your salad a little bit "woody" tasting.
More importantly scoring will be easier and you'll soon end up with slices and gashes all over the board making it impossible to clean fully over time.
If you've done this already then throw your board away and get yourself a shiny new one and perhaps a plastic one too if you're really lazy when washing dishes!