Choosing and caring for your chopping board

Caulfield Country Boards from €15.50, in native Irish woods, deliver a range of boards including sustainable choices made up of beautiful offcuts made up into striped end-cut boards. caulfieldcountryboards.ie.

Timber boards are a kitchen classic that will show the slings and arrows of wear within a few months of regular use. Still, unlike cheap, practical plastic, they are sanded back and oiled to return them to safe, working perfection. You might be forgiven for thinking that the hardness of the wood marks out the durability and quality of a great, cutting board. The truth is more complex and tied to the way its constructed and the skill of the maker. Wood boards should actually yield and scar under the knife. This allows the blade to get some purchase as it slides down to the surface. So which boards and woods could last as long as a decade?

There is a range of timber species, all with subtle material and aesthetic differences, delivering versatile boards useful and beautiful enough to leave out on show. The harder and denser the wood (for instance maple), the more resistant it will be to light, surface cuts. Softer woods like walnut will give under the keen pressure of a blade, but will guard against damage to your precious (and expensive) tools. Olive wood with its light and dark bands, is very dense making it highly resistant to odours and stains — great for cutting garlic. Some sustainable and inexpensive species, including bamboo, are just too tough on a pricey knife for real foodies — diamond hard and slippery. Look into other wood types including paulownia, favoured by the Japanese, a softer wood in the hardwood category.

A single piece of wood made into a board comes from a tree big and old enough to deliver it, and these boards can be extraordinarily lovely. Some feature a live or wavy (bark) edge or resin inclusions. Boards can be “banded” together out of several staves in similar hardness of wood. This means if the timber swells or shrinks, it does it at the same rate, and won’t just spring apart into component parts. Next comes the way the board is constructed, and the choice comes down to edge-grain and end-grain.

Edge-grain boards are easier to make than end-grain boards and therefore are more affordable. In edge-grain, the grain runs across the board in a one-piece, or as a staved (multi-piece) board. With lovely figuring from a plank — edge-grain can be highly attractive, showing off the characteristics of the tree species in pale and darker colours.

Cutting across the grain as you work, your edge-board will show wear relatively quickly depending on the wood type, but they are easier to keep clean than end-grain boards in general. If you’re looking for a serving board, an edge-grain board with a live edge in a native Irish wood is a stunner.

In more expensive, end-grain boards, the fibres with their growth patterns and pore patterns are bundled and face upward. Cut across the fibre, the beauty of end-grain boards is legendary. The choice of professional chefs, precious about their knives and cleavers, end-grain boards usually come in chequered patterns with blocks of wood glued together for stability — choose one harmonising colour if you find the pattern too fussy for your kitchen.

As you work on an end-grain board, the dense, open-cell fibre bundles are hit end on and separate (to some degree — you won’t wallop them all apart). Some makers claim, these packets of fibres then magically close back up, “healing” the board.

End-grain has a soft feel, giving it a good grip under a knife. If you thwack it viciously a large knife it is more likely to deliver a ding or slice that could turn into a crack than edge-grain varieties. They show slightly less apparent damage than edge-grain boards, but self-healing or not, all boards should be thoroughly sanitised after use. Wood is absorbent — no matter how the board is constructed.

Choosing an individual board from a selection, take your time. Ash, beech, walnut or cherry — we want a tight finish, without cracks or depressions, and a fine hard wood without obvious flaws. Any place water and moisture can ingress will take the board apart over time.

Choose the best board you can afford in a suitable depth to make it structurally stable through pounding, slicing and thousands of hot hand-washes. Depending on the intended use for the board — 6mm to 50mm depths will offer a range of choices for everything from dicing a few herbs to carving up the Sunday joint. For kitchen-to-table use, a paddle handle is a useful outline, and boards with a rim reservoir will take some of the meat juices off your working area as you carve.

We all know that marble and glass boards, though sleek to the eye and widely available, will dull your good knives over time. Reserve them for rolling out pastry, presenting cheeses or making up table-scapes rather than prep or carving.

There’s a strong argument for having a relatively light everyday board in the kitchen, that you can pull out with one greasy hand. Add a plastic fantastic variety too as a practical compliment for quick jobs that you can sling in the dishwasher without worry.

Large, heavier wood boards not only take some lugging about, but require more room to store. Consider a dedicated “library” of boards framed up inside a slender cabinet at knee or waist height. The added weight of a thick board (often termed a butcher-block), allows it sit down heavily, making it extremely stable as you muscle it around — acting as a counter in itself. Ensure the board is not warped in any direction, and not smiling up at the edges when placed on a true, flat surface.

In terms of hygiene, wood scars with every use, and needs to be carefully washed after dealing with foodstuffs like chicken, as greasy residue can lodge in the fibres of the board and be carried forward to the next preparation.

End-grain boards are more absorbent than edge-grain boards, requiring more cleaning after use. The jury is out on the anecdotal evidence that wood sanitises itself, with strong anti-bacterial elements within oily wood. A hot soapy hand-wash is vital after cleaving meat in particular, and raw meat is best kept to one dedicated board.

Never ever, put your wood chopping board in the dishwasher, or leave it to soak in hot water. This opens up the fibres, leaving a furry surface and destroying the natural beauty of the piece. A slender board may swell, warp or crack, making it practically useless. Brush the board down under running warm water to remove loose debris or immerse it, end on in a little warm soapy water. Rub with the grain using a soft plastic brush and then rinse thoroughly.

To give the board a deep clean, following the soapy wash, rub over with a handful of coarse salt, moistened with lemon juice. Rinse to finish and blot the board dry. Let it air dry completely before storing away. Every few weeks, give your dry wood board a light oiling with food-grade mineral oil or beeswax to keep it both waterproofed, moisturised and beautiful. Regular oiling or waxing will enhance the depth of the colour and the lush rays and ribbons of grain, growth rings and spalting. These unique characteristics, mark out the life of the tree your board was born from.