Food safe finish for cutting board

[Prashun Patel]

I've been making a few end grain cutting boards recently. I've finished them with oil and wax, but I would like to pre-seal them with varnish. My instinct is that they'd benefit from a hard sealer, underneath the oil and wax. Does anyone else do this? Do you 'seal' with anything else? Is this just wrong thinking?

[sheldon pettit]

I've been making a few end grain cutting boards recently. I've finished them with oil and wax, but I would like to pre-seal them with varnish. My instinct is that they'd benefit from a hard sealer, underneath the oil and wax. Does anyone else do this? Do you 'seal' with anything else? Is this just wrong thinking?

Hey Prashun, instincts are a great thing to have and be aware of and listen to, ....... most of the time :)

First off i would have to ask if the "end grain" cutting boards are going to be used as normal for preparing meats/fish/poultry etc. ?

And then if so, what types of varnish, i will assume that the oil and wax are neutral as to normal methods and materials used mostly on such items.

The next: the type of wood, here again a normal wood like maple, or some exotic waxy oily types?

Lastly, [for now] are you using normal germ and bacteria, etc, cleaners and disinfectants and what are there base active ingredients?

[Prashun Patel]

Hi Sheldon!

This will be for prepping vegetables mainly. I still prefer to cut meat on plastic or synthetic material. Just my prejudice.

The wood is walnut.

I was just thinking polyurethane, thinned, as the varnish. For an endgrain cutting board, I was planning to just wash it mildly with soap and water, and perhaps rubbing with lemon and salt. That's what I've heard and what I've been counselling recipients to do. I'm afraid to use anything 'harsher'.

[Mel Fulks]

Several years back there was a lot of media coverage about wood cutting boards "safeness" compared to plastic. I think the government was involved. They said plastic was better then changed to wood. The cuts in plastic allow a place for germs while the wood dried out killing germs. If all that is true ,then the bare wood is better.

[sheldon pettit]

Hi Sheldon!

This will be for prepping vegetables mainly. I still prefer to cut meat on plastic or synthetic material. Just my prejudice.

The wood is walnut.

I was just thinking polyurethane, thinned, as the varnish. For an end-grain cutting board, I was planning to just wash it mildly with soap and water, and perhaps rubbing with lemon and salt. That's what I've heard and what I've been counselling recipients to do. I'm afraid to use anything 'harsher'.

LOL, well then i guess we're both prejudice, i prefer the same, much easier to really disinfect plastics etc than end grain or surface woods for sure :)

The only thing i can think of that you might want to consider is the normal swelling of the wood every time it's cleaned, which may be no problem at all if applied and wiped fairly quick to keep swelling and or wicking of the water into the grain. There are better products like nelsonite or resolute for such as your thinking, but i would not use them for food preparation finishes, on the other-hand a new one called shaft dip, another water-base wood stabilizer that soaks deep into the wood like the nelsonite. It's acrylic base so it will not contaminate any veggies or such, i would advise though than what is suggested for pool cue shafts since that's what there using it for, but still a 5-10 min soak would be all that was necessary and renew as needed. only sold in gal for well..... you'll see :)

http://www.cuecomponents.com/shaftdip.html

[sheldon pettit]

Several years back there was a lot of media coverage about wood cutting boards "safeness" compared to plastic. I think the government was involved. They said plastic was better then changed to wood. The cuts in plastic allow a place for germs while the wood dried out killing germs. If all that is true ,then the bare wood is better.

Actually, i agree with that - bare wood is the safest and why butcher shops use nothing but disinfectants etc to clean with, let dry, and ready for next use. But if i wanted a safe end grain board finish i would still use an acrylic only because no matter how deep you cut into end-grain the disinfectant will also penetrate, at that point you have separated the coating anyway where you've cut, so nothings going to hide and scurry away form the disinfecting agents used, plus if used just for veggies, it no where as worry-some as to meats. Most people are normally washing there veggies anyway pretty darn clean before even cutting them to begin with and although of late there have been reports of bad veggies, that would not have to do with surface prepping them, only how they were grown,handled or treated before hand. But still, good advice otherwise. When dealing with government reports, you always have to think past what is being said and look at what your doing as to any comparison that might include your uses, in this case, i really don't see a problem.

[Ted Calver]

I use Watco Butcher Block Oil and Finish to pre-seal my end grain cutting boards. It's really thin and often penetrates from one side of the board to the other before I get a chance to turn it over. A mix of Mahoney's Utility Finish and Bees wax is the final finish. Been making them this way for three years and no problems yet.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_43860-90-000000000000241758_0__?Ntt=watco+butcher+block+oil +and+finish&UserSearch=watco+butcher+block+oil+and+finish&productId=3153369&rpp=16

[Howard Acheson]

If you apply an "on the surface film finish" like a varnish, you will effectively prevent any absorption of an oil and wax mixture. The following is the traditional treatment for a cutting board.

An excellent treatment for wooden food preparation surfaces like cutting boards and butcher blocks is a mixture of mineral oil and either paraffin or beeswax. This is what is used on many commercial wood surfaces. It will last longer and be more protective than just mineral oil. Mineral oil can be found in most supermarkets in the pharmacy section or in a true pharmacy. Paraffin is found in the canning section of the store or in a hardware store.

Heat the oil in a double boiler and shave in some wax. The exact proportions are not critical--a 5-6 parts of oil to one part of wax will work fine. Stir the mixture until all the wax is liquefied. Apply the mixture heavily and let it set 10-12 hours or overnight. Next day do it again and continue until the wood will no longer absorb the finish. Let it set for 10-12 hours and then lightly scrape off any excess. Then buff it with a rag.

Reapply whenever the wood begins to look dry.

Never put a wood board in the dishwasher and don't soak it in dishwater for long periods.

[Mike Monroe]

For cutting boards I finish with Mineral Oil. I finished a simple plywood cutting board I use for cleaning fish with BLO.

[Jeff Bartley]

+1 on what Howie said.......with one change: walnut oil. For cutting boards I use several coats of walnut oil followed by a coat of walnut oil beeswax blended as described by Howie. I mix at about a 40-60 wax to oil, when cooled it forms a paste that can be easily reapplied when the board looks dry. Mineral oil works too but it's petroleum based. Walnut oil is the only nut oil that will not become rancid over time. Prashun----let's see some pics of those boards!! Jeff

[Alan Lightstone]

I've been using the Mineral Oil / Beeswax mixture and it looks quite nice. So far, so good for longevity. I've been nuking the mixture to get the wax to dissolve. Takes a lot of nuking. The double boiler might be a lot easier.

[John TenEyck]

What Howard said is the best thing I've used for a cutting board you actually intend to cut on/into. After a few years, when the board shows significant wear I run it through the drum sander a few times to get a nice fresh surface, and then reapply the wax/mineral oil mix.

John

[Prashun Patel]

Here are the boards I made. Thanks for the advice. In the end, I did seal with poly and oil a couple times, then finished with oil and wax per Howard's post. Thanks, All.

The last three are cheese or salami serving boards I made from some scrap pieces.

[Craig Behnke]

Love the curly maple board....curl is such an eyegrabber for me.

I recently did an end grain block and several long grain bread/serving boards. I went with a 50/50 mix of salad bowl finish and mineral spirits (as per marc spagnuolo), 3 coats with 12 hrs wait in between, wipe on then let sit for 5-10 mins then wipe off excess, 0000 steel wool between coats, then after air cured for 10 days, rubbed on Clapham's bees wax salad bowl finish. After three coats, there's no gloss, just a nice satin sheen that has some good protection.

They look good IMO. I know there are much more sophisticated ways to finish, but it's relatively simple, holds up well, and I can have it turn out well (which is more than I can say for some other "techniques" that I have tried....still learning though).

A few months ago I did several boards with JUST Clapham's and they turned out really nicely. I sanded one to 600 grit and another I went nuts and sanded up to 12000 to get a mirror-like sheen. IMO, after a few weeks of use, the 600 grit looks just as good as the 12000 surface and it takes much less time.