Acceptable woods for cutting boards including exotics..

[David Ruhland]

I have scoured the net and own a copy of "make your own cutting boards" by David Picciuto (GREAT RESOURCE BTW) I would like to compile a list of acceptable woods for cutting boards, both face and end grain

My staples have always been:

Hard White Maple
Cherry
Purple Heart
Yellow Heart
Walnut

I am questioning the following:
Hickory- (have a lot of this)
Ash
Zebrawood
Paduk
Mahogany?? General or African Mahogany here?
Canary Wood
Lace Wood
Bloodwood

Really questioning this one:
White Oak?

I know my list is extensive, but in looking on the net at cutting board sites these are the woods I see boards made out of. Please feel free to add any of your faves as well

Any info you folks can share or references you can point me to is greatly appreciated!

Time to go shovel snow and then make sawdust...

[Bill Dufour]

I wonder if one of the 700+ eucalyptus species would work. I would think teak and ipe.
Bill D

[Andrew Hughes]

There’s only two woods cutting boards should be made from Hard Maple and Soft Maple.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Oak, ash and hickory should all be fine as far as I know. I have made cutting boards from ash and red oak, and I don't see why white oak shouldn't be suitable. Hickory would be good as it's very hard.
Zach

[David Ruhland]

I wonder if one of the 700+ eucalyptus species would work. I would think teak and ipe.
Bill D


This is Exactly what i am trying to compile... I want to take the "wonder" out of it...


Great responses so far... If some one could give me a simple Yes or no to the wood on my "wonder" list that would be awesome too!

Love this site!!!

[Gary Ragatz]

I'd add walnut to the list. I've made a few boards of walnut and hard maple, and have been pleased with the results.

I'd be shy of white oak, unless the board is just for "show," and not actual cutting - I think it would be too hard to keep clean/sanitary with the open grain. I definitely wouldn't use it in an end-grain board.

[David Ruhland]

I'd add walnut to the list. I've made a few boards of walnut and hard maple, and have been pleased with the results.



Thanks forgot all about Walnut... that is one of my " staples" although the price has really gone up in the past year...

[Zachary Hoyt]

We've had a red oak "cutting board" that is just a piece about 3/4" thick and 7x18" or so for over ten years now. We only use it to cut bread on, it's about the shape of a bread loaf and works nicely for that. I wouldn't cut anything wet or sloppy or any kind of meat on wood of any kind, even if it has closed grain, but that's just my personal view. I know plastic isn't nice, but it's cleanable for those things.
Zach

[Don Orr]

I personally would stick with domestic diffuse porous woods like maple, cherry, beech, birch, sycamore. Ring porous woods like ash, oak, hickory, etc. are more difficult to keep really clean. I do not use ANY exotic woods in any food contact situation. Too much risk of toxicity issues-especially Lacewood which is well known to be a highly allergenic material. I know many people will say they have never had a problem but to me it is just not worth the risk. We have such nice wood right here at home that few people have trouble with. And just so you know, white oak is much less porous than red oak and does not leak through the end grain. There have been studies done the actually show wood is MUCH more sanitary than plastic.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Don if these will be "working" cutting boards. If just decorative...use whatever you want and like.

[Bill Dufour]

DO they still consider wood to be more sanitary for home use then plastic.

[Jim Riseborough]

I have made one from Ash, Oak, Maple and Walnut, I have had it about 6 years, and still alive and well. I oil it about every 6 months.

[Lee Schierer]

I'd be shy of white oak, unless the board is just for "show," and not actual cutting - I think it would be too hard to keep clean/sanitary with the open grain. I definitely wouldn't use it in an end-grain board.

I believe you are referring to Red Oak which has open pores. White Oak does not.

[David Ruhland]

I personally would stick with domestic diffuse porous woods like maple, cherry, beech, birch, sycamore. Ring porous woods like ash, oak, hickory, etc. are more difficult to keep really clean.

Don just to clarify...are you saying that ash, oak and hickory are acceptable, though harder to clean?

[Michelle Rich]

oaks are ok for side grain boards, but not for end grain boards. Check your woods..are they over 950 on the Janka scale? if so they are ok for boards unless you find they are toxic for one reason or another.

[Jon Endres]

My favorite wood for cutting boards is beech. Others I've used include cherry, walnut, purpleheart, hard maple and birch. There are others, such as teak, reputed to be 'safe'. As others have said, the ring-porous woods like oak, ash and hickory are OK but less desirable for end-grain use as they tend to be more absorbent. Also - oak cutting boards and carbon-steel knives are NOT compatible. Especially when damp, the knives will leave black stains on oak and the oak will help to rust and discolor the knives. I find it not worth the risk. Softwoods are just not worth the effort.

Keeping in mind this is my experience with boards designed to actually be used as a cutting or chopping surface. For show (i.e. display, or a cheeseboard or something), anything not poisonous is probably OK.

[Bob Falk]

Yes, there was a study done at the University of Wisconsin Food Sciences Dept about 20 years ago that showed that after exposure to food borne bacteria wood cutting boards had significantly lower bacteria counts than plastic cutting boards. The natural toxins (often refereed to as extractives) in wood kill bacteria, while the plastic does nothing to counter the bacteria. In fact, knife nicks in plastic tend to harbor bacteria and washes with a bleach solution couldn't kill it all as the solution couldn't get into the tightest spaces of the nick.
So, at our home, we always use wood for chicken and other foods that potentially have potential to carry bacteria.

[Mike Cutler]

David

The question is what are these cutting boards for? Is this to become a business, or to make gifts for friends and family?

Believe it or not, there are actually federal regulations that cover cutting boards in excruciating detail for use in the food service industry. I think 10CFR 17 and 21 are places to start. The FDA also has some exhaustive paper on the subject. Not all cutting boards are equal either. There are boards for meats, vegetables, fish, poultry, pastry, Kosher, etc. All are covered.
To answer the question of which is more sanitary, HDPE/LDPE or wood, it is wood. Federal Regs and the FDA sites will bear this out. Bacteria is 90%+ water. Wood absorbs the water and the bacteria dies naturally. HDPE/LDPE does not absorb water and needs to be cleaned and sanitized.

[David Ruhland]

David

The question is what are these cutting boards for? Is this to become a business, or to make gifts for friends and family?


just some gifts for friends and family :-)

[Mike Cutler]

just some gifts for friends and family :-)

Then I would personally make them as attractive and unique as practical,then apply a food safe finish like General Finishes, Salad Bowl Finish.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've used many woods on mine. I just make sure to put on multiple coats of Mineral Oil / Beeswax mixture, and recoat them at regular intervals. I also firmly believe, and the federal regulations state this, that wood is safer than plastic. Mike showed that in great detail referencing the government regulations above.

I just make end grain for real use, and face grain for the real showy pieces. Everyone seems to like them and be impressed.

For wood choices, Walnut (especially Peruvian Walnut and Black Walnut for contrasting pieces), Beech, Paduak, Sapele, Birch, Holly, Maple for sure (very commonly used in commercial cutting boards), even used teak once (Cooks Illustrated in their tests preferred Teak, although it was Mexican Teak (what the heck is "Mexican" Teak?) have been in a number of my cutting boards. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting.

[Don Orr]

Don just to clarify...are you saying that ash, oak and hickory are acceptable, though harder to clean?

Sorry for delay but yes, the more open pored woods can get "stuff"* into the pores on the endgrain. If the wood grew really fast the pores can be quite large.

* Highly technical term

[Zac wingert]

I say use whatever you want. They sell bamboo cutting boards in the store, it’s not even wood, it’s a grass, huge pores, and no one dies. Especially because you say this is for family and friends for gifts.

I made about 20 cutting boards for family and friends this Chrismats and I gave some choice of which one they wanted, to my surprise the edge grain ones were the first to go. I had about 15 end grain and about 5 edge grain with the left over pieces. Anyone who is not a woodworker has taste all over the board (see what I did there).

I used a variety including eastern maple, walnut, padauk, wenge, zebrawood, purpleheart, ohia (meteroserous polymorpha) and maybe others. Of course no pine or cedar and such mixed in there, but I used whatever I liked. I think it’ll be ok.

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[Zac wingert]

I should add, main problem is the zebrawood smells like, well, the zoo. Can’t decide if the name is more fitting due to appearance or aroma..

[Mike Cutler]

I made about 20 cutting boards for family and friends this Christms and I gave some choice of which one they wanted, to my surprise the edge grain ones were the first to go. I had about 15 end grain and about 5 edge grain with the left over pieces. Anyone who is not a woodworker has taste all over the board (see what I did there).


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Zac
It's interesting that you point that out.
Earlier I had posted about the exhaustive reference materials available via the FDA/Federal Reg's. It's interesting that their research indicates that an "edge type" cutting board is more sanitary than and end grain board in a commercial application.
BTW
Those are really nice cutting boards you made there. Nice work.

[David Ruhland]

Zach those look great.... How thick are the end grain blocks? do you cut a "handle" in on the underside of them? If so are you using a round nose? What size...

[Zac wingert]

Thanks. They are 1 & 1/4”. Didn’t rout a handle or anything, just rubber feet on the bottom. I had planned to make a handle, but this is my first time making these and I got scared. I’ll probably experiment more the next time around.

[Brent Malwicks]

Maple is a great choice. I didn't know you can make cutting boards out of walnut. I think it's all about the way it's done, the tools, and the hardness of the wood. There are other factors you may want to consider such as the type of wood you're using and what time of the year it is because different types of wood respond differently to heat or cold. Storage is something to consider also.