List of woods good for food applications?

[Dolfo Picanco]

Anyone have a general resource or list of woods well suited for food applications. I know some of the general rules for what you want from the wood quality so if you have a resource that can list whether or not the wood is oily, or how the grain is. General wood characteristics I guess. Willing to buy a book if necessary.

[John K Jordan]

Anyone have a general resource or list of woods well suited for food applications. I know some of the general rules for what you want from the wood quality so if you have a resource that can list whether or not the wood is oily, or how the grain is. General wood characteristics I guess. Willing to buy a book if necessary.

Large open pores of ring porous woods like red oak can soak up things. Low viscosity liquids can go right through the wood and come out the other side. I like fine grained diffuse porous wood. Richard Raffan turned a lot of things for use with food - maybe one of his books has suggestions. If I get time tomorrow I'll look through some of my books.

Google gave me some suggestions when I asked about wood for salad bowls, for example this: https://www.newhampshirebowlandboard.com/blogs/blog/14911385-three-questions-to-ask-before-choosing-a-wooden-salad-bowl
I can't vouch for everything on the page but I do agree with maple and cherry. I personally like olive wood for kitchen and food things.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

Most species "can" be used but specific purpose comes into play. For wood surfaces that will be used for cutting and therefore, be essentially bare wood, a species that's both hard and closed pored, like maple, is better. For things like charcuterie boards that are only used for serving. you have more flexibility because these are often given a film finish and you can do grain filling to insure that food particles don't collect in the pores. John provided a good reference relative to vessels like bowels.

[Mike Cutler]

The FDA has a ton of info on the subject.
It will make your head spin researching all of the regulations that apply to a cutting board in a restaurant. You would be stunned at how many categories there are of cutting boards.

Soft and hard maples are pretty much standard for the food service industry.
Make "pastry boards". They don't have a finish on them. ;) No really, it's true. Apparently the tight open pores are supposed to get flour dust in them which then act as "bearings" to allow doughs to float and roll over the board without sticking.

[Bill Dufour]

I thought bare wood with no finish was thought to be more sanitary then a solid film finish?
Bil lD

[al heitz]

I thought bare wood with no finish was thought to be more sanitary then a solid film finish?
Bil lD

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Depends on how it is maintained. No splits, fuzzy edges, be hard and smooth; butcher blocks have special process to clean and sanitize. Various research studies support wood over plastic, and vice-versa.

[al heitz]

I thought bare wood with no finish was thought to be more sanitary then a solid film finish?<br>
Bil lD<br>

----------------------------
Depends on how it is maintained.&nbsp; No splits, fuzzy edges, be hard and smooth;&nbsp; butcher blocks&nbsp; have special process to clean and sanitize. Various research studies support wood over plastic, and vice-versa.&nbsp;

[Mel Fulks]

I remember the Feds did one and concluded food could get into the plastic ,then be trapped by the plastic closing .
The wood absorbed water and deprived the germs. So they gave the best rating to the wood.