Wood to avoid for cutting boards?

[Britman]

I rather fancy making a cutting board for myself to replace the beech worktop off cut I have been using.
But having never made one before I was wonder what hardwood should I avoid?

Cheers.

 

[Dr Al]

I'd be interested in this too. I've read lots of things saying you should avoid "woods with a lot of tannin, like oak", but I've been unable to find a source that explains how much tannin different woods have, so I didn't find that especially helpful (apart from that I should avoid oak!). I think the open grain of oak also makes it non-ideal.

I think I've also read that trees with edible sap or fruit (think maple, pear, cherry, walnut etc) are good safe choices.

 

[thetyreman]

I wouldn't touch oak, ash or elm, they are too open grained, you want tight grain woods like beech, sycamore, pear, or cherry are all good choices.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

It is best to avoid open-grained woods, because tiny bits of food get stuck in the open pores however well you scrub the board.

Traditional woods for food contact are maple (end-grain for butcher's blocks) and sycamore, which was used in dairies for cheese racks and the like. My kitchen chopping board is a piece of long-grain sycamore, with no finish other than from the plane, and has lasted about 25 years with little maintenance beyond a rub down after each use with a kitchen cloth. It seems to eat stains. Doesn't seem to cut up much from the knives, either. I'm pretty sure beech would be as good.

 

[Jeremy Nako]

I am about as far from an expert as you can get, but I've done a lockdown of research and made a few dozen boards in the last 9 months.

I've used Walnut, Cherry, Maple and Beech, all of which I've been very happy with.

 

[Mead Camans]

I seem to recall hearing that yew is slightly toxic? Or not generally accepted to be food safe at any rate. Shame because it's a nice wood!

Edit: On a technicality, yew is actually a softwood.

 

[Britman]

I am about as far from an expert as you can get, but I've done a lockdown of research and made a few dozen boards in the last 9 months.

I've used Walnut, Cherry, Maple and Beech, all of which I've been very happy with.

Most the video's I've watched have used those species.

I so like the look of the black walnut and maple boards I've seen.

 

[Jeremy Nako]

I so like the look of the black walnut and maple boards I've seen.

Agreed.. the colours and grains go really well together IMHO.

 

[--Tom--]

Beech sycamore maple are good choices

avoid open grain, tropicals with high silica content, stuff with knots.

 

[TRITON]

I seem to recall hearing that yew is slightly toxic? Or not generally accepted to be food safe at any rate. Shame because it's a nice wood!

Edit: On a technicality, yew is actually a softwood.

" The Common Yew (Taxus baccata) is an ornamental tree. The taxine alkaloids contained in yew berries, needles or bark are poisonous. The lethal dose for an adult is reported to be 50 g of yew needles. Patients who ingest a lethal dose frequently die due to cardiogenic shock, in spite of resuscitation efforts. "

I believe its also called the Tree of Death. The Druids sacrificed children under the Yew tree, and theres some old English saying about why you shouldnt turn drinking goblets from it.

 

[Sean Hellman]

I made a board from slow grown ash 15 years ago for our wedding cake. It has been used every day since, not oiled, no finish, just washed and dripped dried. Never had any issue of illness or death from it.

 

[ArferMo]

Beech is a bad choice. Getting wet and drying out repeatedly causes splitting.

 

[J-G]

Beech is a bad choice. Getting wet and drying out repeatedly causes splitting.

Utter rubbish!!

The finest chopping boards are made of Beech - always end-grain though.

 

[Linus]

This link might help in choosing. Wood Allergies and Toxicity | The Wood Database

 

[--Tom--]

Or go hipster and cast either some pallet wood or a scaffold plank in resin

 

[ArferMo]

Utter rubbish!!

You think? Try putting a piece of planed beech outside for a few months and see what happens.
Aren't butcher's blocks end grain beech? Water never touches them.

 

[bp122]

Good chopping boards are usually hardwoods mentioned above.

But if you have quality knives, engrain boards are kinder to the knife edge. I have made a few boards for friends and relatives, but being a keen cook, I use a large bamboo one from IKEA.

 

[J-G]

You think? Try putting a piece of planed beech outside for a few months and see what happens.
Aren't butcher's blocks end grain beech? Water never touches them.

Are you suggesting that Butchers don't clean their blocks every day? They scrub them with water and a wire brush!

I don't dispute that lengths of Beech out in the open will 'move' that's why 'Steamed Beech' is often preferred but chopping blocks should always be made with the end grain as the 'face' which means that at most the 'length' of the Beech billets will be shorter than 150mm.

 

[thetyreman]

go and watch masterchef the professionals, they use flatgrain laminated beech chopping boards. Beech or Sycamore are the best choices, they were used traditionally for a reason.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Beech is used because it has anti bacterial properties.