Board with the choice

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Posted at 11:30AM, 28 April 2010 by Sarah Sysum - Assistant editor, Easy Cook magazine

It's hard being a gadget guru. Most conversations I have (even with my mother) eventually come around to a gadget-related question. What food processor should I buy? Are halogen ovens safe? But one question that had me stumped recently was, "Which is a better material for chopping boards: wood, glass or plastic?". Not wanting to ruin my reputation, I investigated.

There is a lot of confusion out there regarding which is best - personally I feel it depends on the job

There is a lot of confusion out there regarding which is best; there are even 'pro-wood' and 'pro-plastic' groups on the internet. Personally I feel it depends on the job, but as they say, "forewarned is forearmed".

Let's start with wood. One of many arguments suggests that wood possesses anti-microbial properties. In reality this means that bacteria is drawn into wood through capillary action (still with me?). Once inside the wood, the bacteria can't reproduce and dies.

Another pro-wood argument concerns an end-grain cutting board's apparent "self-healing" properties; the knife slices between wood fibres (as opposed to cutting into them), leaving no mark. Of course there are plenty of other good points: they don't blunt the cutting edge as quickly as other types of board and, providing you oil them, they stay waterproof.

Now on to plastic. As many a BBC science programme taught me, plastic is non-porous, meaning bacteria can be washed off without soaking into the board (though they can collect within ridges and rough spots created by knife wear). Many are now dishwasher-safe too. But perhaps the biggest argument is that as plastic is a relatively inexpensive material, most people can afford to buy separate boards for meat and vegetables, thus preventing cross-contamination.

Whilst they are pretty, stay away from glass boards. They dull knives and have no grip when chopping - thats why they're called protectors and not chopping boards, people.

So what do I use? Well, I have two boards, one for raw and one for cooked food. I love the stability wood gives when preparing meat and I find plastic great for little jobs such as chopping onions when I don't want smells to linger. However, whatever camp you fall into, it's worth remembering to disinfect your board regularly and chuck out any that have become excessively worn.

So you see science really isn't the argument here, making sure you do the washing up is.

Comments

Cassandra Amy Rose

29 April 2010, 9:15AM
Cassandra Amy Rose

Very helpful, thanks.We use a plastic board for raw meat and fish, because, as you said, bacteria can be washed off without soaking into the board, and we use a wooden board for fruit, veg, bread etc. My Gran has used the same chopping board all her married life (40+years!) and it is still in better condition than many of ours that we have had only a few years.

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Sneha

30 April 2010, 8:27PM
Sneha

I have been using a plastic board but my husband and I want to start using separate boards for vegetables and meat. Is it important to keep a separate board for fish and another for other meats?

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Sarah

1 May 2010, 4:07PM
Sarah

Hi there - thanks for reading my blog. In answer to your question Sneha you don't need a separate boards for fish, although do use different boards for cooked & uncooked. The reason some people use a different board is that fishy smells can linger even after washing and if you have a friend/family with a seafood allergy it's best to do so. Hope this helps

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lalybaba

3 May 2010, 9:16PM
lalybaba

My Mum and Gran always used wooden boards. Big thick solid ones which I love for their stability and solidity. In the fifteen years since I left home, I've never bought a chopping board for myself I've either won, been given or aquired them and they've always been plastic. They do the job but they don't have the same feel. I've promised myself a big solid wooden one for when we finnish the new kitchen...at the current rate of progress that could be a while!

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dazzyd

13 May 2010, 9:22AM
dazzyd

Wood is definitely the way to go... Real wood has an antispetic effect, that's why butchers use wood, they fought the EU for many years to prove the benefits of wood over plastic. One thing - never put a wooden board in the dishwasher!!!!

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