Thread: Cutting Boards for a Butcher

I bought a tin of Bondall Timber Benchtop Oil which clearly states it is food safe and for use on cutting boards which is good enough for me.

So, 160° for 3.5 minutes... is there enough oil to to soak in? Should one pre-heat the oil and sit it in a shallow bath, or is simply slathering it on OK?

I used Ecowoodoil - Natural Woodwipe on my pizza peel. Love the Warning on the back:

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Instructions
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You know.....when I make cutting boards I never do anything as far as an applied finish. Because everyone has their own ideas of what is best I let them put their own finish on. Its so easy......to walk away

Guys, thank you so much for all the replies. If the butcher boards were only to be used at home most of the ideas would be great.
As the boards will be displaying meat products laying on them in the display cabinet at my butcher, I have already provided him with samples that were oiled with Gold Cross Liquid Paraffin (one can drink the stuff). No odour and a great result. So the suggestions by Soundman and woodPixel align with what I have chosen to use.
I think that all of us who have read/contributed to this post would have learnt something. I certainly did.
Regards
Les

Originally Posted by lesmeyer

I think that all of us who have read/contributed to this post would have learnt something. I certainly did.
Regards
Les

Trust me Les, we'll all be back here in 3months when someone else asks the very same question, "which oil for chopping block?" and the same arguments will come around again, but maybe just in a different section of the forum, hahaha talk to you in October!! oh, and you can let us know how much extra steak the butcher has sold laying on your blocks!!

Any photo's of the boards? better still, any of them with steak on it in the butchers window?

I painted the olive oil on the spoons or forks by the dozen. On a big cake rack over a big sheet pan and into the preheated oven.
All I learned was that 4 minutes and the wood began to crisp and brown like french fries, which was not what I intended to see.
The oil sucks into the cut ends of the wood. I did paint more oil on a batch or two, on the ends, but I didn't see anything that would suggest an improvement.

The oil of your choice. The application technique means you cannot wash it off. Boiling water will not leach it out.
And, it's quick. 3 1/2 minutes and it's done for good. No overnight soaks at room temperature to be blown off the next day in hot soup.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Here are some pictures I did of Ilyas totally amazing boards (such talent!). They came for a soak in my tub!

Evan
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Wow, amazing work. However, they make me dizzy, so I would happily hang one of these on my wall, but I would NOT use one as a chopping board - I might be so dizzy I cut myself.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

The oil of your choice. The application technique means you cannot wash it off. Boiling water will not leach it out.
And, it's quick. 3 1/2 minutes and it's done for good. No overnight soaks at room temperature to be blown off the next day in hot soup.

Hi Robson Valley (do you mind if I shorten to RV? abbreviation is a way of life here in Aus), have you ever tried the technique on a glued-up item? I'm just wondering how adhesives would handle the heat. Since so many chopping blocks are made with lots of endgrain blocks glued together it would be useful to know.

David

I don't mind at all. The Robson Valley is the mountain district where I live.
I thank your country for sending a big team of wildfire specialists. Our people are exhausted.
The southern part of our province is Hell on earth. Close to 40,000 people on the run. 250 lightning fires in 48 hours with BIG winds.

No. I have never baked a glue-up. I know that 3.5 minutes is an eternity when you are watching the clock!
I do know that as mass increases, I had to reheat again and again to see bubbles (the waxed dish as opposed to a spoon.)
So much of the interior of a wood block would remain unheated (wood is a pretty good insulator), I don't think that the
differences in expansion rates would lead to a crack. I have more unfounded theories if you need any.

Some popular adhesives claim greater strength than the woods on either side. Maybe a scrap glue-up of junk wood might
be a revealing experiment?
Brian

Our local news media is sooo parochial I haven't seen anything about the fires - they are too focussed on boring local politics. I'm glad that Australian experience can be put to good use. We have enough of the hellish fires here because our dominant eucalypts are living firestarters - literally, that is how they dominate the ecosystem. I presume it is coniferous forests going up in Canada?

I agree, some trials of the glue, oil and bake would be worthwhile. I'll add that to my list! Maybe others reading here could do so too and we can compare photos and notes?

David

Yeah, any kinds of junk wood glue-ups would be ideal. We need to know, we need the experience.
Carving, I don't have any of that sort of dimension scrap to mess with.

Worst hits were dry grassland ranch hills with scattered Ponderosa pines. Fire storms.
Further north here would be Douglasfir (aka your Oregon) then into the real boreal forest of
Lodgepole pine, spruce and the cedars.
Based on experience with good friends over the past 20 years, a lot of BC homestead history has gone up in smoke.

I lived in Melbourne for 4 years, late '68 - late '72. Clear memories of grass firestorms and huge bush/forest fires.
That's why we need your experience and familiarity to take over so our people can rest.
We have crew coming from all across Canada as well.

I'm well away far north of fires (so far) but the smoke today is back to 250m at best.
Yesterday, we could see clouds in the sky.
The worst starts maybe tomorrow when they go back into some areas to see who got burnt out and who is OK.