Thread: Wood identification... ok for chopping boards?

If you are cutting cooked or raw meat or veg you need a closed/tight grained timber, for bread and other dry foods an open grain will pass.

I believe meats should be cut on nylon boards that are easy to clean and do not harbour nasties. Ask butchers why they use them.

As far as I can see butchers are all still using end grain wooden chopping blocks. It seems that the wooden blocks are actually germicidal while nylon or other plastics can harbour the nasties deep in fine cut marks even through a hot wash.

Back to the original question, my first guess from the pic would be Vic Ash/Tassie Oak. Remove the original finish and apply mineral oil should be OK.

Aside from all the blather about what wood is suitable for a cutting board, I'm yet to see any report of anybody actually being affected by cutting on standard Aussie hardwoods. What you might find if it is Vic Ash etc, it may stain blue if it gets wet.

+1 Tassy Oak / Vic Ash , though you would need to see the end grain to be 100% sure.

Without seeing the end grain I would go for VIC Ash.

I have a WA sheoak one as well as a Jarrah one (Cutting boards) have had them for years with no ill affects,touch wood.
I would clean the surface off back to raw timber as has been suggested.I leave mine bare finished.

Finally got around to pulling it apart, see attachment for pic of endgrain. 7-E47489-E-2-DF1-4-A87-A77-D-260-EFD7465-AD hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB

I think the end grain confirms the initial ID of Vic Ash.

Originally Posted by double.d

... I believe meats should be cut on nylon boards that are easy to clean and do not harbour nasties. Ask butchers why they use them.

This is is a dangerous furphy created by a well known plastics manufacturer many years ago. The CSIRO did extensive testing over 20 years ago and found that wood was a far more hygienic material than plastic. Refer CSIRO website, or search this Forum - it's been discussed in the past.

Jason​: your board looks like one of the "ash" type eucalypts - possibly mountain ash. It should be fine. For appearance, you can give it an oil finish. Over the years I have used boiled linseed, olive oil, palm oil, peanut oil, what ever we are using in the kitchen. All work provided you don't lay it on too thick.

This - once finish is removed should be fine -avoid highly oily woods -cypress pine etc. more because of the taste than anything else.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

The CSIRO did extensive testing over 20 years ago and found that wood was a far more hygienic material than plastic.

Yeah, but wood hasn't changed in the last 20 years, whereas plastics have. I wonder what the results would be if they ran the study again today with newer plastics? And cleaning a wooden board properly is far more involved than throwing a plastic chopping board into a dishwasher. How long does wood's anti-bacterial property last? How many wash cycles? I can't help thinking this was one of those studies that doesn't translate well into the real world.

I used pure tung oil on my wooden breadboard. It looks fantastic, but you need patience. I applied about ten coats, at one coat per day, to get a nice sheen. After that, I'm told it only needs a couple of coats to rejuvenate the finish when it gets a bit dull.

I make end grain cutting boards / butcher blocks. My wife still has the first (and biggest) one I ever made on the kitchen bench and uses it every day. I would back a well made and properly sealed wood board against some lightweight piece of plastic any day of the week. My boards are all sealed (drowned) with a good quality foodsafe oil followed by multiple applications of bees wax. To clean them after use, simply wipe with a clean, warm (not hot) damp cloth - never put them in a dishwasher (mine wouldn't fit in one anyway) and don't use detergents on them. The finish on the one in our kitchen still looks exactly the same as the day it was first used.

IMG_2521.jpg IMG_2874.jpg

Originally Posted by jack620

Yeah, but wood hasn't changed in the last 20 years, whereas plastics have. ...

Really? That is most interesting; could you please name those new plastics.

Virtually all cutting boards that I have seen have been made from HDPE or even HMWPE, neither of which are new plastics. Both have been around for a long time.