Cutting boards and knives. They go together like Lucy and Ricky. Chips and salsa. Nutella and my fingers a spoon.
And just as with any couple, the grouping is only as strong as the weakest link. Which means that a sub-par cutting surface renders even the best knife slightly helpless.
Chances are, you’ve probably got at least one of two styles of cutting boards hanging around: wood or plastic. Here’s a basic rundown.
Plastic boards are my usual go-to chopping surface. Ideally, they should have some thickness to them -- thin boards can’t stand up to the cuts of a good knife. Because of their ease in cleaning and sanitizing, plastic boards should always be used to cut chicken, pork, beef and fish, etc. Cleaning is a snap -- just load these bad boys into the dishwasher. Voila! You’re set.
For the sheer speed of knife work, the wood board can’t be beat. It’s the ideal platform for chopping, mincing, dicing and other similar cuts -- but only for food that’s safe to eat raw, such as fruits, vegetable and herbs, even if you’re going to ultimately cook whatever you chop. Taking care of a wood cutting board required a little bit of effort -- it’s naturally porous, and those tiny fissures and grooves can harbor bacteria.
The challenge comes because wood boards are not dishwasher safe or water-submergable. Here’s how Alton Brown, food and gadget guru, suggests you maintain a wood cutting board: Wipe off food residue with a damp rag or scrub the surface with scouring powder and a brush. To deodorize and clean light stains, scatter coarse/kosher salt over the dry board and use a lemon half to scrub the salt into the surface; wipe off the salt and lemon juice and let the board air dry set on its end.
A word about glass cutting boards: they're just terrible on your knives and aren't even allowed in commercial kitchens. Why? Because things get dropped in kitchens, and glass chards in the marinara, well, is not a good thing.
There’s a school of thought that advocates using separate color-coated cutting boards for fresh produce and bread, raw meats, poultry and seafoods, dairy products, and cooked foods. For me, this was great in theory, but not so much in execution. I kept getting confused as to which color was to be used for what, and so ended up using all the colors interchangeably, save for one (red!) reserved for the raw meats.
Oh -- one more thing. Cutting boards wear out over time, developing hard-to-clean grooves from your knife, or dings from constant use. Use common sense: when they wear out, toss them out and replace them.
Happy chopping, y’all!
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