What factors should you consider while purchasing a cutting board? It’s easy to become lost in the number of forms, sizes, and materials available on the market for these culinary gadgets. Cutting boards, like any other product, vary in quality, price, material, and so on, and each variety has its fans.
Some individuals place a premium on material safety, while others place a premium on cleaning convenience. Each material has its own set of drawbacks and benefits. To figure out which cutting board is the best, we’ll take a detailed look at the different materials and weigh their advantages and disadvantages.
How to choose a cutting board?
What factors should you consider while purchasing a cutting board? What do you need to know? Every homemaker who cares about her family’s health should have a variety of cutting boards for different goods. If you must adhere to sanitary requirements for these kitchen equipment, you should have at least ten or twelve cutting boards.
Obviously, having all of the different boards in a home kitchen is difficult, therefore we must pick the correct material and cutting board. Before we go into the materials, let’s talk about the size of the form. Shape and size are important factors to consider when selecting a cutting board.
Rectangular is the most frequent and conventional design, as well as the most practical. Oval boards, circular boards, and cutting boards with incredibly amazing and imaginative designs shaped like fruits, vegetables, animals, and more are available at the market. These boards, as attractive as they are, are not very pleasant to use. It should be large enough to allow you to chop a variety of things.
A board of 30-50 centimeters is suitable for cutting meat or fish, whereas a board measuring 20-30 centimeters is ideal for chopping meals. Another thing to think about is the thickness of the board. It normally ranges from 5 to 10 millimeters, but pick a board with a thickness of at least 15-20 millimeters for cutting meat or fish with bones.
When people inquire how to pick a cutting board, the material is usually the most important consideration. The material used to construct the board is critical, since it defines the board’s qualities and performance characteristics. Let’s have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the various materials.
Wooden Cutting Board
Wooden cutting boards are a true classic, and they were the only option until a few decades ago. One of the most significant advantages is that the boards’ surfaces are non-slip, making them not only pleasant but also safe. The visual appeal of new boards, in particular, is clear. Wood boards constructed of high-quality, long-lasting wood are dependable and temperature-resistant. Wood also has antimicrobial characteristics, which makes it ideal for food preparation. Last but not least, wood has no effect on the blades of knives.
Wood, on the other hand, has a variety of drawbacks. It is readily destroyed, does not tolerate excessive moisture, has a limited resilience to high temperatures, absorbs scents, and does not generally last long. When cutting colourful veggies and fruits, wooden boards become discolored. It is advised that you use boards made of high-quality hard woods like as cherry, oak, ash, and teak. Soft wood species such as spruce, cedar, willow, poplar, alder, birch, and pine should not be used.
Bamboo Cutting Board
Bamboo cutting boards have the appearance of being made of wood. Bamboo is technically a grass, not a wood, and bamboo goods are manufactured from this grass compacted under great pressure. Bamboo boards have the benefit of being as hard as solid wood. They are cheap, but they wear out soon.
Plastic Cutting Board
Because they are affordable and endure a long time, plastic boards are very popular. They are heat resistant, do not retain scents, and are extremely durable and easy to clean. Wooden boards cannot be cleaned in the dishwasher, however plastic boards can.
The market has a wide range of colors and styles to choose from. The main disadvantages of plastic boards are that their surface is slick and that it deteriorates with time. Plastic of poor quality has the potential to emit hazardous chemicals.
Glass Cutting Board
Bacteria cannot multiply on glass boards, hence they are regarded one of the most sanitary. Knives do not harm them, and they can resist any temperature. A glass cutting board will last a long time and won’t absorb any scents. It is simply and quickly washed, and it looks trendy, especially if it is embellished with artwork.
The downsides include the fact that glass ruins knives and is a highly brittle material that cannot withstand mechanical contact, as well as the fact that it is extremely slippery.
Ceramic Cutting Board
Ceramic boards are sanitary, stylish, and aesthetically pleasing. They also don’t collect scents and aren’t scratchy. However, they are both expensive and brittle, and your knives will rapidly get dull.
Stone (Natural) Cutting Board
Natural stone cutting boards are special, which means they are rather expensive. These goods, as attractive as they are, are weighty and seriously harm knife blades. However, the stone’s surface is quite resilient, and the board does not collect smells. Natural stone is one of the most durable and dependable materials available.
Marble boards are beautiful and have the same drawbacks and benefits as glass and natural stone. They are, nevertheless, great for serving meals.
Stainless steel is a durable material
Stainless steel boards offer the advantages of being extremely simple to clean, resistant to temperature fluctuations, and odor-free. The material, on the other hand, is readily scratched and isn’t good for knife blades.
One of the newest items on the market is flexible silicone boards. Those are mats rather than boards. Their advantages over traditional boards include their resistance to high and low temperatures, the fact that they do not scrape, do not collect smells, do not slip or stain, and that they are light and take up little space. Sharp knives, on the other hand, may readily cut silicone.