Hah. True.
Its mostly just a “more work than putting a cutting board in the dishwasher” barrier. I know I’m supposed to do something with mineral oil? But I never remember to buy that. I probably also need a non-slip pad for the bottom.
I eventually came around on cast iron. Maybe one of these days.
I love that thing! But yeah, if it’s art, hang it on a wall; perfectly valid. Otherwise, use it!
You’re over-thinking it. It’s a block of wood.
99% of the time, cleaning a cutting board means “rinse in the sink with soapy water”.
Mineral oil is just a thing that you can use periodically (I dunno, maybe once a year?) to help preserve the wood. But really, it’s not really that necessary anyway. It’ll help make the wood darker and stuff. But for the most part it should be fine just from normal washing. I normally wouldn’t bother, but maybe with that one you’d want to because it’s cool.
The big no no is putting it in a dishwasher, just because the high heat will warp the wood and cause it to split apart.
I don’t bother with a rubber non-slip base either. It’s a big block of wood. It’s reasonably heavy. It’s not gonna move, unless you’re trying to move it.
For my plastic boards I wet a paper towel and put it under the board. When you’re done you can use it to clean up.
Yeah, I’ve had a heavy bamboo cutting board for probably close to 10 years now. I think I’ve oiled it once. I mostly just clean it after use with soap and water (and hand dry). Some times I’ll pull out the board scraper if something is stuck on (and I didn’t clean it quite as quickly as anticipated).
I am getting close to sanding down the top layer (first time ever) and re-curing it with oil/wax, but I don’t think it absolutely needs that yet.
You can sit it on a damp dish cloth to keep it from sliding around.
I couldnt read this thread in hospital. The food there is too often so unappaetizing you lose any will to want to eat. So thisbthread wouod have been too much of a tease for these eyes :) I have some fun catching up to do. But I saw some news while I was in I was hoping some of you might weigh in on. I mentioned a while ago I sometimes really enjoy watching YouTube videos of Asian street cooking. Especially in Vietnamese and Thailand. Apparently the Thai military dictatorship has decided they don’t like a lot of street cookers and it doesn’t matter how good the quality of their food or the popularity, they will be wiped off the streets.
Unless there’s widespread issues of digging up sewer, gutter oil from sewers like they do in China (if any place should have more regulation on street food it should be China), I don’t understand why remove such an important part of the Thai experience.
Anthony Bourdain, a big street food supporter, said that the chances of removing street vendors in Thailand is slim and none. He says it’s just too big and too much a part of the culture to happen. I don’t know enough to add my own opinion.
Nothing personal but I would really hate to see this thread get political.
Sorry that wasn’t the intention. I was just replying to Jeff.
Sorry that was the furthest thing from my intention. The skill and amazing things I see cooked here, reminds me so often of what I’ve seen out there too. It was just an interesting side question since I respect and am fascinated with what people are able to create.
Street eats in both Thailand and Vietnam are crazy good and super cheap. We spent 6 weeks travelling throughout and outside of the 10 cooking classes we did, I think we only ate in a restuarant 5-6 times total the entire time. The rest of the time was street food. 3 of us could eat for about $6-8 total.
The best part of street food is we were travelling with my then 12 year old and it’s like a smorgasbord. Everyone gets what they want to eat - you just bounce from vendor to vendor & eat on these tiny little plastic chairs.
Taking the cooking classes really let us experience a lot of meals as well. They are not cheap, but they were all such a tremendous experience - many of them take you to the market to grab the ingredients so you learn what things look like, so it really helped when I returned to the states & went to the little asian grocery stores where the only thing with english words were cans and boxes.
It’s all good, I figured that wasn’t the intent, I just didn’t want to see us fall down the rabbit hole as it were. Thanks for understanding!
I agree with the others, I would use the hell out of that thing. I also agree with the others that it’s probably so flipping heavy it shouldn’t move at all, mine does not. If it does move or spin, it might need sanding down on the bottom side to level, if anything.
When they are really big, a quick trip to the sink doesn’t work so well. With mine I clean with soap foam and a scrub brush, then a quick spray or two of vinegar/water if I’ve cut meats or wet foods on it. Stains and smells I’ve gotten off by making a paste with some baking soda and water, then applying it to the area and letting it sit for a few minutes prior to wiping off and cleaning. I’ve put quite a bit of cutting on to mine and you can only barely tell. Unless you’re prepping and chopping every day, all day for several years, chances are you wouldn’t be able to see any wear at all unless you put your face right down to the wood.
By the way, another great way to clean and santize, if slightly messier, is to apply coarse salt on the board, then take that lemon you have in the pic, cut it in half and scrub the salt into the board with it. Then run a wet rag or sponge over it to get everything off when done.
If you don’t want to mess with runny mineral oil, pick up some of this from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/John-Boos-Butcher-Block-Board/dp/B002HDT9FK
Apply it all over the board, I find it easy to do with my hands. Let it sit for five minutes, then wipe the excess off with a paper towel. Boom, done. Repeat every few months when you see the wood getting pretty light colored, meaning unconditioned.
I bought a stack of cheap bamboo cutting boards from costco that came with a set of care directions a mile long. I figured I would ignore that and use them until I needed new ones. 15 years later and they still look close to new, the only care I provide is not letting them sit out wet.
Cooking classes in Thailand? Tell us more!
I’ve been washing my bamboo cutting board in the dishwasher. No issues at all.
Bamboo is really resilient though right? Mine aren’t bamboo, I don’t have a comparison.
Wow. I thought I was blasé with my boards. Still straight and level after the extreme heat from a dish washer? They are a lot tougher than I thought then.
I had looked at bamboo boards, which I have wanted forever, and didn’t get because I know myself and I am too weak and don’t have time to clean manually. That and I am very, very afraid of pathogens surviving in a small cut or groove. So if I couldn’t do in dishwasher for perfect sanitation it was a no go. do you remember what brand or if it is available on Amazon or online somewhere perchance? I want to look into getting what yiu have. And I’ve read enough horror stories to know yiu don’t just buy x bamboo board on Amazon because they sometimes don’t use bamboo, or proper glues, etc
