Instructions: Treat a wooden cutting board with mineral oil.
A wooden cutting board is intended for chopping a variety of food products: meat, fish, vegetables and more. Typically, porous natural wood is used to produce cutting boards. The most popular species are sugar maple, cherry, ash and black walnut. Unfortunately, these tree species are very good at absorbing odors and bacteria that are on the surface of food. If the processing of a wooden cutting board is carried out the right substances: For example, with oil, the board will be perfectly protected from a variety of microbes and mold. Here is one of the instructions for caring for a cutting board:
1. Rinse cutting board V running water, if you have used it before. Wipe the surface of the cutting board with a kitchen towel and let it dry completely.
2. Dampen a kitchen towel with white vinegar. Wipe the entire surface of the wooden cutting board with this towel. Vinegar gently and safely sanitizes cutting board surfaces. After wiping thoroughly, let the cutting board dry completely.
3. You can use mineral oil, but only what is called food grade. Do not use mineral oil sold in pharmacies. Before treating the board with oil, you need to heat it up. Pour 1 cup of the product and place it in the microwave. Heat mineral oil in microwave oven for 10 - 15 seconds.
4. Soak a corner of a kitchen towel in mineral oil and wipe the surfaces of the cutting board.
5. Give the cutting board time to dry. Repeat the process of cleaning the board with oil again.
6. Continue repeating the procedure of coating the cutting board with mineral oil. Allow the board to dry between procedures. When the cutting board no longer absorbs mineral oil, remove what remains with a dry kitchen towel.
Caring for a cutting board is what you need to ensure that your wooden cutting board looks attractive for a long time and is safe for your health. The board needs to be washed, cleaned, and processed periodically by special means. In the article I will go into more detail on all the issues in more detail.
How to wash a cutting board
Wooden cutting boards should absolutely not be washed in. You should also not soak a contaminated board in water for a long time, because... This can cause the wood to swell and cracks to form after drying.
To avoid any problems with your cutting board, clean it immediately after use and do not let food sit on it for a long time. You can wash it, or with dishwashing detergent, using a cloth or sponge. Do not use strong detergents for these purposes. 
How and with what to clean a cutting board
If the cutting board is very dirty, then ordinary table vinegar can be used for disinfection. Should be processed wooden surface with a cloth soaked in vinegar and rinse it.
The same disinfecting effect can be obtained by using lemon juice.
By the way, at enterprises Catering According to sanitary and epidemiological rules, the deck for chopping meat is cleaned and salt is added at the end of the day. This prevents the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, cutting boards can be cleaned with salt. You can successfully combine cleaning a wooden board with lemon and salt, as shown in the video.
It is better to refrain from cleaning the board with various cleaning powders and pastes, since there is no complete certainty that detergents will not remain in small cuts, and from there they will not get on the processed products.
How and with what to process a cutting board
To make the wooden cutting board look attractive and not absorb various unpleasant odors and to prevent the growth of bacteria, it must be treated with mineral oil and wax.
You should not use vegetable oil to impregnate the cutting board. As the oil turns yellow over time, it acquires an unpleasant odor.
You may ask me: “Where can I get mineral oil?” The answer is - at the pharmacy.
Ordinary petroleum jelly is mineral oil itself. Although it is produced from oil, it is completely harmless to human health. It is used internally as medicine. Therefore, it is ideal for processing cutting boards.
To process the board, you need to prepare oil and a cloth. Pour oil onto the board and rub the oil in a circular motion with a cloth. Don't be afraid to add extra oil. Wood will absorb as much as it needs. This way you will close or, one might say, seal the pores in the wood and bacteria, sticks and all sorts of other bad things will not rage in them. This coating will also have waterproofing properties.
A new board should be treated with oil twice, at intervals of several hours, so that the oil is well absorbed. Simply remove excess oil that has not been absorbed with a cloth or paper towel. 
The recipe for the product is not complicated. You need to take one part wax and 4 parts Vaseline oil.
Heat the oil in a water bath and dissolve the wax shavings in it. To speed up the process, you can heat the mixture in the microwave.
Before the procedure, you can warm it up a little in the microwave (if it fits there). Next, cover it on all sides with the prepared mixture with a brush or clean cloth. Allow the mixture to absorb and harden.
Impregnation with a mixture differs from impregnation with just oil - it is considered more durable and strong, it can close not only pores, but also small cracks and cuts. This treatment of a wooden plank must be repeated periodically - at least once every three months.
A cutting board is a favorite product of novice cabinet makers because it is easy to make, practical, and the simplest and simplest design can always be attributed to the author’s idea. That is, you can buy a riser for four hundred rubles, cut it into three or four parts, get a whole set of cutting boards and sell it for four thousand. If you also have a miter saw, this will take ridiculously little time, just have time to take orders. Have the ghosts of fabulous wealth flashed before your eyes? But the horseradish was swimming there, in fact everything is a little more complicated :(
I’ll tell you later how much more difficult it is - for such a story it would be nice to have step by step photos process. You never know what desperate housewife will read this and want to make a cutting board for herself or a culinary friend as a gift. You need to be open to any audience and write detailed, visual posts. Therefore, for now I will focus on one point, even at the final stage: processing the board with oil.
Why do you need to saturate the board with oil? In short - because it is beautiful and hygienic. Tree, as we know, porous material; the oil penetrates the pores and protects the wood from excess moisture and foreign odors. An oil-soaked board lasts longer and is easier to clean.
What oil should I use to impregnate the board? In individual discussions, this question provokes a more abrupt “snowboard or ski” holivar; people insist on using flaxseed, olive, or even just sunflower oil; They suggest heating it, boiling it, immersing the board in oil for several days... There is a simpler, cheaper and odorless way: Vaseline oil from the pharmacy. Vaseline oil is a mineral oil that does not decompose, does not emit an unpleasant odor, and does not harm humans. In addition, Vaseline oil has a high ability to repel dirt. Whether to heat the oil before impregnating the board or not, I cannot say; I tried this and that, and didn’t notice a difference. The technology is the same: dip a tampon twisted from a suitable piece of clean fabric into oil and thoroughly rub it into the board, wait about forty minutes, repeat the procedure, and so on three or four times. Only if you decide to heat the oil (any small kitchen utensil is suitable for this - Vaseline oil will wash off without a trace without spoiling it), take care of your hands. Some people think that a one-time treatment is enough; some insist that the board should be re-oiled every three to four months.
Someday, for clarity, I’ll take a photo of the board before and after impregnation. Oil not only protects the wood, but also “reveals” its texture; Many people think that this way the products look more beautiful.
In paint and varnish pavilions you can find special oils for impregnating kitchen boards (often based on organic tung oil), and they do their job perfectly, but if you are going to make two or three boards for yourself or as a gift, it is easier to buy a bottle of Vaseline oil for fifty rubles than a canister of specialized oil for eight hundred.
The photo shows a board I made for myself. It's minimalistic, there are no handles (because from trimming), no holes (because this scrap has metal studs inside and I wasn't sure that I wouldn't hit them with the drill), no accessories (because I haven’t come across any suitable one yet)- but she's cute.
A wooden cutting board is an environmentally friendly and convenient kitchen tool...
However, it has one drawback - it quickly takes on an “unpresentable” appearance: it gets dirty and scratches from knives remain on its surface
Despite the widespread use of modern cutting boards made of silicone, glass and plastic in kitchens, wooden boards are not going to lose ground, remaining as popular as they were several centuries ago.
Due to the porous structure of wood, a wooden board, after cutting food on it, absorbs their juice. The point is not only and not so much the smell that permeates the board after cutting meat or fish.
Microscopic food particles left on the surface of a cutting board serve as an excellent breeding ground for germs and bacteria that pose a real threat to human health. There are many known cases of food poisoning, the cause of which is poor cleaning of a wooden cutting board after use.
Cleaning the cutting board
The most common way to clean a wooden cutting board is to wash it thoroughly. hot water using dishwashing detergents.
Attention! Do not submerge or soak wooden cutting boards in water. This will encourage bacteria to grow and the wood will crack when it dries.
It would seem that what could be done wrong here? However, many people make the mistake of wiping a washed cutting board dry with a kitchen towel, thereby transferring germs and bacteria to the board.
Quit this bad habit! After washing and rinsing the cutting board, leave it to dry upright without wiping it with a dish sponge or kitchen towel.
If the board needs to be dry immediately, wipe it with a paper towel.
Disinfection of a wooden board
Most effective method disinfection - soaking cutting board in detergent containing chlorine. Do not overdo it with chlorine-containing liquid! For 5 liters of water, 1 tablespoon of the product will be enough.
After 30 minutes, the board should be removed from the disinfectant solution, rinsed thoroughly and left to dry in an upright position.
You can prepare a safer solution for disinfection, using baking soda. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 0.5 liters of hot water and wet the surface of the board with the resulting mixture. After leaving for 5-10 minutes, the board must be thoroughly rinsed and left to dry.
Can use hydrogen peroxide instead of soda, in this case for cooking cleaning solution For 0.5 liters of water you will need 2 teaspoons of peroxide.
Perfectly disinfects, cleans and removes unpleasant odors from the surface of the cutting board. regular lemon, or rather his half. After wiping the board with half a lemon, leave it for 10 minutes, then rinse and dry thoroughly.
Similar Table vinegar also has an antibacterial effect.
To sanitize, wipe down your cutting board after each use with white vinegar, which is effective against E. coli, salmonella and staph.
Apply it with paper towel. For ease of use, keep a spray bottle filled with vinegar in your kitchen.
A wooden cutting board that is heavily scratched or cracked cannot be used for further use. The best thing to do with such a board is to get rid of it and buy a new one instead.
But if the damage to the surface layer of the board is minor, the board can still serve.
Lemon and salt. Simple and cheap way how to clean a wooden cutting board 
Keeping cutting boards clean is an integral part of maintaining kitchen hygiene, since the entire cooking process takes place on the cutting boards. Therefore, if boards are used unhygienically, there is a high risk of spreading harmful bacteria, such as salmonella or E. coli. But not everything is so bad, because with regular cleaning, infection food products and the spread of harmful bacteria is easily avoided.
Baking soda and water. Another way is to How to get rid of bacteria on a kitchen board.
In order to get rid of dirt on a wooden cutting board, you can use something as simple and, most importantly, accessible to everyone as baking soda. Dilute 1 tsp. soda in 0.5 l. hot water and spray the resulting mixture all over the board, leave it for a while, then wash it thoroughly in the usual way. Instead of soda, you can also use hydrogen peroxide (the proportions for preparing the solution are similar to the first option).
Cleaning powders are not the best option
Some housewives use various cleaning powders to clean wooden cutting boards. It's best to refrain from doing this.
Despite the fact that they effectively remove various odors and dirt from almost any surface, it is highly not recommended to use such substances for cleaning kitchen utensils, especially wooden cutting boards - powder particles may remain on their surface even when further use end up in the food you prepared.
It probably goes without saying that this poses a threat to the health of all members of your family.
Clean your wooden cutting board from time to time
Rub it lightly with fine sandpaper to keep the surface smooth, especially if there are food particles or uneven surfaces.
Restoring the cutting board. We will use sandpaper, salt, lemon and sunflower oil heated in a water bath.
The cutting board is a breeding ground for bacteria. What to do?
Bacterial contamination test for cutting boards
Which cutting board should you choose?
Key points:
- For different types food, you need to use different cutting boards. This way you can avoid food poisoning when preparing meat products and you won’t have to constantly wash the same board when cooking.
- Hot water and dish soap are essential helpers for daily cleaning of cutting boards.
- Once a week, thoroughly disinfect all cutting boards.
Adviсe:
- Some food odors, such as garlic, onions and fish, are difficult to avoid. Dip a paper towel into pure lemon juice or take a lemon wedge and rub the surface - your cutting boards will smell like citrusy freshness!
- Rub the board with coarse salt or baking soda to remove strong odors. Leave the substance on the board for 2 - 3 minutes, then wipe the treated surface. Rinse cutting board and dry.
- Bacteria die without moisture. Store the board in a dry place away from food and any other contaminants. Store your board upright when not in use.
Preventing food contamination
Who wants to suffer from food poisoning? Follow these simple tips to avoid such problems:
- Buy hard acrylic or rubber boards as they are the most hygienic to use (these are the boards commonly used in restaurants).
- Wooden boards should be disinfected regularly and kept as clean as possible.
- It is convenient to have several boards for different types food. You should have at least two of them: one for raw meat and fish, the other for vegetables, bread and any other foods that can be eaten raw.
- Buy colored sets of cutting boards or label the boards yourself, this will make it much easier to distinguish them by purpose.
- Throw away any cutting boards that have cracks, large scratches, or obvious signs of dirt. Like all kitchen utensils, cutting boards have an expiration date and it is important to dispose of them promptly to maintain kitchen hygiene and cleanliness.
Processing cutting boards
Most wooden cutting boards are made from hard rocks woods such as teak, although bamboo cutting boards are also quite common. Any type of wood should be treated to prevent stains and keep food odors and bacteria from lingering on the surface.
Use an oil that can be used multiple times, e.g. edible mineral oil. It is safe and will fill the pores of the wood well. Another name is liquid paraffin, edible petroleum jelly.
Rub the oil onto the board and let it soak into the wood. Wipe off excess oil with a clean, dry cloth. Repeat this process at least once a month.
Attention! Do not use vegetable oil on cutting boards. This oil will go rancid and cause an unpleasant odor.
After mineral oil, apply beeswax, it will make the surface of the board waterproof, which will protect the wood from wear and tear and extend its service life. In a microwave-safe container, microwave 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) beeswax with 1 cup (240 ml) mineral oil for about 45 seconds. Apply warm wax to cutting board.
Based on materials from www.cleanipedia.com, ru.wikihow.com
Wooden kitchen cutting boards have many advantages compared to their plastic and ceramic counterparts.
Products do not slip on their surface, allowing you to cut them much more confidently and quickly.
In addition, dense wood, in addition to its environmental friendliness, is also famous for its durability, so wooden boards last much longer than their other analogues.
But wooden cutting boards have their drawbacks. The main ones are the ability of wood to absorb odors and change appearance for the worse. In order for the board to last longer, it is necessary to properly care for it.
I hope now you know how to do it :o)....
Cutting boards are such an essential utensil in the kitchen. Do we pay enough attention to such an important issue as cutting board care?
Why look after her? “I shook off the crumbs, that’s all.” At best, rinse it lightly under the tap or from a mug. We’ve probably seen this more than once at someone’s house (here we can sometimes wrinkle our nose and think: “what a dirty little thing,” or: “I’ll never set foot here again”). And sometimes we ourselves can rush, to be honest. Either we don’t wash the board thoroughly (I’ll wash it later), or we mix it up and use it for other purposes, or even there’s only one board in the kitchen for any preparation.
Of course, it would be correct if there were several cutting boards. It is necessary to have different kitchen boards: for dough, for raw and cooked fish, meat and vegetables, for sausages and cheeses, for bread, for onions and garlic, for herbs. But that's a completely different conversation. Here everyone decides for himself - which ones, why and how many of them are needed.
But how to care for them? It turns out that ignoring this issue is sometimes fraught unpleasant consequences, especially during the hot season and on holidays. We need to take care of ourselves and our family. It would seem like a small thing, but we use this utensil every day and it is important for our mood and health.
Dirty and, especially, wet kitchen boards, like those, are inhabited by a lot of all sorts of evil spirits, which multiply and multiply.
Wooden boards are rightfully considered more hygienic than all others, but they require particularly careful care, starting from the moment of purchase. Experts advise immediately treating them with hot (70-100 degrees) edible mineral or petroleum jelly (pharmaceutical oil), after lightly sanding them with fine sandpaper if the surface is not completely smooth.
Any fats, butter or vegetable oils, with the exception of flaxseed, it is not recommended to use them for these purposes, so that later, having gone rancid, they do not spoil the taste and smell of the prepared products. And there can be no talk about technical oils.
You should moisten a cotton swab with hot oil and lubricate both surfaces and the end of the boards, thoroughly saturating them. And this “training” must be repeated several times every couple of hours.
In the future, it is advisable to periodically repeat this procedure, cleaning the surface with fine sandpaper if necessary and again lubricating it with hot mineral oil. But the need for this action depends on the load on this subject. It’s one thing when a person lives alone and cooks little, but it’s another to have a large family and cook a lot. Well, restaurants have their own methods and processing times.
To tell the truth, I use the old village method - I scrape it with a knife, wash it thoroughly, and dry it even more thoroughly. And then I rub it again with my favorite oil - linseed. True, very rarely, and not as carefully as the first time after purchase.
In order for your wooden kitchen boards to serve you faithfully for many years, look beautiful and be protected from bacteria getting inside, be prepared to spend at least half a day on their initial processing. But you will be very satisfied with the result of your work.
Personally, I rub in the oil with clean hands. It’s more pleasant for me to feel the wood and massage my palms. I’ll drink it stronger and go about my business. The first time, in total, it took more than a day, but at least I didn’t stand over them as if tied, but carried out this operation together with the next dishwashing, or at the monitor screen, looking at the programs that interested me.
Wooden boards, unlike others, are good because they themselves “know how to fight” harmful bacteria quite well. But nevertheless, after processing raw meat and fish, you should clean them especially carefully.
After use, bamboo, stone, glass, plastic or plywood cutting boards should be washed with hot water and soap, after removing food residues from them, wipe and dry thoroughly. And it wouldn’t hurt to scald a wooden board with boiling water after washing.
Do not keep the boards wet or wash them in dishwasher. The boards should be dried and stored in an upright position and not close to each other. It should also always be dry underneath. And sometimes you look at a beautiful thing, you lift it up, and underneath there is a layer of mold.
It is very good to periodically treat all kitchen boards with a solution of vinegar or lemon juice, especially after cutting raw or odor-bearing foods. I prefer to remove the fishy smell with either 9% vinegar or a lemon cut in half.
You can also remove unpleasant odors with salt. True, opinions differ here - dry or wet method. I rub it right away when I wash it. I’m too lazy to go back to this again, and it’s not entirely clear - the salt draws out the remaining moisture from the board or, conversely, attracts it from the air. If you wish, you can discuss this issue, maybe I will learn some sense.
For some time I did not dare to throw away my very beautiful ceramic board - a gift. But I plucked up the courage and threw it away one day. I don't like useless things.
The sound of a knife on ceramics irritated the whole family, for the same reason I don’t like glass. And we had to handle it very carefully so as not to break or chip it. It is more likely for those who are never in a hurry. More for beauty than for use.
In these simple ways, you can turn your irreplaceable kitchen cutting boards into assistants loyal to you for many years, and at the same time looking quite textured. And you will never have to carelessly throw them into the closet, hiding them from someone’s appraising glances. On the contrary, let them stand in plain sight and please the eye.
Video. End cutting board. Treatment with mineral oil and beeswax.
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There are 35 comments on the post “Cutting board care – is it really that important”
Yes, wooden ones are undoubtedly better, but not in terms of caring for them! It’s easier, better and faster to process ceramic ones, no matter what you say. And safer for your health!
I completely agree with you. I have several boards: for bread, for vegetables, for sausage and cheese, for raw meat and for fish. I always pour boiling water over them and treat them with vinegar. Thanks for the interesting article!
About processing wooden boards linseed oil I haven’t heard of them, probably because I’ve always used plastic ones.
There are actually 4 of them for different products.
Thank you for the article.Irina, good day! Your site is wonderful! You and I have a lot in common: I am a student at the StarUp school, I lived in Far East in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for 12 years, my grandparents lived in Siberia in the city of Barabinsk, in Ukraine I lived in Krivoy Rog for 12 years. We met on the Internet while discussing an article.
How to care for cutting boards: I have two boards - one strictly for baked goods, the other for everything. After rinsing the board FOR EVERYTHING with hot water, I wipe it with a weak vinegar solution + grate the carrots a little and, after scuffing the surface of the board with carrot mixture, wash it off. Carrots are good at eliminating any odor.
At one time, when I bought butter, I cut it into pieces and lined it with plastic slices of carrots, cut to length: it eliminates the smell of old butter. The only thing was that we had to change the slices of butter every 4-5 days. But the oil always had a fresh smell.
Many people asked me why put in plastic wraps, take less oil, you can always buy fresh. But at one time I lived in such conditions that you often couldn’t get around to shopping, so I had to use my grandmother’s advice. I was glad to meet you. I wish you success and all the brightest and most joyful things.
I have 3 wooden boards. I scald them with boiling water and wipe them with lemon, but about the oil - this is the biggest news for me. And it turns out you need to wooden board perform a whole ritual (there’s no other way to call it - you have to spend so much time babysitting her!). But since they don’t look the best for me, apparently I need to set aside a special day for such a procedure. Let them be painted on me too!
Hello Irina!
Probably many people don’t think, or haven’t even thought about the fact that a cutting board requires no less care than anything else.
They wrote here that glass, ceramic and plastic boards. I would like to slightly upset those who wrote about this. Alas, this is not at all what you think.
I only have (so far) two boards, which I wash every time (after cutting any ingredient). For non-frozen products, as well as meat on the bone, I most often use a ceramic knife. In all other cases, only metal.
Now imagine a glass or ceramic board and use ceramic knife. Whichever will last longer. Minus on the face.
In addition, natural (natural) material is still much better. And believe me, caring for it is not that labor-intensive.
Hello, Irina Olegovna. You asked what to do with the site's awards. My opinion is that the site will not benefit from this. After all, the reward is given disinterestedly. And in this case, the reward is accompanied by a requirement to provide a backlink. This is no longer a reward, but blackmail. If you put links, you will also be “rewarded”. I did not participate in this game; I did not like this idea right away. If someone is offended, well, you won’t be nice to everyone. In general, the fewer outgoing links, the better. What you should do is up to you to decide. If you really like someone’s site, then why not post a link.
An elementary thing is a cutting board, and caring for it is a whole science.
