Wooden Chopping Boards

Bateman

Not related to the other thead about oiling (I won't bother oiling the new one I have), which in any case is locked...

Do people use certain chopping boards (plastic, wood, other) for certain food types (meat, fish, veg), and if so why?

horsemaster

I use wooden choppen boards for the vegetables, garlic, onions, etc. When it comes to meat and fish, I usually use plastic ones. I really like the wooden ones though. But the plastic ones seems easier to clean.

Bateman

I guess if you are cutting meat that may have blood on it, you want to wipe the blood off the plastic board rather than having it stain a wooden board, is this the kind of logic that dictates this?

horsemaster

Bateman wrote: »

I guess if you are cutting meat that may have blood on it, you want to wipe the blood off the plastic board rather than having it stain a wooden board, is this the kind of logic that dictates this?

Thats part of the reason Bateman. I am also worried about salmonella poisoning if I don't wash the wooden ones well. I have to use detergent on the wooden board if I really want to clean it well. But wood is porous and may have some detergent left in them which I wouldn't want. I am not worried about the blood staining that much because I clean the board very soon after cutting the meat/fish. I also like the look of a well used wooden board so the slight syain may give it the aged effect! My next wood working project might well be a wooden board with checkered design. All this talk of wooden boards gas got me me excited on wanting to do one for ages.

oscarBravo

horsemaster wrote: »

I have to use detergent on the wooden board if I really want to clean it well.

:eek: I wouldn't dream of not using detergent on my plastic boards, especially after using them for raw meat.

But wood is porous and may have some detergent left in them which I wouldn't want.

Meh. I always rinse well after scrubbing a wooden board with detergent. I doubt there's any significant quantity of detergent in the pores, and more than there is in my wooden spoons or bamboo whisks.

My next wood working project might well be a wooden board with checkered design.

Ooh, nice. End grain?

Mike Litoris

I use a wooden board for everything bar chicken. I've a second smaller board for that.

BaZmO*

I was gonna write a long post but I've found somebody that says it better than I could've.

There has been debate over whether plastic or wooden chopping boards are better. Both types of boards are safe if they are cleaned properly. In fact, the major concern when it comes to chopping boards is cross-contamination – when raw food containing bacteria comes into contact with cooked or ready to eat food. This is why separate chopping boards for raw foods are recommended.

Wooden chopping boards have been proven to be more hygienic than plastic chopping boards due to the fact that wooden boards have a natural tannin in them that acts as an anti-bacterial agent. They are also less likely to dull your knives. When using plastic chopping boards, the blade of the knife can create a feathering on the surface, and the bacteria can get caught in these crevasses. Once they are there, there is no way of removing them.

However, the advantage of plastic chopping boards is that they can be placed in the dishwasher, where the hot rinse cycle will kill bacteria. If you don’t have a dishwasher, scrub the board thoroughly with hot, soapy water, before rinsing and allowing to dry. To clean and deodorise a plastic board, use one teaspoon of bleach to one litre of water. Saturate the surfaces of the board and allow to stand for five minutes before rinsing and drying.



Read more: http://www.homeimprovementpages.com.au/article/Chopping_Boards#ixzz2IkcLgy4G

Cienciano

I use wood because it feels better on the knife. Remember in the 90's the thing was to have a glass one :eek:
I have 3, meat, veg and bread.

oscarBravo

Cienciano wrote: »

Remember in the 90's the thing was to have a glass one :eek:

Aldi had slabs of granite during the week that they described as "worktop savers", implying that you'd use them as chopping boards - as if!

I bought one for pastry

Minder

To clean and deodorise a plastic board, use one teaspoon of bleach to one litre of water. Saturate the surfaces of the board and allow to stand for five minutes before rinsing and drying.

Lemon juice is probably a more palatable alternative to bleach. Rub half a lemon over the surface of the board and leave for 15 minutes before washing.

+1 on wooden boards over plastic. But I do use separate plastic boards for raw meat and fish. I had a small wooden board that we used for raw meat and fish but it was impractical for filleting a large fish like a salmon, so I went for the large blue plastic one used in commercial kitchens.

BaZmO*

Minder wrote: »

Lemon juice is probably a more palatable alternative to bleach. Rub half a lemon over the surface of the board and leave for 15 minutes before washing.

In fairness though, a proper cleaning of the board along with common sense when it comes to hygiene is all you really need.

rubadub

BaZmO* wrote: »

common sense when it comes to hygiene is all you really need.

Common sense about food hygiene is not that common. Some of the stuff you see TV chefs doing is astonishing. And I not talking about ones where their cleaning/hygiene methods might be edited out. This is live TV or unedited continuous flowing camera shots.

And some seem to consider themselves hygienic, I have seen them reminding or sort of telling off guest chefs to wash their hands, when just before that they were cross contaminating loads of utensils themselves.

I expect these supposedly trained chefs are even more heavily scrutinised about hygiene issues than normal chefs, so I do not hold out much hope for the average person.

oscarBravo

I was delighted to see Monica Galetti on one episode of Masterchef: the Professionals dress down a competitor for her lack of cross-contamination precautions, and refuse to eat her dish on that basis.

BaZmO*

rubadub wrote: »

Common sense about food hygiene is not that common.

I knew someone would pick me up on that comment. Common sense in general is not that common, but the point I was making was that people can get so caught up in the best "this" or the best "that" when normally a bit of common sense will do the job. Common sense in this case being a bit of education.

rubadub

BaZmO* wrote: »

get so caught up in the best "this" or the best "that" when normally a bit of common sense will do the job

+1 They just have to think about what is going on, I like those ads where it shows the invisible transfer between people and things, that make people think.

People will go all overkill with cleaning and then mess up completely with a 'weakest link' in their procedures.

The most ridiculous one in recent times is the dettol "no touch" handwash thing, made a laughing stock of them in my mind. All their ads just show people using it and rinsing off under a regular flowing tap, but how do you turn the tap off -oh that's right, turn the contaminated tap handle:rolleyes:

hardCopy

oscarBravo wrote: »

Aldi had slabs of granite during the week that they described as "worktop savers", implying that you'd use them as chopping boards - as if!

I bought one for pastry

Would they not be for putting down hot pots and pans?

oscarBravo

hardCopy wrote: »

Would they not be for putting down hot pots and pans?

Maybe, although I'd be worried about cracking it. I generally put hot pots down on the cooker or on a cork trivet.

April O Neill

oscarBravo wrote: »

I was delighted to see Monica Galetti on one episode of Masterchef: the Professionals dress down a competitor for her lack of cross-contamination precautions, and refuse to eat her dish on that basis.

Good ol' Monica.

April O Neill

rubadub wrote: »

The most ridiculous one in recent times is the dettol "no touch" handwash thing, made a laughing stock of them in my mind. All their ads just show people using it and rinsing off under a regular flowing tap, but how do you turn the tap off -oh that's right, turn the contaminated tap handle:rolleyes:

I suppose a lot of taps can be elbowed on and off these days. Me personally, I fill the sink a bit with hot, soapy water before handling raw meat, and use that to stick my hands to get off the excess stuff then wash, and I also use it to chuck in chopping boards, utensils etc.

fourmations

hi

basic stuff...but...
im not so fussy and have never poisoned anyone
i would think nothing of cross contamination if the food is being cooked,
i would use a knife i jsut used on meat on onions if i was cooking them
am i safe there?

cheers

BaZmO*

fourmations wrote: »

hi

basic stuff...but...
im not so fussy and have never poisoned anyone
i would think nothing of cross contamination if the food is being cooked,
i would use a knife i jsut used on meat on onions if i was cooking them
am i safe there?

cheers

Cross contamination mainly deals with contaminating cooked (or ready to eat) food with raw food, in particular raw meat. If everything is going to be thrown into a pot and cooked together there's no real risk. Separate chopping boards and the like is just just good practice.

68 lost souls

I often use a plate as a chopping board, is there anything wrong with this method?

BaZmO*

68 lost souls wrote: »

I often use a plate as a chopping board, is there anything wrong with this method?

It'll blunt your knives

Chronic Button

BaZmO* wrote: »

It'll blunt your knives

Yes and a plate is unstable too so you've a higher risk of cutting yourself

Rasmus

I always use a plastic chopping board for meat - wood is too porous. Wood is great for everything else though.

April O Neill

I quite like glass ones.

CJhaughey

April O Neill wrote: »

I quite like glass ones.

Your knives don't though.
I like a board that doesn't allow what ever is being cut to slide away, it need to have a little bit of grip, plastic boards and wooden board usually provide this.
Glass and stone as a cutting boards, no way.

rubadub

BaZmO* wrote: »

Separate chopping boards and the like is just just good practice.

Many only worry about chopping boards and do not think of the rest. I was watching a TV chef again at the weekend and I am pretty sure he cross contaminated food.

He was handing raw chicken, grabbed a bottle of olive oil to pour on them, placed it back. Then he goes and washed and dries his hands. The camera cut away and the bottle had moved, presumably by him so in effect touching raw chicken, and then touched food to be eaten. This is the most common sort of contamination I see, handling and rehandling pepper mills. Turning on taps with "chicken hands" and recontaminating your hands when turning it off and then wiping those hands on semi-moist room temp towels, perfect for bacterial growth. Contaminated hands going into bowls of salt -the salt may kill it off, I am not sure.

BaZmO*

rubadub wrote: »

Many only worry about chopping boards and do not think of the rest. I was watching a TV chef again at the weekend and I am pretty sure he cross contaminated food.

He was handing raw chicken, grabbed a bottle of olive oil to pour on them, placed it back. Then he goes and washed and dries his hands. The camera cut away and the bottle had moved, presumably by him so in effect touching raw chicken, and then touched food to be eaten. This is the most common sort of contamination I see, handling and rehandling pepper mills. Turning on taps with "chicken hands" and recontaminating your hands when turning it off and then wiping those hands on semi-moist room temp towels, perfect for bacterial growth. Contaminated hands going into bowls of salt -the salt may kill it off, I am not sure.

Yeah, people always tend to get fixated on just one item but don't do the basics across all aspects. You can apply that statement to most things people do.

Rasmus

rubadub wrote: »

Many only worry about chopping boards and do not think of the rest. I was watching a TV chef again at the weekend and I am pretty sure he cross contaminated food.

.

I see him doing that ALL the time, followed by a quick rinse of the hands without soap! I assume it is the same fellow.

dudara

I have three wooden chopping boards - can't stand plastic or other materials. Wood has the density and tactile feel that I like.

I wil chop meat & veg on the same board IF everything is going to be cooked. Otherwise, once the board has been used for meat, it goes into the sink for washing and I pull out another one.

I'm not into OTT hygiene, but a decent level of common sense, washing-up liquid and hot water go a long way.