Cutting Boards

I love a good knife, and I love a good cutting board. Thankfully I brought a good knife and cutting board with me because the ones here are crappy. This bit led me to a little research I'll share with you.

I once read a while back that although most people don't think so, wood cutting boards are safer than plastic ones. Most people assume that because the plastic isn't porous it won't hold on to bacteria vs. wood, which is porous and may be harder to clean. This was always sort of an assumption based on what seemed to be logical thinking. The 1993 study I read found that when bacteria was left on wooden and plastic cutting boards, the bacteria died off on the wooden one in a matter of minutes while the bacteria on the plastic cutting board multiplied and grew overnight. I read the study a while ago, and things change, so I decided to do a search today to find out what the latest is on that debate. Debate was what I found.

Before I get to the debate and what I found, let me just tell you that I hate plastic cutting boards. The thin ones warp, and the thick ones are all gross once you've been using it for some time. Also, I feel like I'm killing my knife when I use it on plastic - ick, the feel of cutting into a little plastic every time you make a pass with your knife if you're cutting something that requires pressure just makes me cringe.

That said, what I found was interesting. That original study I found came into question a while after because the experiment methods may not have made sense, which would make any outcome null and void. Since then they've found that the porous wooden surface may actually draw bacteria away from the surface, which makes it safer while cutting. Plastic, because it isn't porous, should clean up well. Here's the catch. Have you ever seen a plastic board that's been used a lot? Definite cut marks are visible throughout the board. This happens eventually with wood, but it's more like weathering in wood and not definite cuts. These cuts in the plastic surface actually in the end make it harder to clean and gives the bacteria more hiding places than in a wood board. Wood boards are also easier on your knife for sure.

Really, at the end of the day, if you clean your boards well you can use whatever you like. I, for one, will continue to use wood for the sake of my knives and the way it feels to cut on. Safety has nothing to do with my decision. I don't obsess over safety in the kitchen like they urge you to, but that's a whole other discussion for another time.