Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best cutting board, material, size, value. JB, Eileen and all.

US Army SERE School at Ft Bragg has been butchering chickens and rabbits on the same wooden 2x4 tables for decades, they are meticulously cleaned (by the students of course) afterwards. Folks don't get sick. No UHMWP required.

And exactly what does that prove what about the virtues of wood versus synthetic?

As I pointed out earlier, various studies have come to various conclusions, and overall there is no consensus.

Anson,
I inspect restaurants for the Virginia Department of Health. For commercial kitchens we allow the use of plastic or wood. If you are using wood it needs to be a hard wood and it has to be sealed. Once the board starts to develop cracks it needs to be replaced since you will be unable to sanitize into the cracks. For the plastic boards replace them when the stains are not removed when you sanitize it. Whether you use wood or plastic make sure wash the board with hot soapy water, rinse the soap off and then sanitize the board with your choice of sanitizer, i.e. bleach (50-100 ppm), quaternary ammonia (200-400 ppm), or iodine (few use anymore because of the cost and staining).

barm,

Very interesting. What's the definition of "sealed" wood?

Mule Deer,

"Sealed" means free of cracks or other openings that permit the entry or passage of moisture.

A large plastic surface is handy, and when new, plastic is a good surface, but plastic is abrasive to knife edges, and in use, plastic gets sliced quickly and becomes progressively harder to clean and sterilize. ( I use a brush with detergent and water and final bleach wetting/soaking for 20 minutes.)

Hard wood butcher block has some benefits. For clean-up, brushing with detergent and bleach works just as well. But at some point, when the surface gets chewed up, the entire top surface can be sanded down with a vibratory sander and oiled and restored to a new condition. Plastic can't.

Sharp knife edges last longer on wood. It does need to be hard wood and Maple is a good choice because it has a tight grain.

I use both plastic and wood in combination. I don't like to cut on plastic, but a large plastic panel for prep, and 2-3 or more smaller 2'x2'x3/4" or 1" wooden cutting boards on top of it for cutting and cleaving meat, and one for veggies. I have a few of them handy. I have a large butcher block table in the kitchen, but I still cut on the smaller units on top of it.

If they get too chewed I sand them down, or burn them and start over.

hdpe is available in 4x8 sheets,last time I checked it was around $150,although that has been about 5 years ago.
that is for 1/2 thick,with a textured surface.


we used to cut the sheets into 16x12 pieces for cutting boards for our kitchens.

A little router work and the edges are rounded and a blood groove cut .
I can make them any size,if anyone is interested.

I bought a couple of white plastic boards at Sams club a few years back. I don't remember the price but they were reasonable. They are big enough for me but I am only doing deer quarters. I am away from home so can not measure them. miles

Be it rifle stocks or cutting boards, wood will always come in second place.

This is the best way to go in my opinion. Depending on the size you buy the material is dishwasher safe also.

Some of us have more wood than others!

I use this I picked up free from a job I was doing
I also have the white plastic in a more manageable size and weight

'What do they use for food prep at SERE school?'

This question weighs heavily on the mind of butchers and chefs, around the globe.



Travis

mesquite is good

Just got some bamboo cutting boards from bed bath and beyond.

The meat dosen't slide around as easily as plastic.

Wife processes chickens for her pet food business on these and is very happy with them.

Virgil B.

www.mcmaster.com has about any size HDPE you could want, length/width/thickness

more or less what we do....swiped a formica table top from somewhere that is the same size as our kitchen table.....works well when there are several people or one, just sit or stand around the table as is individual preference and work....no worrying bout stuff sliding off a cutting board..

aint trashing a knife if a couple swipes with a butchers steel brings them back to sharp

A synthetic is easier to keep clean. We used to wet them down, cover with paper towel and pour bleach on the paper towel. Leave it overnight and wash off in the morning. Block will be snow white and clean. I wouldn't do this with maple or use hardwood for serious meat cutting.

True this. Counter top will turn a knife edge in just a couple passes. It's made hard for a reason.