Maintaining Your Wood Cutting Board and Knives

Wooden cutting boards need to be kept clean and the best maintenance is washing with hot soapy water after using.  Do not clean wooden kitchen items in your dishwasher.  This will dry them out and cause cracking.  Initially, the cracking may not be visible to the naked eye but rest assured it is there.  You should never soak your boards or knives in water.  You run the risk of cracking because the moisture content of the wood is increasing quickly while uner water and then decreasing quickly as it is removed.  To sterilize your wooden kitchen items, you can use a very diluted bleach solution or hydrogen peroxide to clean their boards after they’ve been used for cutting raw meat as a precaution against bacterial contamination.  

You should oil wood cutting boards and spoons to help maintain their surface and keep them from cracking. I try to do this monthly.   You may need to do it more or less often.  You have many choices to use for oil.  Whatever oil you use must be food grade and not prone to rancidity.  Mineral oil is an inexpensive and popular choice, and is readily available.  The boards must be clean and dry before oiling.  The oil should be rubbed on with a clean cloth or paper towel and allowed to soak in as long as possible.   A good practice is to apply the oil in the evening after cleaning up from dinner, and then gently wipe off any excess oil on the surface the next morning.   If the wood has an unpleasant odor, apply a small amount of beeswax or lemon oil to the oil.