Cutting Board Wood

Umh! Some woods are better because they don't give a taste to the food. One of the best is sycamore. What are butcher blocks made of? Maple?Anything porous would not work. Such as oak. Did you ever taste catalpa? It smells and tastes like licorice sort of.
 
I have some extra walnut that I am making a board out of, but its kind of small 8x8, so maybe its more like a cheese cutting board.
 
I've used walnut in cutting boards and although it's more porous than maple, it works pretty well. (Especially if it's an end grain cutting board.) I usually use it more for accents than for the main body of the board, but for your described situation, I think it'd work. It's used for salad bowls all the time.
 
Umh! Some woods are better because they don't give a taste to the food. One of the best is sycamore. What are butcher blocks made of? Maple?Anything porous would not work. Such as oak. Did you ever taste catalpa? It smells and tastes like licorice sort of.

The cutting/butcher board we have, and have been using for a couple decades, is primarily oak with several decorative walnut strips. I believe any hard-hardwood is suitable. The professional blocks seem to be mainly either oak or maple or a combination. A company in Missouri makes and sells jillions of bowls and cutting boards from walnut.
IMHO, after a seasoning with oil (I prefer olive), the wood type isn't very important as long as it is hard enough for the purpose intended.
 
(I prefer olive)

Hi Frank...I have read a couple of your posts in which you mention Olive Oil as a treatment to your cutting board.

I am not questioning your method as it has worked for you for a long while, but Olive Oil goes rancid. IMHO, this would not be a good choice of "finish" or treatment of the wood. You are still walking and talking, so it clearly hasn't hurt you, but I am curious about this method as I read to the contrary.

Any other's successfully use Olive Oil?

Thanks.
Matt
 
Hi Frank...I have read a couple of your posts in which you mention Olive Oil as a treatment to your cutting board.

I am not questioning your method as it has worked for you for a long while, but Olive Oil goes rancid. IMHO, this would not be a good choice of "finish" or treatment of the wood. You are still walking and talking, so it clearly hasn't hurt you, but I am curious about this method as I read to the contrary.

Any other's successfully use Olive Oil?

Thanks.
Matt

Actually, I walk into walls and talk funny.
I use olive oil because I'm Italian and can't help myself.
Have never seen olive oil go rancid, ever.
This topic comes up frequently, not just here. Choice of oils is all over the board. Go with what floats yer stick.

Edit: I seem to remember reading that jars of olive oil were found in Egyptian tombs and were actually preserving foods in the jars. I have a Mason jar of OO that is a kinda perpetual pesto mix. When it gets low, I just add more OO, basil, garlic, whatever. Wife says she thinks it can change color and flavor with time. Found this: http://www.foodandwine.net/recipes/recip006.htm
 
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Some I have seen said to use nothing at all on the cutting boards but the majority I have read so far has been to use minerial oil on them.
 
My recommendation is for mineral oil. I've seen and smelled olive oil go rancid in the climate we have here in SoCal, particularly when it's not enclosed in a bottle or jar. In an enclosed vessel, it lasts a long time (as Frank noted), but when exposed to air, it will indeed go rancid over time. I walk past an olive tree daily on my way through the parking lot at work, and not only is the sidewalk stained with the oil from olives that have been crushed by being walked on, but you can smell the rancid aroma of sun-baked olive oil from yards away.
 
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