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Cleaning Wooden Chopping Board

organic_wanabe
organic_wanabe Posts: 808 Forumite
in Old style MoneySaving
Did anyone else catch Ready Steady Cook tonight? I wasn't paying a lot of attention but ears pricked up when they had a question along the lines of "I have a new kitchen - what should my priority be?". The Italian chef said "don't stint on a good knife, a couple of good pans and a good wooden chopping board". (We all knew that anyway - but Santa again forgot to bring them this year!) He then went on to say that you should clean the wooden chopping board by sprinking some salt on the board, cut a lemon in half and using both halves (for quickness I suppose) rub it over the salt and all over the chopping board, then rinse the board with cold water. Seemingly this sterilises the wood. Hadn't heard that before but willing to give anything a try. DH (chemist) confirms saying that salt and acid should deal with most bacteria. If I don't post again soonish you'll know that the salmonella got me;)
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Comments

  • Toxic_Lemon
    Toxic_Lemon Posts: 542 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I just wipe mine with a cloth and occasionally spray with Worral-Thompson's environmentally-safe anti-bac spray. I think the lemon/salt method is a bit expensive, considering the price of lemons, isn't it?
    TL
  • Ticklemouse
    Ticklemouse Posts: 5,030 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I think that wooden chopping boards are by their very nature, anti-bacterial, or at least they kill their own bugs. Something to do with the way the wood traps the germs and "suffocates" them (As you can tell, I don't know a lot of the technical stuff :rotfl:) We had this discussion a couple of years ago and someone did explain it.
  • Pink.
    Pink. Posts: 17,652 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I got rid of all my wooden chopping boards because after a little bit of wear and tear I wasn't convinced that I was managing to get them clean enough after chopping meat etc. Now I just use glass chopping boards.

    I hadn't heard that they had anti bacterial properties TM.....I hope I didn't chuck perfectly good chopping boards away for no reason. :o

    Pink
  • Ticklemouse
    Ticklemouse Posts: 5,030 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I found my posts about wooden boards (on the decent gravy thread) As I thought, and Curry Queen had also heard the same a me, that after use, wash in hot soapy water and as the cracks in the board close up, the starve the bugs of oxygen.

    (BTW - as mentioned on those posts, I was after a wooden carving board, with spikes. I found one :D Have no problem with keeping it clean)
  • Ebany
    Ebany Posts: 254 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    I get a bit nervous about the rough surface holding bacteria so I use a glass one for raw meat, but as I also heard that glass ones are bad for your knives I use a wood one for everything else. If the wood one is antibacterial in itself then I will use that for everything as raw chicken doesnt half slide about on a smooth glass chopping board!
  • Churchmouse
    Churchmouse Posts: 3,004 Forumite
    Pink-winged wrote:
    I hadn't heard that they had anti bacterial properties TM.....I hope I didn't chuck perfectly good chopping boards away for no reason. :o

    Pink

    Regretfully Pink, I think you may have, but you're not alone!!! Several years ago I got rid of mine, then within a week read about their anti-bacterial properties and bought a new lot!!!:rotfl:
    You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
  • jessicamb
    jessicamb Posts: 10,446 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I thought that they were bad too and avoided them :o - I stand corrected :D

    I normally choose the plastic ones that can go in the dishwasher so I dont have to wash up ;)
    The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese :cool:
  • csarina
    csarina Posts: 2,557 Forumite
    Pink-winged wrote:
    I got rid of all my wooden chopping boards because after a little bit of wear and tear I wasn't convinced that I was managing to get them clean enough after chopping meat etc. Now I just use glass chopping boards.

    I hadn't heard that they had anti bacterial properties TM.....I hope I didn't chuck perfectly good chopping boards away for no reason. :o

    Pink

    Pink

    Glass chopping boards blunt your knife, not a good thing to use, if you are really funny about wooden boards a weekly scrub with bleach works wonders, our butcher used to do his chopping block with hot soapy water and bleach, neat and scrubbed well in..... I use the same method myself after we have had supper on sunday, the rest of the week I use hot water and WUL.
    Was 13st 8 lbs,Now 12st 11 Lost 10 1/4lbs since I started on my diet.
  • Pink.
    Pink. Posts: 17,652 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I think I need to go out and see if I can find some wooden chopping boards in the sales. Oh well we live and learn, thanks everyone for your help and apologies to organic wannabe for sort of hijacking your thread. :o

    Pink
  • marksward
    marksward Posts: 258 Forumite
    oil the board with sunnflower oil or similar every few weeks. Do both sides. Make sure you use both sides of the board in order to keep it flat. Every mnths or so give it a light doing with sandpaper and re-oil. They will last 'forever' if kept oiled as this stops water/fluids soaking in and prevent the wood drying and cracking. TO oil it simply pour on some oil and spread it round with kitchen paper and let it soak in.
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