Chopping board care

So you’ve bought one of our lovely chopping boards, good on ya, you have impeccable taste! In this guide we’ll talk you through some brief properties of timber and how to properly use and care for your chopping board and refresh it when it starts to look like it needs some love.

Wether you have a forge creative original or any other solid wood chopping board for that matter this guide will be relevant to you. There are always exceptions to the rules but 99% of the time all timber has the same needs.

Timber being a natural product has a life of its own and while the tree that your wonderful chopping board has been made from has sadly long passed, your small souvenir of that life goes on and exhibits certain living behaviours as it goes through life with you.

Breathing (sort of)

Even a well finished piece of timber will constantly be drying out or absorbing moisture from the atmosphere depending on the environmental conditions of that particular time, when wood takes on moisture it will expand across the grain and when it loses moisture, you guessed it, it will contract. There is very little stopping this action so instead of fighting it, you need to work with it!

Wood’s constant desire to find equilibrium in its surroundings sometimes causes some movement issues such as cupping, bowing or twisting. If you take a flat board of oak for example and leave a wet rag on the top surface you will quickly discover that your nice flat board will curl up at the edges where the top surface of the timber is rapidly expanding, faster than the bottom surface so it only has one option and that is to ‘cup’.

Drinking (kind of)

As we talked about earlier wood is thirsty! Even if you only bought your beloved chopping board to hang up on your wall as a display piece it will eventually suck all that oil and wax into its very core and end up looking a bit dehydrated. A working board will ‘tire’ even faster, as constant chopping and washing will wear away that lovely oil finish and leave a slightly more pastel and weathered look to your board.

Another thing to mention around the thirst of wood is that its not too fussy about what it drinks so do be carful about what you cut and leave sitting on your chopping board. Water, oils, beetroot juice, onion/garlic juice and any other highly coloured or strongly odoured liquids will all be readily slurped up by the thirsty timber and if not washed quickly and thoroughly may leave a stain or impart a taste to whatever you chop next!

Allergies (ish)

Many of you budding chefs out there will have beautifully crafted knives which are not going to be made from stainless steel. When woods that are high in tannins like oak and walnut, come into contact with iron like in a steel knife blade, a reaction occurs called ‘ebonizing’ which will turn the timber a dark grey to black colour. There is nothing toxic about this reaction but it can be puzzling and down right annoying when you find a large iron stain on your otherwise pristine oak chopping board so be careful!

Mortality

Although wood is incredibly tough, sharp steel knives are a formidable opponent so be careful as you chop slice and dice as if you are too heavy handed you may end up with a divot appearing in the face of your board.

This being said, with proper care of your chopping board it could last generations!

Ideal user instructions

Treat your board with care and it should last a lifetime or more!

• Chop with care, using sharp implements on your chopping board will in time wear away the surface so put your effort into cutting the food and not the wood underneath.

• Aim to keep your board as dry as possible. You will inevitably get it wet in regular use and you will need to wash it from time to time which is absolutely fine. When washing, wet and gently scrub, with a mild detergent both sides of the board at the same time as this balances out the absorption of moisture and will help keep your board flat. Make sure to dry the board as quickly as possible after washing with a tea towel and leave to dry standing and with good air flow all around the board.

• when in use avoid leaving on the surface any food stuffs that are likely to stain the wood or leave an unpleasant odour and wash off the board as quickly as possible after using such foods to avoid any stains or smells/tastes hanging around.

• if any moisture is present on the boards surface or the steel utensil that you’re using, don’t leave the two items in contact for any length of time as the timber will likely react with the steel and form an iron stain. be careful with cast iron cookware as its easy to rest a hot pot on the board for a while but there is the risk of a dark ring mark being left over.

Maintenance of your chopping board

You will want to periodically maintain your chopping board in order to keep it looking fresh. If your board is used on a regular basis you will want to care for it on a monthly basis or less often if you don’t use it as frequently

to properly care for your board, follow these steps:

• Wash your board and properly dry as instructed above.

• If any odours remain then you can use a simple diy solution using a lemon and some coarse sea salt. Cut the lemon in half and sprinkle a small amount of sea salt over the face of the board, then using one half of the lemon gently rub all over the chopping board. Leave the lemon juice to sit for a minute or two before cleaning off with a damp cloth. The slight abrasive nature of the salt and the two ingredients working together help eliminate odours and leave your board smelling fresh.

• Now your board is clean and free of smells its time to put some life back into it! Oils and waxes are great for restoring timber to its former glory and putting some moisture back into the grain. I recommend using Vitality hemp oil and beeswax/hemp oil polish which can both be found in our web shop. Using a lint free cotton cloth a small amount of oil can be gently rubbed into the grain of your board, keep going until the entire board has been coated. You don’t want to drench your board with oil as the timber can only absorb a certain amount at a time so just use enough to wet the wood, the board can be left to sit for 10 minutes or so after application and it will continue to absorb any excess oil but if there are still clear wet patches after this time then with another cotton cloth mop up any excess oil. Leave to dry in a warm dry environment overnight ideally or at least for a few hours.

  If you prefer to use a wood balm or wax then the vitality hemp beeswax polish is perfect, again a small amount can be rubbed into the grain of the wood with a lint free cotton cloth and once the board has been covered, using a clean cotton cloth the wax can be buffed to create a lustrous sheen.

• If any more serious scratches or dents have appeared in your board then these can be treated too. For scratches, some fine grade sanding paper will be sufficient to remove them, using 180 - 240 grit sand paper rub with the direction of the grain until the scratch has been removed. After you have successfully sanded out the scratch, follow the oiling instructions above to protect the bare timber.

  For small dents a very satisfying trick can be used. If you get a small, clean cotton cloth and wet it with water, place it over the dent. Now using a hot iron, place this over your damp cloth and you will hear some sizzling and a lot of steam being produced, this will force its way into the grain of the timber and puff out the dent. The wood around the treated area will now need a light sanding with some fine grade sandpaper and then will need to be treated with oil as above to protect the bare timber.

  Please take care with hot irons and be sure not to leave the iron in contact with the chopping board! Be sure to keep your fingers away from the damp cloth while ironing as the steam flys out and could scold you.