Wooden Chopping Board.

[derekpara]

I am thinking of making a kitchen chopping board out of a slab of Mahogany 1" thick. It would be used for preparing/cutting vegetables, meat, fish, poultry etc.

My questions are:
1. Would I have to pre-treat the board with something like Almond oil ?
2. Is the intended use of several food items on what is, essentially, an absorbant surface unwise for food hygeine reasons, even though it would be thoroughly cleaned after each use with something like Dettox ?

Advice/suggestions welcome.

Cheers.

D

[Chipchopper]

My wood of choice for a chopping board would be something bright, odorless and close grained like sycamore, beech, birch or perhaps olive.
The mahogany, I think would make a nice cheese serving board.

A good scrub after use, with an anti bacterial washing up liquid should take care of any bugs.

[HansUrbancka]

Mahogany is an excellent timber for a chopping board. Smooth the surface well with fine grained sandpaper and then apply a coating of vegetable oil such as sunflower seed.

Incidentally, wooden boards are far more hygienic than plastic.
Worth a read of the following links :-

http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/wood-craft-blog/2012/07/28/wooden-or-plastic-cutting-boards-which-are-safer-the-facts/

http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-best-kind-of-cutting-board-plastic-wood-or-bamboo-51821

Hans.

[DTCwordfan]

wood here, two of them.....problem with sawdust after I have ground them down (just jossing).....keep your blades sharp, mikey, most amateurs do not....avoids tearing of the meat/fish across the board.

[derekpara]

Wow ! I didn't expect such a response. Thanks to everyone.

Mahogany it will be. Properly treated and cleaned thoroughly after use.

Cheers.

D

[HansUrbancka]

Thanks for having awarded me 'Best Answer'.

Hans.

[mazie]

OH is a carpenter. He made me a Mahogany chopping board 30 years ago and I'm still using it. In all that time I have never poisoned anyone.

[237SJ]

English Oak is good for chopping boards