by jester » Sat Apr 10, 2021 7:25 am
I'm far from an expert, but I did do some research into this awhile back. I wanted to purchase wood cutting boards, but wanted something that was still fairly light. One of the interesting things I read about was the hardness of the wood you select. There is actually the Janka Hardness scale that rates different types of wood. I think a lot of people like to buy very hard wood so that they get less scratches/cuts over time so the wood stays looking nice. This is probably why bamboo is so popular. Not only is it light, but bamboo is extremely hard. The downside of this is that when you're cutting, something has to give. If it's not the wood, then it's your knife. If you get an an extremely hard wood cutting board you may find yourself needing to hone/sharpen your knives more often.
I ended up going with teak wood boards. Teak's on the softer side, and you definitely will cut into it with a knife, so you have to decide what's most important to you. I also ended up going with a thinner board for weight purposes. I was a bit afraid of warping, but I've had zero issues. I was also able to find thinner teak cutting boards on Amazon for a reasonable price (TeakHaus is the brand if you're interested in seeing them).
As far as maintenance goes, you just need to use mineral oil or beeswax, or some combo of the two. It's not a very difficult or time consuming process, but can be a bit messy. I probably oil my boards every couple of months or so. I should probably do it more often. It's very easy to see when your board needs to be oiled as the color of the wood will continue to lighten up over time. It is very satisfying to see your boards after you oil them as the wood looks stunning.
If you go this route, make sure you get food safe mineral oil. The oil soaks into the boards, and you wipe/buff it out, but obviously trace amounts come in contact with your food, so you wouldn't want to apply a toxic substance to your cutting board!