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What material should I use for cutting board? And which dulls more the knives?

As many cookers might know that wood cutting boards can be bad for use if it is not cleaned after use, because the growth of bacterias and even mold on there, also wood absorbs moist, color, and smells of what was chopped like garlic for example, I have also read that plastic ones also might be bad for use.

I have tried a glass cutting board which are really unconfortable for use, but safer for cleaning, though I have one but I don't use, because it's unconfortable when cutting and harmful because very it's sloppy though.

Also i think it would dull the knife a lot. I wouldnt use an iron,steel, or aluminium cutting board (if them exist) for same reason. btw i always keep my knives sharp with help ofthe bottom of a mug when they need some sharping. btw do you any trick to clean a wood cutting board of bad smells?

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I personally prefer using good quality wooden chopping boards. Avoid using plastic as they aren't environment friendly and good enough for long time. Glass boards were never comforting for me to work as they make so much noise while chopping.

Wooden board have to be cleaned soon after its use. More you keep it unwashed, more difficult it would get to clean later.

To clean the wooden board, sprinkle baking soda over the board and then squeeze lemon and clean it. It removes odour from the board and cleans it. This also works for plastic boards.

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    Note that food safety experts and many chefs use plastic boards as they are non porous and can be cleaned of any contaminants easily. Especially when cutting chicken and the like which could have negative health issues. – Steve Chambers Jul 12 '19 at 11:46
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    It is true that they are not environment friendly, but they last for a long long time, AND, if dropping anything saucy/oily like a tomato sauce, it will stay impregnated in the wood... I do not quite agree with you! But I guess every cook has its tricks! – M.K Jul 12 '19 at 11:57
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    It is not a "trick" it allows restaurants to stay in business and not make their customers sick. They should be used with any uncooked food that could potentially spread unhealthy bacteria, chicken and fish come to mind. Not trying to be harsh here but a plastic/teflon board will last forever and help you do the same. – Steve Chambers Jul 12 '19 at 22:19
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    Wood is safer than plastic; that unsafe thing is a myth from the 1980s. nytimes.com/1993/02/10/health/…. Update your myths, M.K.!. Re cleaning: I use the lemon straight from the lemon and I rub the peel on the board too, then I let it sit. No baking soda. The straight juice whitens the board and I think the lemon oil might help too. – Willk Jul 13 '19 at 13:17
  • From a safety perspective, wood is far superior. I find glass chopping boards hinder chopping and are incredibly dangerous. Just don't pour boiling water on your wooden chopping board! – Howeitzer Jul 15 '19 at 13:58
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There's a huge standing debate on that, and you'll find several articles contradicting each other.

While wood seems at first like a bad choice (it porous, so it harbours bacteria) it's quite the opposite.

Researchers discovered that used, knife-scarred wooden cutting boards harbored no more bacteria than new boards, while knife-scarred plastic boards were "impossible to clean and disinfect manually." When the researchers scanned the plastic boards with electron micrographs, they saw "highly significant damage" to the surfaces from knife cuts. Bacteria inside wooden boards don’t multiply and gradually die. Comparing the bacteria found on wooden boards to those found lurking on plastic ones when both have been cleaned manually, the researchers found more bacteria on a used plastic surface than on a used wood one.

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  • Relevant excerpt from the article: "The good news from this study is that plastic boards can be successfully cleaned in the dishwasher" – Andreas Dec 30 '20 at 15:05
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You might be surprised but the answer is polyethylene. More economic and less heavy, easier to handle and I'd say due to materials, less dulling than wood. Wood has the problem of bacterias, and with heavy use, stick with the flavours of several food. Polyethylene is really easy to clean not only by hand but in the dishwasher, which ensures the cleaning quite better depending on the hurry when you are cleaning.

In the hotel/resutarant sector, they are used also because of something you might find stupid: COLORS. Having different colour can help you to have several boards to cut depending what. I personally have 2 different cutting boards at home, and it is quite useful to use one or another depending on what you are cooking.

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If I were you, I'd give them a try!

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I personally tend to use a stone cutting board. Not sure the exact material, but I'd be inclined to say it's granite. According to this, they do tend to dull knives considerably faster than plastic/wood cutting boards though.

One point the above article mentions is this,

One advantage of stone boards is that they never become grooved or damaged by the knives, and there is an argument that this makes them more hygienic and less likely to harbour bacteria. This is a rather weak argument, however, because if wooden or plastic boards are cleaned and disinfected with bleach regularly they will not harbour bacteria either.

However I think they are undermining this advantage quite a bit. Stone cutting boards can easily be tossed in the dishwasher to be cleaned, unlike plastic or wood cutting boards which may warp. As an average home cook who doesn't like to spend a ton of time cooking and cleaning, this seems considerably more useful to me. I would rather be able to wash my cutting board alongside all my other dishes, than painstakingly disinfect a wood cutting board with bleach regularly.

Dullness of the knives definitely is a real concern, but for my personal preference, I think sharpening my knives every so often is less of a hassle than vigorously scrubbing my cutting board after every use.

To sum up my thoughts,

  • I'd say avoid plastic. Besides cost, it seems to have all the worst qualities going for it. It can form deep grooves like wood and it can dull your knives if it's a hard plastic.

  • Wood would be the "ideal choice" for the serious home chef who will take good care of their cutting board. If you're willing to wash it thoroughly, oil it, sand it down once it has deep grooves, etc. then I think that's the best option. It's a bit more dedicated but worth the effort.

  • Stone if you're lazy about cleaning and don't want to use plastic cutting boards. As I, and others, have mentioned, dulling your blades is a big issue with this type. But for casual home cook use, a duller blade will basically never really struggle with simple tasks like cutting cucumber slices for example.

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  • I make them from alternating 40mm cherry and hard maple strips. They don't form grooves quickly, won't dull knives, like glass, stone, or bamboo. Cleanup is pretty easy. I like the stripes. Have a great big plastic one for canning fruit and other such messy jobs. It's also nice when tilted, for separating seed from chaff. – Wayfaring Stranger Aug 1 '19 at 0:42
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I use hard plastic ones. They are easy to cut on and it may have a few scratches after a while though!

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