Cleaning wooden chopping boards

[GreatGooglyMoogly]

How are you supposed to clean a wooden chopping board so that it is properly clean?

[nagynolonger]

I only use wooden chopping boards for bread. I just wipe them over because I thought you shouldn't get them wet.

I use plastic ones for meat and fish and bung them in the dish washer. I use my new glass one for everything else.

[Fuzzled]

Agree that I only use cheap plastic ones so I can ditch them once they become too manky.
However, my SM uses lemon juice on hers - does seem to take some of the stain out tho...

[mousymouse]

keep separate boards for meats and vegs.
scrub with washing up liquid and a brush with the grain of the wood and let air dry.
if it is smelly, sprinkle soda crystals on the wet board and leave over night. the scrub as above. after that you need to oil (veg oil will do) the board or it will crack.

[nagynolonger]

Should I be doing that with my bread board mousy?

Been using it for years and nobody's died yet. DH insists that wood has a natural anti-bac quality.

[mousymouse]

no, only for the veg and meat boards.
I only wipe off the crumbs from the bread board and wash + oil it maybe once a year.

[LaCidrai]

no wonder ours is shot at, we use it for everything except raw meat

[midnightexpress]

Yes, wood does have anti-bacterial properties (though I'm not sure whether these last for ever or not...). I clean my meat and veg ones with a washing up brush and washing-up liquid. No fatalities so far.

Glass is probably the most hygienic alternative. If you can bear the sound of a knife on glass, that is.

[nagynolonger]

Mine gets oiled when DH or DS puts garlic bread on it. I have a special little basket for that.

What do people use for cheese? I use a large square plate as a cheese board.

[nocake]

Wood is a much more hygenic option than plastic boards because of the anti-bacterial properties of the wood. Just wash in hot soapy water and make sure you give them a good scrub with a brush or plastic scourer. Our boards get used for anything and everything and have been for years with no problems. One of them was inherited from my grandma so has been in use for 40 or 50 years.

I wouldn't use glass because it destroys the blades of my knives.

[LaCidrai]

hugs nocakes, I'm not so weird after all!

[MackerelOfFact]

We have wooden ones too, use them for everything. I was under the impression the wood had natural antibacterial properties too. I have been known to spray a bit of antibac spray on the boards, but it needs to be wiped off immediately else it absorbs and makes your food taste chemicaly. This is probably obvious to most people however.

[Cedise]

Wow, I never realised you had to do anything special to wooden boards.

I treat mine the same as my mum did - wash with soapy water, and about once a week a wipe with bleach to get the stains off. I have a huge board that's an inch and a half thick, it's nearly 2ft square, and I use it for absolutely everything.

We're all still alive!