How To Clean and Maintain Your Wooden Cutting Board

December 14 2023, by Daniel Reiss

When it comes to kitchen essentials, everyone loves a durable cutting board. Ask most chefs what their favorite tool is and they’ll tell you their knife. But the cutting board is the knife’s trusty partner, an absolute essential in any kitchen. So, it’s important to take care of it. Our favorite boards come from Murhelvic Woodworks, handcrafted by Murry Thompson from felled South Carolina pecan trees.

            Of course, there are various types of cutting boards. None of them, however, provide a softer landing for knife edges or are more aesthetically pleasing than a cutting board made of wood. There are few sounds more welcoming in a kitchen than the chop, chop, chop of a sharp knife slicing vegetables on a polished slab of maple or walnut. The only drawback of wooden cutting boards is that they’re susceptible to warping, so they must be cared for diligently if you don’t want to replace them every few years. In addition to daily washing and wiping, you should practice a cutting board maintenance routine every few weeks to keep your board soft, supple, and relaxed. Follow our Marketplace guide below!

1.  For daily cleaning, always handwash your wooden cutting boards. Putting them in the dishwasher can cause them to warp more quickly. Use a metal spatula to scrape off any food particles stuck on the surface. Softly scrub the board using a sponge and warm water mixed with dish soap. (Insider tip: a slurry of baking soda and water is a good tool to use if there are any stubborn stains.) After scrubbing and rinsing your cutting board, wipe it down with a dish towel or a paper towel.
2. Wooden cutting boards are more prone to picking up pungent odors than their plastic counterparts. Foods like garlic, onions, and fish can leave your board in need of more than a basic bath. The good news is that the only supplies you need to deodorize the wood are lemons and salt. Start by sprinkling a generous amount of kosher salt over the cutting board, then squirt half a lemon’s worth of juice over the salt and use the lemon to rub the mixture on the wood. Allow the mixture to dry on the board for thirty minutes, scrape off the mixture using a metal spatula, then wash and rinse the board to have it smelling better in no time!
3. How often you should wax and oil your cutting board depends on the environment in which you’re storing the board, the type of wood, and how frequently you’re using it. A commonly used interval is once a month, but never hesitate to give your board a deep massaging anytime it looks stressed. Why do we need to wax and oil our cutting boards? Water dries the wood out after copious washings, which can cause it to become brittle and crack. Oil and wax not only keep your board lubricated, but they also function as a water sealant to prevent warping.
4. Always use food-safe mineral oil (mineral oils are flavorless and odorless). Apply a healthy amount of oil onto the cutting board, then use a paper towel to rub the oil over the board’s surface and sides to hydrate the wood. After this, let the oil sink into the wood for at least three hours. Once the oil has soaked in, use a fresh paper towel to remove residue. Finally, apply a food-safe beeswax to the board to seal in the oil.