How to Oil and Maintain Wood Cutting Boards

If you’re looking to invest in a new wooden cutting board for your kitchen or any other type of cutting board you will also require cutting board oil unless the one you have chosen has already been seasoned. As there are some maintenance steps that wood cutting board care requires. Oiling a cutting board is important for maintaining its quality and hygiene. Though you do not have to this daily, regular maintenance will keep the wood strong to ensure that it will last for many years to come.

Oiling a wood cutting board is not time-consuming nor complicated. The entire maintenance routine for them is unlikely to take you longer than ten minutes. Read on to find out the simple way of how to maintain wooden cutting boards to keep them smooth, clean and strong.

How to Treat Different Types

Essentially, there is no difference in the procedures and maintenance between one kind to another. Even bamboo cutting board care follows the same steps, so if you were wondering, there is not a specific bamboo cutting board oil. The only possible difference is how the wood color tones vary with the type you select, which will mostly depend on whether it is seasoned or unseasoned.

With these tips and tricks, yours will look as good as new. A seasoned board is already treated, so the color won’t change.. Whereas an unseasoned one lets you alter the shade of the wood depending on the oil for wooden cutting board you use.

What Is the Best

Whichever you choose to use it must be food-safe, meaning that it is safe enough for coming into contact with food. There are commercial brands available, but, you can also use a homemade recipe or even store-bought distilled coconut oil.

Besides being food-safe, you should also avoid rancidity. Rancidity is when there is a chemical reaction caused by exposure to air or light that gives off a rancid smell and odor, not something anyone would want.

Those that are safe and with the least chance of rancidity are food-safe mineral oil for cutting board, food-safe beeswax, distilled or fractionated coconut oil and food-safe carnauba or Brazil wax. So if you are asking yourself what is the best oil for cutting boards? the choice is plentiful.

Some people use olive oil but this has the potential for rancidity. The only time when you can use this is when you are washing daily.

How Often Should You Do This Procedure?

There is no hard rule on how often you should carry out these procedures. It depends on how frequently you use it and how well the wood retains it.

A wooden board should never be left to dry out from oil completely as this makes the wood fibers more sensitive to the impact of your knives and can, therefore, shorten the life span. However, moisture from washing can also be damaging to the wood so maintaining a layer of oil on it acts as a protective layer.

Some people choose to do theirs every week but once a month or even every three months can still be often enough. It really depends on the quality of the wood and how often you use it.

For the best advice, check the information provided by the manufacturer on how often they recommend that it should be oiled, as this can vary depending on the type of wood and quality. This advice we also give for the answer of How to treat a new cutting board, the manufacturers always know best.

How do You Maintain them?

Step 1: Wash them with warm soapy water. Never leave it to soak in the water and Never place in a dishwasher.

Always dry completely after washing but Never laying it flat on a surface. The Best way is to leave in a dish rack for a while.

Step 2: Do a deep clean before oiling it to remove any stains and odors. This can be done by pouring baking soda over the surface and the slice a lemon in half and rub it over so that the baking soda and lemon juice mix together.

Let the mixture soak in for a few minutes before wiping it clean and dry with a paper towel. Repeat on the other side.

Step 3: Soak up your oil for wooden cutting board of choice with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and rub it all over the surface. Let the wood soak it up overnight, again it is best to pop in a dish rack.

Step 4: The next day, wipe away the excess with a paper towel. Do this thoroughly to ensure that you do not leave any smears on the wood.