Every professional chef knows that there must be at least ten chopping boards in the kitchen. How many of them will be in your kitchen - depends on many factors. But obviously not less than two, since it is impossible to cut on the same board products that are not cooked (vegetables, bread) and meat or fish.
How to navigate the variety of chopping boards and choose the ones that will satisfy your culinary needs?
Wooden boards
It is better to choose solid wood planks, rather than those that are glued from separate pieces. Inspect the board from the side. If there is a picture of wood, then it is made of solid wood. Boards from linden, pine, birch are more affordable than from acacia, maple, beech, ash and walnut. But they are short-lived, quickly wear out and deteriorate from moisture. Well, oak is the most durable and moisture resistant.
Wooden boards are environmentally friendly, serve for a long time and do not blunt knives. But there are also disadvantages. They cannot be washed in a dishwasher; bacteria can accumulate on wet wood if used improperly. But raw wood absorbs all the juices and odors.
Therefore, wooden boards need special care. They need to be dried after washing with a towel to avoid the growth of bacteria. From time to time, the surface of the board must be decontaminated with citric acid or vinegar.
Plastic kitchen boards
It is best to choose such boards with a ribbed surface or special rubber pads on the back so that smooth plastic does not slip on the table. The advantages of plastic boards are that they do not swell from moisture, do not absorb odors, are easy to care for, they can be washed in a dishwasher. True, plastic blunts knives.
Plastic boards do not require special care and just wash with a mild detergent.
Bamboo boards
Bamboo is grass, even though it looks like a tree. Therefore, there are no boards from solid bamboo. Bamboo stalks are glued together with epoxy glue. Therefore, one must carefully evaluate the accuracy of gluing and the quality of the product.
Bamboo boards are lightweight, do not absorb odors, are moisture resistant. But due to the presence of glue, they can not be called environmentally friendly. In addition, they are very hard and quickly blunt knives.
Bamboo boards, as well as wooden ones, once a month require treatment with vinegar or citric acid.
