Gear Heads | Which Type of Cutting Board is Best for Your Kitchen?

A good knife is nothing without an equally good cutting board to use it on. It's something that every cook should have. Hannah and Lisa discuss wooden and plastic options so you can decide which one is right for you.

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[arniegrammon]

As a woodworker that enjoys cooking, I've made dozens of cutting boards over the years...mostly for friends and family. One tip that may prove valuable is, when in the process of drying the board, tip the board up and lean it against a cupboard, etc.. It will allow air flow on both sides of the board, minimizing the warping caused by deferential drying.

[spigotface]

Pro tips for buying a cutting board: measure your sink if you're buying a wooden board, and if you want to wash a plastic board in the dishwasher, measure the height you can fit in the bottom rack.

[joedsilvayt]

You want to test staining, try turmeric.

[hdibart]

I've found that when you wash a wooden board you should wet both sides whether or not you used them, as well as the edges.This prevents uneven drying and consequent warping

[ishfaqlp]

Looking through the comments.. surprised no one has brought up that using Plastic cutting boards may introduce microplastics into your food. Research shows that microplastics in our body are causing a lot of illnesses.

[edmundkonkolich]

After working in many a commercial kitchen for quite a while, I've become very used to using plastic boards & work surfaces. The lighter weight, ease of "wash-rinse-sanitize", essentially being maintenance-free, & most are white, so you can see that they're clean, are all wonderful attributes

At home I have a set of these boards. A 6"x10" for small stuff, a 14"x18" for one person meal prep, & a 20"x26" for "Da Big Jobs". All have a strip of rubberized material on they're shorter edge, to steady them & eliminate creeping, no matter which side you're using.
I. Just. Love. Them. 😁👍

Happy, Happy Cooking, everyone & God Bless.

[bigolpancake]

Nice to see America's Test Kitchen adopting a little more of a no-frills, less scripted, and more personality-driven style. Hope to see more of this in the future!

[JoJo-JoJo-JoJo]

Our department received a $500 bonus for Christmas and he said to get something nice for you and your family. So I ordered the 20x15x1.5 (our kitchen is small) from Teakhaus on Christmas night to replace the plastic one we have. WOW! the feel while cutting is much nicer now and it looks marvelous. I always use ATK as a great guide on gadgets, ingredients, recipes etc... Love you guys, thank you!

[Bikinko]

Y'know how as a kid you'd think that at your friends' house a fridge with an ice dispenser was top of the line? as an adult, it's now a faucet with a detachable head.

[SusanBinks]

So nice to see Hannah again! What a great team to show off the pros and cons of the equipment we crave, but can't afford to waste $$ on the wrong pick. Thank you, ladies for your exhaustive process and excellent summary.

[stateniland]

people forget that when it's too large it's also too heavy and a pain to get it in the sink to wash.

[barrymccarty]

Size: the big problem is counter size because if you have a small counter you are limited to small cutting board.

[robspiess]

I had heard that, if you aren't so diligent at washing your boards, plastic cutting boards will act as a petri dish and bacteria will wildly multiply, whereas wooden boards have a little bit of antimicrobial properties leftover from the tree it came from and bacteria samples were found to diminish over time.

This would be an interesting thing for America's Test Kitchen to do a study on, as last I heard about this was from Discovery News in the 90s.

[SueMead]

The University of Otago (NZ) Home Science department found that wooden cutting boards were safer from a pathogenic standpoint. That the woods used for cutting boards here in New Zealand, possessed natural anti-microbial activity that was not diminished by washing for up to five years of use. The favorite wood was rimu but IIRC, simple pinus radiata (pine) was also highly effective though was not as durable as rimu.

[kimberlyrobinson]

America’s Test Kitchen is now officially reading my mind. I was just thinking to myself this morning that I need to buy a cutting board!

[potatocorners]

Love the personalities shining through more authentically in this setup!

[keithdavidson]

It’s incredible that no-one mentioned which type is best to retain the edge sharpness on your knives — this is especially important if you’re using an expensive carbon steel knife 🔪 .

[ajdunton]

This episode was great, exactly the right style in my opinion! As for cutting boards, I’ve been really loving a thinner teak board that is about 12” square. I have a larger board that I use only when I really need it. But if I’m only cutting up a few things, the convenience of fitting the board completely in my sink outweighs the inconvenience of a relatively small cutting surface.

[degenvibes]

9:34 LMAOOO "YOU CAN PUT THE WHOLE THING IN THE DISHWASHER" *RAMS IT INTO THE TOP RACK*. THANKS FOR THE LAUGH ATK!!

[philaphobic]

When I get a big beautiful kitchen, sure, I'll invest in a big beautiful wooden cutting board. But, right now I have a small kitchen with a small sink and small counters... so I use a plastic cutting board that fits, is easy to clean, and easy to put away.