Here’s How To Properly Clean And Maintain Your Cutting Boards
Everyone would agree that a chef’s best friend is his knife but a good knife is nothing without a proper cutting board. For this article, we would like to walk you through the process steps on how to properly clean and maintain your cutting boards. Whether you have the standard board or personalized cutting boards, you’ll surely find these tips to be very helpful.
Is your cutting board wood or plastic?
First things first, there is a huge difference between maintaining a wooden and plastic cutting board. Of course, choosing between the two is more of a personal preference but knowing the difference when cleaning both can go a long way.
Nonetheless, wooden cutting boards last longer than plastic ones. You may need to take care of your plastic cutting board more often when with your wooden cutting board. However, both require the same love when cleaning. A pro tip for cleaning either is to use a mixture of beeswax and mineral oil on your personalized cutting boards.
Mineral oil helps prevent the water from entering your kitchen cutting board. You may ask why we should not let water seep into your board, especially if it’s a wooden board. Well, it’s because water warps the wood, which will ultimately destroy it.
What about dish soap and water?
Before moving forward with cleaning your personalized cutting boards, let’s address the elephant in the room. How about dish soap and water? These two are the most common ingredients when cleaning things so can you use this to clean your cutting board? The short answer is yes! However, if you truly want to deep clean your boards, you’re going to need more than this.
If you often use your board to cut up raw meat, you’re going to have to clean it thoroughly to remove all the bacteria. Let it soak up in bleach solution for a few minutes, after which, you’re going to rinse it and dry it. The mixture should contain one tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water.
Is it safe to use harsh chemicals when cleaning your cutting boards?
You can use bleach to clean your boards but do so in moderation. A great alternative to this would be to mix one part white vinegar to four parts water. If you do not have any vinegar, you can use hydrogen peroxide. Remember, this should be done regularly.
Should you do a monthly deep cleaning on your cutting board?
Yes, you should perform a monthly deep cleaning on your cutting board using a mixture of lemon and salt. The way to do this would be to simply sprinkle salt (either kosher salt or sea salt) on your board. Then, scrub it down using the fleshy part of a cut lemon.
You’re going to have to let this mixture sit on your board for around 5 minutes. After this, clean it thoroughly with a sponge. Then, you’re going to rinse it and dry it.