I think I have come across what seems to be a definitive answer to the oft asked questions about how to care for wood cutting boards.
http://www.kitchen-bath.com/drbutcher598.htm
Dear Doctor:
We have a fairly new butcher block. Please advise us on the care of these blocks. For instance, we have been told to use an oil on the top of the block periodically. What type of oil do you recommend? Thanks for the info.
Howard Hillman
Dear Howard:
If you don't plan to use the butcher block for food preparation, then you can just finish it with a varnish.
For our purposes, I'm going to guess you want to use the butcher block to slice, dice, make hundreds of julienne fries and otherwise prepare food. The oil you want to use here is actually a mixture of four parts mineral oil to one part melted paraffin wax (such as Gulf Wax). The oil gives the wood luster, while the wax keeps salmonella, Salman Rushdie and other germs, bacteria and controversial authors from seeping into the pores of the wood.
You can create this mixture in the microwave by putting the solid paraffin in the mineral oil and nuking it until it gets warm and the wax melts. However you combine the oil and wax, make sure the mixture is not too hot to touch.
Apply the oil mixture to the butcher block liberally with an old rag or a 2-inch horsehair paintbrush. Make sure you apply the oil to all exposed surfaces and edges. Then take another rag and wipe the oil into the wood. Don't leave any pools. Do this at least once a month. If the top gets a lot of heavy use, oil it every two weeks.
All this assumes you have a crossgrain butcher block top--one that's maybe an inch and a half or two inches thick with wood grain similar to a wood cabinet or a hardwood floor. If you have an endgrain top, one of those big free-standing jobbies that's about 2 feet by 2 feet on top and maybe a foot or so thick, the procedure is a little different.
For endgrain blocks, you'll want to oil the sides as described above, but you'll want to pour a sheen (I prefer Martin Sheen) of 100% melted paraffin on top, let it sit 15 to 30 minutes, then scrape off the excess with a metal spatula or dough scraper. Make sure whatever you use to scrape has a clean edge that's free of little burrs. If the scraper has burrs, it will gouge the countertop and kill Alexander Hamilton. You don't want that to happen.
You should re-apply the paraffin once every six to eight weeks and oil the top in between if it starts showing signs of wear. For endgrain tops, a good regimen is parafin one month, oil the next.
To clean a butcher block top, give it a wipe with a damp cloth and a mild soap. A mild soap is your standard bottled dish detergent: Ivory, Dawn, Palmolive, Lux...that sort of thing. You don't want to use a sopping wet rag, and you don't want to rub the soap into the top. Also, when you do wipe the top with something wet, be sure to dry it with a towel. Don't let it air dry. Oh, and one more thing: don't bleach the top. Sure, bleach will kill germs, but it will also make all your food taste like it came out of a swimming pool.
If, after a time, you wish to remove the cut marks from the top, just sand it down and re-oil it. It should look like new.
(Thanks to John Boos and Co. for the technical help on this one.)
http://www.kitchen-bath.com/drbutcher598.htm
Dear Doctor:
We have a fairly new butcher block. Please advise us on the care of these blocks. For instance, we have been told to use an oil on the top of the block periodically. What type of oil do you recommend? Thanks for the info.
Howard Hillman
Dear Howard:
If you don't plan to use the butcher block for food preparation, then you can just finish it with a varnish.
For our purposes, I'm going to guess you want to use the butcher block to slice, dice, make hundreds of julienne fries and otherwise prepare food. The oil you want to use here is actually a mixture of four parts mineral oil to one part melted paraffin wax (such as Gulf Wax). The oil gives the wood luster, while the wax keeps salmonella, Salman Rushdie and other germs, bacteria and controversial authors from seeping into the pores of the wood.
You can create this mixture in the microwave by putting the solid paraffin in the mineral oil and nuking it until it gets warm and the wax melts. However you combine the oil and wax, make sure the mixture is not too hot to touch.
Apply the oil mixture to the butcher block liberally with an old rag or a 2-inch horsehair paintbrush. Make sure you apply the oil to all exposed surfaces and edges. Then take another rag and wipe the oil into the wood. Don't leave any pools. Do this at least once a month. If the top gets a lot of heavy use, oil it every two weeks.
All this assumes you have a crossgrain butcher block top--one that's maybe an inch and a half or two inches thick with wood grain similar to a wood cabinet or a hardwood floor. If you have an endgrain top, one of those big free-standing jobbies that's about 2 feet by 2 feet on top and maybe a foot or so thick, the procedure is a little different.
For endgrain blocks, you'll want to oil the sides as described above, but you'll want to pour a sheen (I prefer Martin Sheen) of 100% melted paraffin on top, let it sit 15 to 30 minutes, then scrape off the excess with a metal spatula or dough scraper. Make sure whatever you use to scrape has a clean edge that's free of little burrs. If the scraper has burrs, it will gouge the countertop and kill Alexander Hamilton. You don't want that to happen.
You should re-apply the paraffin once every six to eight weeks and oil the top in between if it starts showing signs of wear. For endgrain tops, a good regimen is parafin one month, oil the next.
To clean a butcher block top, give it a wipe with a damp cloth and a mild soap. A mild soap is your standard bottled dish detergent: Ivory, Dawn, Palmolive, Lux...that sort of thing. You don't want to use a sopping wet rag, and you don't want to rub the soap into the top. Also, when you do wipe the top with something wet, be sure to dry it with a towel. Don't let it air dry. Oh, and one more thing: don't bleach the top. Sure, bleach will kill germs, but it will also make all your food taste like it came out of a swimming pool.
If, after a time, you wish to remove the cut marks from the top, just sand it down and re-oil it. It should look like new.
(Thanks to John Boos and Co. for the technical help on this one.)
