Cutting board has slits... is this a problem?
Hi, I recently bought a wooden cutting board in a local market in Thailand. The board is basically a round slice of a tree. Once I got home and unpacked it I realised that the wood has dozens of small radial slits. The market was not touristic at all so I believe they actually use them like this, the lady who sold it to me said it could last 10 years. But I wonder... inevitably food will lodge there and that's a health concern. Now I've just coated it with coconut oil but that's not enough to seal the slits.
I like the board.
So my question is: should this be a concern? And if so, is there any way to solve it (even though it's now seasoned with oil)?
Thanks, Nuno
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lloreen,if it is a no go for food prep, actually regardless of using it for food prep, a cheese is a great idea! I'll definitely do that.
Once again, thank you all!
I really don't see a problem using this for cutting veggies so long as you clean it after each use. Clearly there a lot of people in Thailand who use them and are still alive and kicking. If you are too nervous about it, though, how about using it as a cheese board for parties? You can clean it by sprinkling on coarse salt, then lemon and scrub. Also a mixture of vinegar and water for everyday cleaning.
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I firmly believe that aversion to wooden cutting boards is unsubstantiated. A study ten years ago at the University of Wisconsin Madison showed that wooden cutting boards were demonstrably less dangerous than plastic ones, "Three minutes after (intentionally) contaminating a board...99.9 percent of the bacteria on wooden boards had died, while none of the bacteria died on plastic." (http://goo.gl/TQNYs)
If wooden cutting surfaces were half as dangerous as some members of my family claim, the human race would surely have died out shortly after the advent of the knife.
Personally I happen to like Chinese iron wood boards. The advice I would offer would be to soak it in the sink over night and then rub it down with an appropriate cutting board oil. You'll be surprised that some of those cracks will actually close up. But then I am a risk taker and these boards are kind to your knives if not maybe your GI.