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jjsmithin
 
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Default Red Oak in cutting board?

Ive read that Red Oak is not recommend for cutting boards due to its
open grain and holding food that grows bacteria.

If one was to make a butcher block cutting board, using the end grain
of Red Oak do you think that would be ok?

Seems to me the end grain is very tight and hard and might work ok.

I have a lot of scrap that would be nice to use for making some xmas
gifts.

Any thoughts?

thanks!

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George
 
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"jjsmithin" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ive read that Red Oak is not recommend for cutting boards due to its
open grain and holding food that grows bacteria.



I have a lot of scrap that would be nice to use for making some xmas
gifts.

How about using it for "bread boards?" Even the end grain is going to be
awfully porous, and will provide an opportunity for pieces of food to
shelter and breed bacteria, to be killed by the tannic acid.


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Fly-by-Night CC
 
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In article .com,
"jjsmithin" wrote:

Ive read that Red Oak is not recommend for cutting boards due to its
open grain and holding food that grows bacteria.

If one was to make a butcher block cutting board, using the end grain
of Red Oak do you think that would be ok?

Seems to me the end grain is very tight and hard and might work ok.

I have a lot of scrap that would be nice to use for making some xmas
gifts.

Any thoughts?


An end grain butcher block from Red Oak would be potentially dangerous
for bacterial growth. The end grain of R. Oak is like open straws which
wick and hold whatever food liquids you put on there. BTW, the reason
(at least in part) that Oak splits so easily is due to the split easily
following the open straws. Red Oak would be OK for a dry (bread) cutting
board but I wouldn't use it at all for wet food prep.

Most butcher blocks are Hard Maple or Beech - the end grain is closed
and the wood is quite durable - much more so than Red Oak.
--
Owen Lowe
The Fly-by-Night Copper Company
__________

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
Corporate States of America and to the
Republicans for which it stands, one nation,
under debt, easily divisible, with liberty
and justice for oil."
- Wiley Miller, Non Sequitur, 1/24/05
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Rumpy
 
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I agree with George. They should be fine for bread only. No meat - ever!
Otherwise, as others have said, choose a different wood or a different gift
project.


"George" George@least wrote in message
...

"jjsmithin" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ive read that Red Oak is not recommend for cutting boards due to its
open grain and holding food that grows bacteria.



I have a lot of scrap that would be nice to use for making some xmas
gifts.

How about using it for "bread boards?" Even the end grain is going to be
awfully porous, and will provide an opportunity for pieces of food to
shelter and breed bacteria, to be killed by the tannic acid.



  #5   Report Post  
jjsmithin
 
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Default

good inputs. Thank you. I wont be using oak the. What is BLO
product mentioned?

thanks again



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PDQ
 
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"jjsmithin" wrote in message =
oups.com...
| good inputs. Thank you. I wont be using oak the. What is BLO
| product mentioned?
|=20
| thanks again
|

BLO =3D Boiled Linseed Oil

Not sure but I do not think it is too good for cutting boards either.

BTB my cutting board is made out of plywood. Think I need to replace it =
because the iner plys are beginning to show. Only 25 years of hacking =
and slicing on it . Hasn't killed me yet.



--=20
PDQ

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George
 
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"Fly-by-Night CC" wrote in message
news .. BTW, the reason
(at least in part) that Oak splits so easily is due to the split easily
following the open straws. Red Oak would be OK for a dry (bread) cutting
board but I wouldn't use it at all for wet food prep.


Well, I'd have to say that the large ray figure, which provides a natural
cleavage point, is more important in ease of splitting, especially radially.
If you're hacking round-and-round like you do for elm, along annual rings,
it's a different matter.


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connor aston
 
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Default

I am currently using it as a chopping board for all food types. . . . but
I always wash it in the dishwasher. ( it warped a few time but its flat now
Do you think the hot temperature of the washer is enough to kill the
bacteria?
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Edwin Pawlowski
 
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"connor aston" wrote in message

Do you think the hot temperature of the washer is enough to kill the
bacteria?


The caustic detergent sure it.


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