Any Hardwood will work for a cutting board. A lot of woods will look
prettier than others, but a nice fine grained wood will work well. For
sanitiizing use 1 cap of bleach per gallon of cool water. This gives
you the reccommmended sanitizing solution of between 50 and 200 parts
per million of chlorine. The board is not considered sanitized until it
is dry, since the drying process is what actually kills the bacteria. I
have owned 3 restaurants for over 20 years and this is standard on all
wood cutting boards. The latest data is that wood may actually be a
better suraface than the poly cutting boards because it evaporates
moisture so well, but I don't believe they will ever go back no matter
what the data. Our baking tables are allowed to be wood since its the
perfect surface for dough. Hope this helps. \

Jim

Photo wrote:
As many as 81 million cases of food-born illnesses occur in the United
States each year, and most of these gut-wrenching infections can be traced
to the home kitchen. Any surface -- even stainless steel pans, knives,
sinks, food-processor blades, and mixing bowls --- can harbor nasty
microbes. Fortunately, kitchen germs can usually be killed by a good
scrubbing with hot water and soap, or a turn in the dishwasher, and by
keeping all surfaces clean and dry. A good procedure for disinfecting both
wood and plastic cutting boards, as well as other surfaces and utensils, is
to spray them first with a mist of vinegar, then with a mist of hydrogen
peroxide. This combo kills bacteria on meat and produce, too, without
hurting the food.


"D. J. Dorn" wrote in message
...

I know that Maple is the preferred wood but why? I have an abundance of
Oak, is there any reason that I can't use that. For finishing, I realize
that Mineral Sprits is the only proper finish as it's meant to come in
contact with food, but I don't want to use Maple unless I have to.

Don