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Not oiling a wooden worktop (kitchen)
"stuart noble" wrote in message ... On 05/03/2015 00:11, michael adams wrote: "stuart noble" wrote in message news:mVJJw.259846 Wooden tops are good looking but hopelessly unhygienic That's exactly what EHO's were claiming in the early 90's when successfully closing down butchers shops, craft cheese makers who relied on wooden shelving and even the naval tradition of stirring rum with an oar on Trafalgar Day. Then a few years later after all the damage was done it was found thet wood had antibacterial properties and was in fact more hygenich than plastic. In short wood absorbs bacteria by capillary action where they eventally die whereas bacteria can thrive in microscopic cuts in plastic boards. quote Our research was first intended to develop means of disinfecting wooden cutting surfaces at home, so that they would be almost as safe as plastics. Our safety concern was that bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, which might contaminate a work surface when raw meat was being prepared, ought not remain on the surface to contaminate other foods that might be eaten without further cooking. We soon found that disease bacteria such as these were not recoverable from wooden surfaces in a short time after they were applied, unless very large numbers were used. New plastic surfaces allowed the bacteria to persist, but were easily cleaned and disinfected. However, wooden boards that had been used and had many knife cuts acted almost the same as new wood, whereas plastic surfaces that were knife-scarred were impossible to clean and disinfect manually, especially when food residues such as chicken fat were present. Scanning electron micrographs revealed highly significant damage to plastic surfaces from knife cuts. Although the bacteria that have disappeared from the wood surfaces are found alive inside the wood for some time after application, they evidently do not multiply, and they gradually die. They can be detected only by splitting or gouging the wood or by forcing water completely through from one surface to the other. If a sharp knife is used to cut into the work surfaces after used plastic or wood has been contaminated with bacteria and cleaned manually, more bacteria are recovered from a used plastic surface than from a used wood surface. /quote http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/fa...ttingboard.htm Interesting. I prefer a light coloured formica I do too. so I can actually see what needs wiping off. I prefer it just because it makes it easier to see what you are doing. Wooden surfaces don't offer that, and nor do the dark coloured immitation marble type tops. And are both too much farting around maintenance wise. Wood may be technically better in laboratory conditions That's cutting boards, not the bench top. but it tends to encourage sloppiness IME. I just put them in the dishwasher so wood is out for that reason. |
Not oiling a wooden worktop (kitchen)
On 05/03/2015 13:38, fred wrote:
In article , John Rumm writes On 04/03/2015 18:05, fred wrote: I'm in a similar spot and am drifting away from wooden ones. I don't see those made of little blocks glued together as very impressive so if I went wood I'd probably want ones made of serious planks (100mm wide, 40mm deep and full length) with a complimentary machined edges to hold everything together in the long term. Those specs make wood a very expensive option and I just don't like it enough spend a lot of money on them. Those specs make it a very DIYable options though... especially if you have or know someone with a planer/thicknesser. It's very kind of you to offer John :-) You are welcome (although depending on where you are it might be a trek!) Bottom line is that I don't think I'd like the end result better than I would a good quality laminate one so for simplicity I think I will stick with that. Which is a fair point ;-) -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
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