# Oil For Cutting Board



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Time to oil the ol' cutting block here at La casa. The last time i did this, before ChefTalk, I used a vegetable oil and the board became a little sticky. So, what's the proper oil for this purpose?

Shel


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## jigz369 (Apr 20, 2007)

I don't know about the US, but in Canada the Health Inspectors have effectively removed wooden boards and blocks from use. They are hard to clean and have caused more cases of cross contamination than any food handler. My suggestion is to throw the wood away and buy a proper man-made cutting board. They are easy to clean and ease your mind on the danger associated with contamination issues. Just my opinion....


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## chris r. (Jan 8, 2007)

I use food grade mineral oil, it seems to work well for me.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Thank you for your kind and considered suggestion - I'll not follow your advice. Although I have some man-made boards (can you call that plastic/nylon stuff a board?), I really prefer wood most of the time. I like the way it looks, I like the way it feels, and wood has been good enough for hundreds of years. I'm not one of those people who are too concerned with contamination issues. The boards are kept clean, and I'm not going to be examining them with a microscope to look for bacteria. Further, there are enough reports out that indicate wood is as safe as, or safer than, plastic.

There's nothing more tasty than a salad that has been prepared on a wooden board where, just minutes before, a raw chcken has been resting at room temerature for 45-minutes. Just a quick wipe with a dirty dish towel and you're good to go <LOL>

Be that as it may, my question dealt with the proper oil for a wooden board, not whether or not I should continue using one - which I shall continue doing for as long as can use a knife, or until the Cutting Board Police crash through my front door.

Shel


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I suppose any kitchen supply or cooking store should have some. For some reason "tung" oil comes to mind ...

Shel


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Mineral oil is the best choice. Usually a special low viscosity type is recommended and used for cutting boards. This is a bit pricier. Many people prefer to buy mineral oil in the pharmacy section as it's cheaper there. Many uses, usually for skin, ear wax problems and laxative effects. It's just as safe but not as quickly absorbed in the wood.

Many people also use mineral oil on their carbon steel knives for kitchen use as the oil is stable, protective, and food safe.

Mineral oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I'm not sure I agree, Phil.

Although I do use the mineral oil specified for wood (and often sold as "butcher block" oil, it's just because it's easy for me to pick it up at the same time I'm buying wood.

But, as near as I can tell, the pharmacy stuff works just as well. And is a lot cheaper.

Besides which, how many home-cooks are in that much of a rush that absorbsion time matters? I tell my customers to let it sit overnight, then wipe off any excess. So time of absorbsion shouldn't be an issue, even if true.

"My suggestion is to throw the wood away and buy a proper man-made cutting board. "

Trust me, Jigz, you do _not _want to go there; not on this message board. Not unless you're ready for a knock-down, drag-out bruhaha of the first order.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I know this is not the usual, but olive oil is really good. It adds little flavor, but what it does add is good, and takes forever to get rancid.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Don't throw away that wooden board- send it to me. 

Seriously, use USP grade mineral oil which is pretty cheap and highly effective- doesn't get rancid. Allow to sit for a few hours, and wipe well. Never heard of "cutting board oil" but I would bet it's USP oil with a fancy label and price.

Mike


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Go to Sweden, uh, make that Ikea, and pick up some oil made for cutting boards and countertops. Also, any hardware store should carry some type of food grade oil for cutting boards/butcher blocks. Tung oil is a natural substance, but it's usually mixed with some nasty chemicals to help apply it. These chemicals dissapte as the oil dries though. I prefer a beeswax paste for my baker's tables, availbe from Mohawk Finishes, a specialist store that deals with woodworking finishes, but Lee Valley also caries it. 

Please, please, pretty please stay away from any food oil, veg oil, or olive oil. These types of oils will do two things, 1, they will become rancid, and 2 they will become sticky/gummy. All food based oils will do this, which is why you should never lubricate or treat anything (like meat slicers or oilstones...) with food based oil.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Hi, Thanks for all the advice from everyone. I'll just get the mineral or butcher block oil.

Mr. Pump, I learned the hard way about food based oils 

Shel


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Consumer Reports did a study of wood cutting boards vs plastic. They compared bacteria levels after use (I forget the details). They expected plastic to be cleaner but wood was the surprise winner. Wood somehow drew in the bacteria and killed it, not kidding.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Oregon, we've had a lengthy discussion on this topic before, blood everywhere but no clear winner. Let's just leave it alone, O.K?


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

OK pump, I'll take your word for it. By the way, Van is almost as nice as here--meant as a compliment. BC is gorgeous.


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## luc_h (Jun 6, 2007)

For those interested in the science..... (sorry but it's my thing)

Veggy oil, lard and the like are triglycerides (3 fatty acids attached to glycerol backbone). With time these glycerides detach and react with other things like the wood pulp. Many natural oil glycerides also have sections that are unsaturated so they react with the air and become rancid. The rancidity helps to cross link with other glycerides to create a gummy plastic like substance. (application example:If you use flax seed oil (linseed) a very unsaturated oil, wood dust and natural fibers, roll into sheets and heat it up you end up with linoleum.)

Better to use a mineral oil (pharmacy grade or food grade).
Melted beeswax is good also.
These substance are not glycerides, are saturated and unreactive.

Luc


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Luc H, what if one likes to eat linoleum? You're prejudiced


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## luc_h (Jun 6, 2007)

Hey OregonYeti,

sorry for the prejudice... (grin)
Luc


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## cookie jim (Apr 24, 2007)

Shel; I get mineral oil at the dollar store.When I oil my boards I also oil anything else made of wood like wooden spoons,spatulas...etc.Heavily coat everything and leave overnight. absorb excess oil with paper towels the next day and your done.never use any edible oil i.e.olive oil,that too goes rancid,all edible oil do...good cookin...cookie


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I've never thought to oil my spoons. They don't seem to need it, although it does seem like a good idea. I've only two wooden utensils, both, I believe, are made of bamboo, and are "dishwasher safe." I've had 'em since 1978 or 1979, and both are still in great shape, although the one I use most is nicely worn down - no longer spoon shaped.

I just got two free spoons at the local Farmers Market. They don't seem to be of the same high quality, and I bet they'd be helped by oiling.

Shel


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

My son has made and sold many many cutting boards and he researched the oil and sanitary questions. He found two or three papers published by the Food Sciences School of the Univ. of Wisconsin at Milwaukee ( as I recall) that concluded after many experiments that wood boards were indeed more sanitary than impervious plastic. The bugs stayed on the surface of the plastic and, unless carefully cleaned (which isn't all that hard with a D/W) can carry over to the next cutting item.

Wood board being porous, any microbes left over from cleaning (NOT in the D/W!)  are absorbed into the pores of the wood where... they die.

As above, USP mineral oil is the choice of the experts. Cheap at any drugstore, doesn't become rancid. With a new board, coat once a day for a week, once a week for another month, and than every six months or so, as needed.

Happy chopping. 

Mike


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

Oh no, did you really say that? I have a terrible Ikea addiction and there happens to be one less that two miles from my house. Now I have an excuse to head over there. :blush:


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## jannie (Mar 17, 2007)

How can I possibly be alive, I have used a wood cutting board just about every day of my adult life, I never treated it at all with the exception of using a wet sponge, or a wet sponge with dish detergent until probably the last ten years when I started using pharmacy grade mineral oil. To date I've never had a problem, never gotten sick. How can this be?

Now I'm crazy clean, terrified to tears of raw chicken, pork and beef, almost to the point of stopping eating them except in restaurants.

I feel guilty every time I put one of my lovely Berndes skillets on the burner, wondering if it will attack me with cancer cells. When I choose instead a beautiful Mauviel stainless lined copper skillet, I feel guilty for my cholesterol as I barely cover it's surface with either canola oil or olive oil. 

Some days I'm deep into a cooking magazine and fall in love with a photo of something I just have to try, but I read the ingredients and decline, because you know (even though I recenty had great results from an annual physical, eccocardiogram/stress test, bone scan and mamogram, I'm becoming afraid of everything I like to eat. 

And now I'm to be afraid of what I cut my tomatos on? 

HELP:beer:

During the last months of my mothers life, she had a large TV in front of the hospital bed that played the cooking channel 24 hours of the day. I would sit there watching it realizing there was very little there that I "should" actually eat. Too much, salt, too much fat/oil.

I was cooking for my mom who had lukemia, one time out of habbit when she wanted something she'd seen on TV, I answered back, "mom, that's kind of fattening", she laughed and said "it doesn't matter now, I can eat anything I want". And we did.

What's happened, is it really all that much worse than the world I grew up in? 

Jannie


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

I guess there is a big difference between cooking for yourself and family, and cooking for strangers, in order to make a living.

Family won't make excuses not to pay for food because of percieved health code violations, they won't sic the health dept. after you, and they won't go "halvsies" with lawyers looking for a easy buck because of health code violations.

In short, there are a million slime balls out there, with a million different scams, all looking to make an easy buck from restaurants. Following the health code provides a good amount of protection. Is it overkill? In some cases, probably. But then, for hospitals, care homes, etc, feeding sick people or people with extremely weak immune systems, it isn't overkill, just very good sense. Will I stake my business, career, and reputation by ignoring the overkill? No.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

I guess there is a big difference between cooking for yourself and family, and cooking for strangers, in order to make a living.

Family won't make excuses not to pay for food because of percieved health code violations, they won't sic the health dept. after you, and they won't go "halvsies" with lawyers looking for a easy buck because of health code violations.

In short, there are a million slime balls out there, with a million different scams, all looking to make an easy buck from restaurants. Following the health code provides a good amount of protection. Is it overkill? In some cases, probably. But then, for hospitals, care homes, etc, feeding sick people or people with extremely weak immune systems, it isn't overkill, just very good sense. Will I stake my business, career, and reputation by ignoring the overkill? No.


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## luc_h (Jun 6, 2007)

(empty)


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## jannie (Mar 17, 2007)

It makes a lot of sense Luc, thanks.
Jannie:bounce:


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Thanks for the explication, Luc!

Mike


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

got blurry at all the posts, 
the beauty of the wood board is you can sand it down every once in a while.
i use veg oil, but these are my cheepo boards.

anyhoo, happy slicing! dicing and mincing!


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## ikki (Sep 19, 2013)

My wife's cooking tastes like I'm eating linoleum anyway, so I'd be used to it.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

For mineral oil, you can get a gallon of it very cheap at the local tack and feed store even though it may not be USP grade.  And it's what I've always used on both my cutting boards and oil stones for knife sharpening.


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## galley swiller (May 29, 2013)

Can't say I need a gallon.

But just the other week I bought a pint (16 fl. oz.) at my local Safeway store for $3.49 plus sales tax.  Found it in the drug area.  Food grade.

Galley Swiller


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Since my stones are really large, at least eleven inches in length, I need lots of oil for cleaning and floating the swarf away.


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## l1spain (Jul 10, 2014)

Can one use sesame oil on a cutting board?


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Sesame oil smells funny and goes rancid very fast.  Bad choice.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

L1spain said:


> Can one use sesame oil on a cutting board?


Any food oil will turn rancid and impart a bad odor to your board. Use food grade mineral oil or mineral oil mixed with a bit of beeswax, approx 1-2cc beeswax per 500cc mineral oil.


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## chris bruce (Jul 5, 2014)

food grade mineral oi


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## wernight (Jul 21, 2015)

Luc_H said:


> For those interested in the science..... (sorry but it's my thing)
> 
> Veggy oil, lard and the like are triglycerides (3 fatty acids attached to glycerol backbone). With time these glycerides detach and react with other things like the wood pulp. Many natural oil glycerides also have sections that are unsaturated so they react with the air and become rancid. The rancidity helps to cross link with other glycerides to create a gummy plastic like substance. (application example:If you use flax seed oil (linseed) a very unsaturated oil, wood dust and natural fibers, roll into sheets and heat it up you end up with linoleum.)
> 
> ...


Thanks for the chemical explanation. I did put a bit of flaxseed oil (before knowing about mineral oil), so I'll have to see if it rances and/or becomes sticky. It does sound however that if it creates a plastic like substance that would create a waterproof cover on top of the wood while the oil should still nourish a bit. I don't have experience yet in it, so I wonder what people experienced using non-mineral oils.


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## wernight (Jul 21, 2015)

After find a really good site in French (https://artdec.ca/blog/6/finition-et-entretien-dune-planche-a-decouper-dun-bloc-de-boucher-ou-dun-pl) and many more quality resources:


Use *mineral oil* (pharmacy or food grade) together with *melted beeswax* (to keep longer). You can use either alone as well. It'll however last less long than other solutions.

*Tung oil* (aka China wood oil) "L'huile d'abrasin" is one of the best if you want it to polymerize (siccative oils polymerize in the air spontaneously creating a strong protection layer)

*Flaxseed oil *is also ok (don't use lindseed oil which is toxis) but you need to let it dry for about 5 days. It'll give a more darker and antique look with time.

Do not use *olive oil* (or most other cooking oils), it'll get rancid and sticky under certain conditions


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

A thin layer of flaxseed should polymerize. It is sold as linseed oil to finish projects if you are a woodworker. Raw linseed oil is food safe. Boiled linseed oil has additives that are not food safe.

Here I use flaxseed oil on my knife handle





  








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millionsknives


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Jul 22, 2015








It leaves a shiny, smooth, water resistant finish. Not gummy, real slick. RAw linseed takes 4+ days to dry and polymerize. Boiled will dry faster maybe a few hours.

Anyway for cutting boards, I don't want a smooth surface. I use a 5:1 mixture of mineral oil:beeswax. Just mix it together on a double boiler so it doesn't get too hot


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## chickenwings (Oct 7, 2015)

Years ago we had a major kitchen renovation and I had (Oh I HAD!) a butcher block built into the counter about 3.5 feet long and the depth of the counter...oh it was GLORIOUS. We had recommended to us at the time Terra Nova NaturOil and I loved it. IT turned the block a bit darker but absorbed well, didn't stick, didn't go bad, didn't add any flavours and for home use lasted quite well...I'd oil the block about every quarter - flip it over and use the other side - in three months I'd oil the side I was using, flip it over and go for another three months. By the time I got to use the recently oiled side the oil was so nicely absorbed as to be invisible. Great stuff.





  








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chickenwings


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Nov 1, 2015


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