# Professional Grade Cutting Boards make John Boos cry



## sharpchef (Jan 16, 2014)

http://www.glassrootscompany.com/butcherblocks.html

I don't see any reviews, but sure looks great. I ordered mine, so in a week I'll get back to you guys.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

The first two look great.  I 'd pass on the third, the "professional" model though. When you have a block comprised of 144 individual smaller blocks with only glue and no mechanical joinery (ie dovetail joints) holding it together, and the thing sits in a pool of water it will crack, especially when made with different species (maple, walnut) as each wood will react differently to water.

DAMHIKT.....


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## sharpchef (Jan 16, 2014)

Good thing I ordered the 2nd one! I haven't seen a cutting board with dovetails but that sounds like $ to me.  Maybe if they wrapped the "professional one" with solid wood? Biscuit joints? Anyhow, all I have is a john boos board  as a gift and after 2 years its cracking. this seemed like a better replacement. 

Keep it sharp!


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## dcarch (Jun 28, 2010)

1.75 inches thick for professional? No way! 

4 inches would be better.

dcarch


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

SharpChef said:


> Good thing I ordered the 2nd one! I haven't seen a cutting board with dovetails but that sounds like $ to me. Maybe if they wrapped the "professional one" with solid wood? Biscuit joints? Anyhow, all I have is a john boos board as a gift and after 2 years its cracking. this seemed like a better replacement.
> 
> Keep it sharp!


Yeah... I "inherited" a massive 24 x 30 butcher's BLOCK, (that sits on 24" high legs) which was originally 18" thick. When I got it, it was hollowed out so badly I had to chop off almost 7" from the top to get it level again. All the strips of wood (end grain surface) are dovetailed together, and there are 3/8" redi-rods (all-thread) spaced every 12" as extra precaution.

You can't wrap a strip of wood or even a band of s/s around a block made up of tiny individual end grain blocks. Wood moves according to season, kiln dried wood moves, 200 yr "reclaimed" old Doug.Fir moves, wood moves, period. If you wrap a band around the block, the wood will move according to humidity and if constrained by the band it will either crack or swell up, making a "hump" in the middle.

After 30-odd years working in all kinds of pro kitchens and about 15 yrs as a hobby woodworker, when it comes to wood cutting boards I can only suggest this:

Keep the wood block for show only, carving a prime rib on buffets, for example. When done, scrape it clean with a woodworker's card scraper, sanitize it with sanitizer, and oil it periodically with mineral oil. If the board ever gets wet, really soaked, or is standing in a puddle of water for more than an hour, the odds of it splitting or cracking are very high--regardless of the quality or price of the board. Wood moves, glue doesn't, and this means the splits always occur _very near_ to the glue line.

For daily prep, get a nylon board, use it, abuse it, toss it in the d/washer, when it gets scarred run it through a woodworker's thickness planer, and abuse it some more. They are cheap, easily obtainable, easily sanitized, require very little TLC, and you don't cry when you finally toss it in the dumpster.


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