# Bad cutting board woods?



## [email protected]

Ahoy one and all! I'm pretty new to these forums, so I'm sorry if this has already been discussed. My question is if there is a list of wood that is known to be bad for cutting boards. Well, a list of woods that are known to be bad for functional cutting boards that is. 

I have read posts here about how red oak seems to be bad because of its pores. I have also read stuff here about walnut and how some people have an allergy to walnut. If there are other woods out there that cause problems, I'd love to know about them before I make another cutting board. 

I should point out that I found a page listing wood that potentially has allergies. The allergy thing doesn't concern me as much as the kind of problems found in red oak. 

Some wood that I was thinking about using was Sugar Maple, Hickory, Mahogany, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Redheart, Padauk, Cherry, Aspen, Poplar, Alder, Elm, Bocote.

Sorry for such a long list. I'm probably not going to use more than a couple of these for any one board, but I figured I'd ask about all of them just in case there was some crazy issue that I didn't know about. Thanks in advance!


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## RepairmanJack

I'm told that walnut sawdust is actually toxic - not just allergenic... It's a poor wood for cutting boards, regardless. 

I vaguely recall from High School wood shop (20+ years ago) that purpleheart has problems as well.


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## Brian T.

I've been reading that maple and birch are the two woods which are acceptable for cutting boards in commercial kitchens. Clearly, no peanut oil finish!

I realize that doesn't offer much in the way of contrast. I've used cooked red grape skin goop for a really gaudy stain, much akin to purple heart (_Vitis riparia_, native to North America.)
Free for me, I grow grapes.

The other, stunning, thing that I've seen, was a cutting board which actually used the end grain growth rings for the alternating kalideoscopic pattern. Pine. Yes, pine. The builder must have spent ages in the planning = almost dizzying to look at.


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## [email protected]

*That helps*

Well not using walnut is fine by me. It's too dang expensive anyway. I always hear about maple being good and I always use it. I also heard that hickory and cherry are good, but I don't really remember where I heard that. It probably wasn't an authority on the subject. 

These cutting boards are going to be presents for friends and family members and they will not be for commercial use. No one in my family has any allergies that we know of, so I'm not extra worried about that. Certainly I will be avoiding peanut oil or anything having to do with peanuts though, haha. Here is a link that I found in another forum on potential allergies: http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/toxic-woods.aspx

Like I said though, I'm less concerned about allergies. I've been reading about how some woods (like red oak) are open grain which apparently is a problem. Some people also talk about wood that is especially porous, but it seems like there is a lot of disagreement there. If someone knows which woods are open grain and open pours that would really help though. Thanks again!


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## Masterjer

I would avoid all soft woods too - pine, alder, poplar, etc. and stick to tight grained hardwoods. I've used maple, cherry , walnut, purpleheart and yellowheart with good results.


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## ChipperOfWood

RepairmanJack said:


> I'm told that walnut sawdust is actually toxic - not just allergenic... It's a poor wood for cutting boards, regardless.
> 
> I vaguely recall from High School wood shop (20+ years ago) that purpleheart has problems as well.


Now you tell me. I just built a rolling kitchen cart for my wife that has a hard maple top but I put in 4 strips of wallnut just to jazz it up a bit. I am wondering if the butcher block oil will seal it enough to prevent any possible problems.

My wife says she does not plan on doing any cutting on the top. She makes a lot of bread and rolls and that will be the main use. Plus, as far as I know, no one in our family has any food allergies.

Charlie


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## Maylar

Oak has tannin that will affect the flavor of food. A bad choice for a cutting board.


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## Dave Paine

+1 with others and open grain woods not being good for cutting boards - too many small spaces for food particles to get stuck.

I have used sugar maple (aka hard maple), hickory, purpleheart, yellowheart, bubinga, bloodwood, cherry, walnut

Most of the issues I have read with wood allergies are associated with either the dust or ingestion. The wood may be scratched from cutting, but I think the amount of wood particles picked up by the food is minimal.

I have three "user" cutting boards presently being used in my house. All face grain.
One is hard maple with purpleheart inlays.
One is hard maple with walnut inlays.
One is hard maple with a middle section of walnut.


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## Paarker

These are the woods I have used in the past with no ill effects. Maple (both hard and soft), walnut, cherry, purple heart, Pauduk (spelling?),yellow heart, blood wood. What you don't want is open grain or soft wood in your cutting boards.


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## Brian T.

I think that the concern is for the "open-grained" woods = too easy for food particles to get down into the vessels (aka pores). Thus, too hard to assure cleanliness in a big kitchen. There are all kinds of tight-grained woods with small vessels that should be fine.
If I were to cut a ripe tomato on a wood with a lot of tannins, I don't think that I'd notice the change in taste for whatever leached out. Even in wine barrels, the vintner takes advantage of the sloooooow release over perhaps years.


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## Burb

As shown above, you are going to get many good and not good wood to use. It's really a matter of opinion. Some say tight grain only due to food particles getting in open grained wood. I've also read a study by a CA college (I think SD State) that showed the wood in open grained wood naturally kills the bacteria anyway, so that it doesn't matter. 

I made several boards myself and all were red oak, white oak, black walnut, & hickory. They seem to be doing just fine.

Mark


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## [email protected]

*excellent!*

Thanks to all for the responses! I feel much more informed about the woods I should use and/or avoid. One quick question about poplar though. If I used thin poplar boards for contrast would that be problematic? I know that softwood is bad, but since poplar is kind of a hardwood (albeit very soft compared to the other woods mentioned), I am curious to know if I can get away with using just thin pieces of it in the middle of the board. 

If poplar is a no go, then what about aspen? The reason I ask is because I am interested in having a wood that is on the very light end of the color spectrum. It seems like some of the sugar maple I've seen can be somewhat light, but not as light as aspen or poplar. It's not a huge deal, but I figured I'd ask to see if anyone has had experience using either poplar or aspen. Thanks again!


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## RepairmanJack

Despite my earlier comment about walnut, I have seen it used in cutting boards, but usually as an accent. I suppose it would come down to the quality of the finish. Fine Woodworking had an article several years ago that talked about the finish benefits of using food-safe silicone on wood that would be used for food (boards, bowls, spoons, etc), so that might be a good option if leaching is the big concern. I used food-safe silicone on a cutting board I picked up from an asian grocery. It's a cross-section of a whole log, species unidentified. I felt that the silicone would be a good idea for protection.

Aspen and Poplar are generally the same tree. Poplar refers to the genus _Populus_. _Populus tremuloidies _is the American Aspen. There are many species in that genus. If I recall correctly, White Poplar is _Populus alba_. Cottonwood is a relative. 

The issue with softwoods and open-grain is that bacteria take up home in the pores. 

As noted, the concern with purpleheart and walnut is mainly in the wood dust - which is probably not a big problem after you finish making the cutting board. 

I remember hearing (can't recall where) that walnut is more absorbent... Was hoping someone would confirm or deny that. Seem to think I heard it from food & health inspector...


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## ~WoodChuck~

I've used most of the above woods in my cutting boards. After spending much thought about the same concerns you are worried about, i just started making them with whatever I thought looked good. I've use walnut and even Brazilian cherry and hell, I'm still alive. Now cutting raw meat on there might something to worry about


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## Brian T.

Thank you WoodChuck. I was just re-reading this thread, thinking that raw meat juice is likely to be the #1 thing to be very careful about.

Experiment: find a piece of clear, straight grained red oak. 48" of flooring would do nicely. Put one end in a glass of water and blow in the other end. See the bubbles? Open from end to end.
I can't guarantee that meat juice would soak into the open, empty vessels of end grain that far but I'll pick some other wood(s).
10+ years ago, I made a pine cutting board, about 16" x 16" x 1", as the "lid" for a knife drawer.
Slopped it up with olive oil. Its a little banged up now, scratches really. That board has seen an awful lot of pizza slide across its face! If I had wanted something really fancy, I'd hang it on the wall.


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## hays0369

Maylar said:


> Oak has tannin that will affect the flavor of food. A bad choice for a cutting board.


 
What oak are you talking about here? I have used white oak for many, many cutting boards and I have not (nor has anyone I have made one for) noticed any off flavors. For the boards I make I use African Mahogany, White Oak, Hickoy, Maple and Purple Heart. I haven't noticed anything...or grown a third eye.:laughing:

Hays


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## KTP

I made a cutting board (cherry with purpleheart accents) to get an idea for how purpleheart works before using it in a bigger project. The board has seen almost daily use for over a month. No problems with either wood so far.

Other observations: purpleheart is hard as a rock, even compared to hard maple. Also, I got it rough-sawn and it gave me the itchiest, most painful splinters.


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## Brian T.

There are many, many people who appreciate the tannins from the oak used to make the barrels for the aging of fine drink. For the 5 minutes that my sliced tomato sits on the board, nothing will happen.

For further edification on the composition of those tannins, I recommed that you begin reading on p720 in McGee: On Food and Cooking. 2nd Ed, 2004. ISBN 0-684-80001-2


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## jeepman71

Hi, I'm new here and this is my first post so here it goes.

I have made a number of end grain cutting boards using Walnut, Cherry, Maple with no problems to those using them. The article in Fine Wood Working did mention "milling and sanding" as the primary problem. I do have a family member with nut allergies, he works with Walnut frequently and has used an end grain walnut cutting board. I have not seen him chewing on it, that might cause a problem/


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## [email protected]

That's an interesting idea Jeepman, thanks for the post! What in particular did the article say about milling and sanding? Was it just saying that sawdust left over from sanding is a problem? Or are they saying that the board needs to be sanded down to a fine grit? I'm interested to learn more about that. 

Thanks to everyone else for the suggestions too. I feel like I'm getting a pretty good idea for what to use and what not to.


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## retfr8flyr

I am going to make a couple of cutting boards this year and I am using Maple and Walnut in mine.

Earl


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## frankp

RepairmanJack said:


> I'm told that walnut sawdust is actually toxic - not just allergenic... It's a poor wood for cutting boards, regardless.
> 
> I vaguely recall from High School wood shop (20+ years ago) that purpleheart has problems as well.


Walnut is a poor cutting board wood?! Tell that to my 20+ year old walnut and maple cutting boards. It is a nut wood, and might cause some extremely sensitive people issues (I've never heard of that actually happening) but it's a great wood for making cutting boards, in my opinion.

All my opinions aside:

The issues with milling/sanding walnut is that its dust is an irritant, (even more than just being a foreign object in your lungs). Walnut has a chemical that actively deters other plants from growing on/near it. This, I believe, is what makes it also an irritant to people. Works great for cutting boards (though it will leach liquids more than other options folks have given like Purpleheart, Yellowheart or Paduak) but wear a dust mask when you're working with it.

Like I said above, I've never seen any issues with using any of the other options listed. I've seen softer wood boards made as well and the only real issue is longevity of the board. The softer woods just don't survive. I did have an oak (I think) cutting board that was made in the 40s (it was my grandmother's and I have pics of my father playing with it as a small child) finally split in half a couple years ago. The only issue with that was I ran it through the dishwasher a few too many times. It was getting a little "fuzzy" on the cutting surface but sandpaper fixes that right up.

For the record, I use plain old mineral oil on all my cutting boards and the like. I use a wax sealant on bowls and either that or an epoxy on cups. All work just fine, though I wouldn't use epoxy on a cutting board.


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## jeepman71

McCallumJoe, as Frank said it is the dust that is the problem. There is a good video on Wood Whisperer about end grain cutting boards and what he uses to seal them. I have made several following his example and they have all turned out nice and lasted well except one I made for my daughter, too many trips throuhg the dishwasher.


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## jeepman71

Here is a link to the Wood Whisper's end grain cutting boards.
http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/how-to-make-a-butcher-block-cutting-board/

Admins, if this is not allowed please delete. Thank you.


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## Gilgaron

You guys put wood through the dishwasher? I have some crappy hand me down steak knives with shriveled up wooden handles that go in there but that is it... and they only get used for stuff that is too hard for a butter knife but not worth getting the nice knives out for.


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## jeepman71

Gilgaron said:


> You guys put wood through the dishwasher? I have some crappy hand me down steak knives with shriveled up wooden handles that go in there but that is it... and they only get used for stuff that is too hard for a butter knife but not worth getting the nice knives out for.


Like I said, my daughter put an end grain cutting board through the dishwasher but it is pretty well trashed now....Not a good idea.


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## RepairmanJack

frankp said:


> Walnut is a poor cutting board wood?! Tell that to my 20+ year old walnut and maple cutting boards. It is a nut wood, and might cause some extremely sensitive people issues (I've never heard of that actually happening) but it's a great wood for making cutting boards, in my opinion.
> 
> All my opinions aside:
> 
> The issues with milling/sanding walnut is that its dust is an irritant, (even more than just being a foreign object in your lungs). Walnut has a chemical that actively deters other plants from growing on/near it. This, I believe, is what makes it also an irritant to people. Works great for cutting boards (though it will leach liquids more than other options folks have given like Purpleheart, Yellowheart or Paduak) but wear a dust mask when you're working with it.
> 
> Like I said above, I've never seen any issues with using any of the other options listed. I've seen softer wood boards made as well and the only real issue is longevity of the board. The softer woods just don't survive. I did have an oak (I think) cutting board that was made in the 40s (it was my grandmother's and I have pics of my father playing with it as a small child) finally split in half a couple years ago. The only issue with that was I ran it through the dishwasher a few too many times. It was getting a little "fuzzy" on the cutting surface but sandpaper fixes that right up.
> 
> For the record, I use plain old mineral oil on all my cutting boards and the like. I use a wax sealant on bowls and either that or an epoxy on cups. All work just fine, though I wouldn't use epoxy on a cutting board.


Clarifications are appreciated, but you did not read my second comment where I offered further information.


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## RepairmanJack

Wood Dust Toxicity Link

This might be a good reference source for such projects...
http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/


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## ChipperOfWood

RepairmanJack said:


> Wood Dust Toxicity Link
> 
> This might be a good reference source for such projects...
> http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/


Based on those charts there is almost no wood safe for anything. So what do we do close up our shops and play with legos.:blink:


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## jeepman71

Legos are quite a bit of fun, My four year old grandson and I play with them all the time when the shop is closed up.:thumbsup:


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## ChipperOfWood

jeepman71 said:


> Legos are quite a bit of fun, My four year old grandson and I play with them all the time when the shop is closed up.:thumbsup:


Yes they are. I did the same with our grand kids. Now we have two great grand kids and one of them is into Legos.:yes:


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## gideon

I use walnut, hard maple and cherry for my boards and have a lot of them out there. No failures or issues to speak of. 

I did accidentally use soft maple for my own edge grain cutting board and it's been fine the past year. Not sure what soft maple would be like for an end grain board.


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## FishFactory

My father has used oak for years,never a problem. I built a 2" butcher block top on drawer slides with a front and everything right into my kitchen cabinets. Used scraps of hardwood laying around for the top.....lots of oak in it. Never had a problem.


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## BaldEagle2012

mccallumjoe:
I have made over 50 end grain cutting boards as gifts and also sold many. I use Cherry, Hard Maple and Walnut. The only finish I use is FOOD SAFE MINERAL OIL, can be bought in any drug store, or grocery store. Some others have said that they mix mineral oil and bees wax, and apply it. Others talk of using butcher block oil, so there are three choices you could think about for finishing your boards. Mineral oil is cheap and food safe. I don't cut raw meats on my cutting board, and recommend that others don't either. Cooked meats are fine, as are all veggies. Cleaning a cutting board is easy, wash with soap and water, don't need to scrub it, light wash, and rinse well, wipe off all excess water, let air dry overnight. Next day apply a light coat of your choice of finish, and let it soak in. Your done. When I give away or sell a board, I attach a use and care sheet with them.


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