News — Butcher's Block

If your main question is “what’s the best chopping board for knife care?”, the honest answer is this: a well made end grain board will keep a knife edge sharper around 20 to 30 percent longer than an equivalent edge grain board, but a high quality edge grain board is easier to live with for most home kitchens. The right choice depends on how often you cook, how you maintain your knives and how much weight and care you are happy with. End grain vs edge grain chopping boards for knife care Knife care starts with what the blade hits...

If your only goal is to protect your knife edges, end grain chopping boards are usually the best choice, keeping a regularly used chef’s knife sharper for roughly 30 to 50 percent longer than a typical plastic or hard glass board. That said, a well made edge grain wooden board, like a 45x35cm acacia or bamboo board, will still treat your knives far better than glass, marble or very hard plastics and is easier to live with in most home kitchens. What makes end grain boards kinder to knife edges? End grain boards are made so the wood fibres stand...

If you want the best thick wooden butchers block in the UK for daily meat prep and heavy chopping, a board around 45x35 cm and 2 kg in weight is ideal. In the Deer & Oak range, the Large Acacia Board (45x35 cm, 2.1 kg, acacia wood) and the Carbonised Bamboo Board (45x35 cm, 1.9 kg) give you the closest feel to a traditional butchers block without needing a whole worktop station. What makes a thick wooden butchers block “the best” in the UK? For most home cooks in the UK, the best thick wooden butchers block is one that:...

If you live in a humid UK home and want a chopping board that lasts the longest, acacia usually gives you 7 to 12 years of solid use, while bamboo typically offers around 5 to 10 years, provided both are hand washed and oiled monthly. In other words, for long term durability in damp British kitchens, a well made acacia board has a slight edge, while bamboo wins on lightness and price. How humidity in UK homes affects bamboo and acacia boards British homes often sit at 60 to 75 percent indoor humidity for much of the year. That extra...