News — chopping boards

If you want the best wood for keeping kitchen knives sharper for longer, hard maple usually beats bamboo and acacia because it sits in the sweet spot of hardness at about 1,450 lbf on the Janka scale. That means it is hard enough to resist deep cuts, yet soft and fine grained enough to be gentle on knife edges, so you can often go 20 to 30 percent longer between sharpenings compared with similar use on bamboo or acacia boards. Why is maple better than bamboo or acacia for knives? When people ask “what’s the best wood for knives?”, the...

If you want a cutting board that balances eco-friendly materials, gentle treatment of knives and everyday practicality, Moso bamboo usually wins for most home cooks, while acacia suits showpiece serving and maple suits heavy butchery. In our own testing at Deer & Oak, Moso bamboo boards last 5 to 10 years with weekly use, acacia 7 to 12 years, and maple 10 to 15 years when properly oiled and kept dry. Bamboo, acacia or maple: which is actually better for you? There is no single winner for everyone. Instead, each material solves a slightly different problem: Moso bamboo: Best balance...

If you cook at home at least 3 or 4 times a week, colour coded chopping boards are helpful but not strictly necessary. What you do need is at least 2 separate cutting boards so raw meat never touches the same surface as ready to eat food, whether those boards are colour coded plastic or natural wood like a 45x35cm bamboo board and a 38x28cm vegetable board. Do you really need colour coded chopping boards at home? In professional kitchens in the UK, colour coded chopping boards are required by food safety guidelines. At home, they are not required by...

If you cook most days in the UK and want an eco-friendly board that stays lighter, harder and easier to look after than many wood options, then Moso bamboo is often the best choice for a daily cutting board. A well cared for bamboo board like the Deer & Oak Large Bamboo Board (45x35cm, 1.8kg) can last 5 to 10 years in a busy kitchen while using a fast growing, highly renewable material. Why choose bamboo over wood cutting board UK? So why choose bamboo over wood for your cutting board in the UK? For many home cooks the decision...