News — Deer and Oak

Yes, it is safe to wash a wooden cutting board with soap and water, as long as you use mild washing up liquid, hot water around 45–50°C, and you dry the board upright within 30 minutes. In fact, this is the best daily method for keeping a bamboo or acacia board hygienic and helping it last 5–10 years. Is it safe to wash a wooden cutting board with soap and water? For most home kitchens, washing a wooden cutting board with standard dish soap and hot tap water is not only safe, it is recommended. The key is how you...

If you want to know how to season a bamboo chopping board for the first time, the simple answer is this: apply 2 to 3 thin coats of food safe mineral oil over 24 hours, letting each coat soak in for at least 20 to 30 minutes, then buff dry. Done properly, a seasoned moso bamboo board can last 5 to 10 years in a busy kitchen. Why seasoning your bamboo chopping board matters on day one Bamboo is naturally hard and dense, which is why a moso bamboo cutting board is kinder to your knives than glass yet tougher...

If you want to prevent cross contamination in a busy kitchen, the most practical choice is to use separate bamboo or hardwood chopping boards for raw meat, cooked food and fresh produce, backed up by strict colour or task separation. In real home kitchens, a 45x35cm non porous bamboo board for raw meat plus a second 38x28cm board for vegetables reduces day to day cross contamination risk far more than relying on one board of any single material. What is the best chopping board material to prevent cross contamination? There is no single magic material that kills all bacteria, so...

If you care about how sharp your knives stay, acacia is usually kinder to your blades than bamboo, but high quality moso bamboo boards with a fine grain and good oiling come very close and are often more eco-friendly. In our tests at Deer & Oak, knives stayed noticeably keener on our Large Acacia Board after 6 months of daily use, while our Large Bamboo Board needed a touch more honing but showed less surface marking. Bamboo vs acacia: which is better for your knives? When people ask, "Which is better for knives, bamboo or acacia?" they are really asking...