News — Deer & Oak

If you want to protect your knives, high quality Moso bamboo chopping boards are safe for everyday use and, with normal home cooking, will help your blades hold a sharp edge for 5 to 10 years. The key is choosing the right board hardness, thickness and finish, then using and caring for it properly. Are bamboo chopping boards safe for knives? In practical kitchen terms, yes, bamboo chopping boards are safe for knives when they are made from mature Moso bamboo, finished smoothly and used with normal home knife sets. On the Janka hardness scale, bamboo sits between softwoods and...

If you want the best chopping board for a busy home kitchen, acacia usually beats oak for daily use because it is slightly lighter, naturally more water resistant and kinder to knife edges, while still lasting 5 to 10 years with basic care. Oak can be beautiful and very strong, but its open grain and higher porosity make it less forgiving around water and raw meat unless you are very disciplined with drying and oiling. Oak vs acacia: which chopping board should you choose? When people ask “What is the best wood for a chopping board for everyday family cooking?”...

If you want the best chopping board for protecting your knives, John Boos wooden boards are kinder to knife edges than most Joseph Joseph plastic boards, typically helping a quality chef's knife hold its edge for 20 to 30 percent longer between sharpenings. That said, for many British home kitchens a well made bamboo or acacia board, such as the 45x35cm Deer & Oak Large Bamboo Board at £34.99, will give you very similar knife friendliness at a fraction of the cost of a large Boos block. John Boos vs Joseph Joseph: which chopping board is better for knives? When...

If your main question is knife care, wood chopping boards are usually better for your blades than plastic. On a quality wooden board, a sharp chef’s knife can hold its edge for 5 to 10 uses longer between honings compared with a similar plastic board, simply because wood is kinder to the cutting edge. Wood vs plastic: what actually happens to your knife? Every cut you make pushes a very thin metal edge into the board. The harder the surface, the faster that edge rolls or chips. The softer and more forgiving the surface, the longer your knife stays sharp....