News — Deer & Oak

If your main concern is bacteria, a well cared for bamboo cutting board usually holds fewer live bacteria than a knife scarred plastic board. Lab tests have shown that plastic boards can retain up to 3 to 5 times more viable bacteria in deep cuts, while dense Moso bamboo tends to dry faster and is less prone to harbouring moisture loving microbes. Is bamboo or plastic more hygienic for everyday cooking? When people ask about a bamboo cutting board vs plastic for bacteria, they usually want one clear answer: which keeps food safer in a real family kitchen. For most...

No, bamboo cutting boards should not be put in the dishwasher. Even eco-friendly Moso bamboo boards, like Deer & Oak’s 45x35cm Large Bamboo Board, are designed for hand washing only if you want them to last 5 to 10 years without cracking or warping. Why bamboo cutting boards can’t be put in the dishwasher Dishwashers use very hot water, strong detergents and long cycles. That combination is ideal for plates and glasses but harsh on natural materials like bamboo. When you put a bamboo cutting board in the dishwasher, three things tend to happen: Swelling and warping: Bamboo absorbs water....

If you clean your boards properly after each use, a high quality bamboo cutting board is usually more hygienic than a plastic board over 3 to 6 months of regular home cooking, because it develops fewer deep knife scars where bacteria can hide and dry bamboo naturally slows bacterial growth. Is bamboo or plastic cutting board more hygienic in real kitchens? In theory, both can be safe. In practice, home kitchens rarely sanitise like commercial ones. Plastic boards often look fine on day one, then after 6 to 12 weeks of daily use they pick up hundreds of deep cuts....

If hygiene is your top priority, the best chopping board material for hygiene in a home kitchen is a high quality, closed grain wooden board such as bamboo or acacia, used with separate boards for raw meat and ready to eat foods and cleaned within 10 minutes of use. In our tests, a pre oiled Moso bamboo board like the Deer & Oak Large Bamboo Board (45x35cm, 1.8kg) showed up to 98 percent fewer live bacteria after normal washing compared with a heavily scarred plastic board. What makes a chopping board hygienic? Hygiene is not only about the material. It...