News — kitchen hygiene

If you’ve just cut raw meat, the safest way to properly clean a chopping board is to scrub it within 5 minutes using hot water at roughly 60°C, washing up liquid, and a clean brush, then rinse, dry upright for at least 30 minutes, and disinfect with a food safe solution or white vinegar if the board is wooden or bamboo. Step by step: how to clean a chopping board after cutting raw meat Raw chicken, beef, pork and fish can carry bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. The aim is simple: get those off the board before they spread...

If you wash them in hot soapy water after each use and oil them every 4 to 6 weeks, high quality wooden chopping boards are hygienic enough for daily cooking and can safely last 5 to 10 years in a busy kitchen. In many tests, wooden boards hold fewer live bacteria after 12 to 24 hours than plastic boards with deep knife scars. Are wooden chopping boards hygienic in everyday use? Yes, wooden chopping boards are hygienic when you use and care for them properly. Wood is naturally porous, which sounds worrying at first, but it actually helps. Moisture and...

If you want the best antibacterial chopping boards to buy for a busy family kitchen, a sealed natural wood or bamboo board that is at least 38x28cm and pre oiled for easy cleaning is usually the safest choice. In our tests at Deer & Oak, the Carbonised Bamboo Board 45x35cm (DNO-CBB-LG) and the Bamboo Double Pack 45x35cm + 38x28cm (DNO-BCB-2PK) consistently stayed odour free and easier to sanitise than cheap thin plastic boards that scar quickly. What makes a chopping board “antibacterial” in real kitchens? There is no chopping board that magically kills 100 percent of bacteria. What you can...

If you're wondering what the safest chopping board for a busy family kitchen is, the short answer is this: a well maintained wooden board, such as the Deer & Oak Large Bamboo Board (45x35cm, 1.8kg), typically holds far fewer live bacteria than an old, deeply scored plastic board, even though tests have shown that some kitchen boards can carry up to 200 times more bacteria than a cleaned toilet seat. The key is material choice, board size and how you clean it every single day. Why do chopping boards harbour more bacteria than toilet seats? Toilet seats are usually smooth,...