How to care for a wooden chopping board, including end grain boards

To care for a wooden chopping board, wash it by hand in hot soapy water, rinse it, dry it with a tea towel straight away and stand it on its edge so air reaches both sides. Never soak it and never put it in the dishwasher. Oil it with food safe mineral oil or board oil whenever it looks pale and dry, which for most boards is about once a month. End grain boards follow the same rules but take up more oil, especially when they are new.

Everyday cleaning

Scrape off any food, then wash the board in hot water with a little washing up liquid, using a brush or sponge. Wash both sides, even if you only chop on one. Wood swells as it takes up water, and if one face gets wet while the other stays dry, the board can start to cup or warp.

Rinse it, then dry it straight away with a clean tea towel. Stand it on its edge in a dish rack or against the splashback so air can reach every surface while it finishes drying. Do not leave it lying flat on a wet worktop, where the underside stays damp for hours.

What damages a wooden board

The dishwasher. A long cycle of hot water, steam and strong detergent makes the wood swell and then dry out fast. Boards split, warp, and the glued joints in edge grain and end grain boards can fail.

Soaking. Leaving a board in a sink of water has the same effect more slowly. Wash it and get it out.

Fast, uneven drying. Propping a wet board against the hob, on a radiator or in a sunny window seems sensible, but drying one part of the wood much faster than the rest is how cracks start.

Harsh chemicals. Strong bleach and abrasive cleaners dry the wood out and roughen the surface. Hot soapy water does the everyday cleaning.

Raw meat and keeping it hygienic

UK food safety advice is to use separate chopping boards for raw meat and for ready to eat food such as bread, salad and cooked meat. Many cooks keep one board for raw meat and fish and another for everything else, and colour coding or a different shape makes it easy to tell them apart.

After preparing raw meat or fish, wash the board thoroughly in hot soapy water straight away, rinse it well and dry it, then wash your hands and knife too.

To freshen a board that smells of garlic, onion or fish, sprinkle it with coarse salt and scrub with the cut side of half a lemon, then rinse and dry. A paste of bicarbonate of soda and a little water works well for smells and light stains. A wipe of diluted white vinegar is a gentle way to clean the surface between proper washes.

How to oil a wooden chopping board

Oil soaks into the wood fibres and slows the rate at which they take up water. A well oiled board resists staining, is less likely to dry out and crack, and keeps its colour.

Which oil. Use food grade mineral oil, sold as chopping board oil or food safe liquid paraffin, or a ready made board oil. A board cream or butter, usually mineral oil blended with beeswax, is good as a final layer because the wax helps seal the surface. Avoid olive, sunflower and other cooking oils. They can turn rancid in the wood over time and leave the board sticky and smelling stale.

How to apply it. Start with a clean board that is completely dry, ideally left overnight after washing. Pour on a generous amount of oil and rub it in with a soft cloth or kitchen paper, working with the grain. Oil every surface: the top, the underside, the edges and any handles or grips. Stand the board on its edge and leave it for several hours, or overnight. Then wipe off whatever has not soaked in, so the surface does not feel greasy.

How often. A new board benefits from being oiled every day or two for the first week, until the wood stops drinking it in. After that, once a month is about right for a board in regular use. A simple test is to sprinkle a few drops of water on the surface: if they bead, the board is fine; if they soak in quickly and darken the wood, it is time to oil.

End grain boards: what is different

Most boards are long grain, cut so the grain runs along the surface. An end grain board is made from small blocks set on end, so you cut into the tips of the fibres rather than across them. The knife edge slips between the fibres instead of slicing through them, which is why end grain is kinder to knives and tends to hide everyday cut marks better.

The same structure makes end grain more absorbent. The upright fibres draw liquid in readily, both water and oil, a little like a bundle of drinking straws. That means three things in practice:

Oil an end grain board more generously and more often, particularly in its first few weeks. Never leave it standing in water or on a wet worktop, because water wicks up into the open grain. And dry it thoroughly every time, as there are many glued joints between the blocks that heat and soaking will weaken.

End grain boards are also thicker and heavier, so they often have feet. Our Yoshino end grain acacia board is 2.5 cm thick with rubber feet underneath to stop it sliding, and a stainless steel loop at one end so it can hang on a rail between meals, which is also an easy way to let it dry. The Mikawa teak end grain board is 2.5 cm thick with recessed grips along the sides and non slip feet; the large size weighs about 2.6 kg, so it stays put while you chop. It should be oiled before its first use.

A board with feet is used one side up, and the feet hold it off the counter so air can get underneath. Still oil the underside now and then, so both faces take up moisture at the same rate.

Knife marks, rough patches and stains

A fuzzy surface. After the first few washes, a new board can feel slightly rough. This is raised grain, where loose fibres stand up as the wood gets wet. Rub it lightly with fine sandpaper, around 240 grit, along the grain, wipe off the dust and oil it. It rarely comes back after that.

Deep knife marks. On a long grain board, deep scoring can be sanded back, starting with a medium grit and finishing with fine, then oiled. End grain boards show far fewer marks to begin with.

Stains. Beetroot, turmeric and berries can colour the wood. Salt and lemon or a bicarbonate paste will lift most of it, and light staining fades with washing and oiling.

When to replace a board. Dark spots that will not scrub or sand out, deep cracks that trap food, or a soft, spongy surface are signs that a board has reached the end of its life.

The same care for wooden utensils

Wooden spoons and spatulas need exactly the same treatment: hand wash, dry straight away and a little oil now and then. Our Okayama teak utensil set is five tools carved from teak, and the same bottle of board oil will keep them in good condition too.

Looked after this way, a good wooden board lasts for many years and gains character with use. You can find our boards, utensils and serving pieces in the kitchen and dining collection.