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In a world... flooded by cutting boards of all shapes, sizes, colors and chemical make-up.. one cook... stands bereft in a kitchen. This poor cook has no idea which cutting board to use. If he reads this, he will know exactly which board to use, and better yet, he will no longer be bereft.

The question that is asked is whether one should use plastic, wood or stone cutting boards. This article will explain the good and bad of each cutting board and will end by giving a recommendation for cutting board usage.

STONE
Stone cutting boards are often the most attractive and potentially the most durable of the crowd. Additionally, they will remain the most sanitary of all of the boards. However, you want to watch out: You are using knives on stone, sliding the cutting edge across the stone and blunting it with every chop and slice. Your knives will get dull and wear out at an alarming rate. So stone boards stay nice and clean, are easy to maintain, but destroy your knives.

WOOD
Possibly the worst cutting board ever. Wood will dull your knives quickly due to the denseness of the fibers, will also easily get nicked and gouged, and is very difficult to keep sanitary. The best way to clean these beasts is to put them in the dishwasher so they are scoured clean, but then they wear out and shrink fast. However, they have one redeeming use: bread. Slicing homemade bread on a wood cutting board works fine, as bread is dry and won't contaminate the board. Never, and I mean never, cut any kind of meat on a wood board. If you do, that board cannot be used for anything other than meat, and you will quickly stop trusting it for that too. Imagine that bacteria burrowing into the gouges in your wood board. Is the dishwasher really getting it clean? So forget wood.

PLASTIC
When we say plastic cutting boards, we are talking about hard plastic. These come in two basic forms. One is the kind that is stiff and about a quarter inch thick. The other is the slightly newer version that is thin and very flexible.

Plastic is the best for many reasons. It won't gouge easily. Small scratches and very shallow cuts are easily made, but this does not really damage the board and the damage is not so deep that it can't be easily scoured of bacteria. Furthermore, plastic is light and very portable. Plastic cutting boards can go into the sanitizing dishwasher, so you can be absolutely confident they are hygenic. And finally, while the plastic is hard and will dull your knife, this doesn't happen as fast as it does on stone- the other good board.

So keep away from wood always. Use stone only if you want to feel posh. And stick with plastic. If you are seriously concerned with cross-contamination from meat, then designate one of your plastic cutting boards as the meat one by using a permanent marker and writing a big M on the corner.

So now the cook has hope and purpose and is no longer bereft!

Learn more about this author, Jared Garrett.
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