Dear Home-Ec 101,
I’m interested in learning the proper care of a wooden cutting board. I use one for veggies and meats (I use bleach on it after it has been used for meats) and a separate board for fruits. If I cut fruits on the cleaned veggie board, the flavors of onion, garlic, and other stinky stuff get picked up by the fruit, and well, it tastes yucky. I’ve tried scrubbing with lots of hot soap & water & scrub brush, to no avail. So how do I get it clean, and should I treat the wood with anything?
Thanks!
Vampire-Free Since ’08
Heather says:
I could have written this the other night.
I have multiple large cutting boards at home, but I was at someone else’s house preparing dinner -mango salsa and grilled halibut with watermelon for dessert. I procrastinated cutting up the watermelon as they are a giant pain in the rear, and I hate the chore. So, without thinking, I used the same cutting board that I had used for the mango salsa.
Oops.
The next day, I received a phone call about the leftover watermelon smelling of garlic. /shrug. It happens. It can be prevented; I was just lazy and or forgetful. You can choose which.
Cutting Board Care
Garlic odor can be neutralized with white vinegar. Keep some vinegar in a spray bottle, rinse the cutting board, spray it with white vinegar, give the acid a moment to work, and then wash the board as you normally would. Yes, you will have to smell white vinegar for a few minutes, but you won’t experience the joy of unintentional flavor transfer.
As a general rule, stick with multiple cutting boards for marathon cooking and to avoid cross-contamination.
Wooden cutting boards do require special care. Check out this post on cutting board basics for the full rundown.
For the TL:DR crowd -never soak, wash quickly with hot soap and water, rinse, sanitize with dilute bleach and dry thoroughly. Treat once a month with food-grade mineral oil and remove gouges with a scraper, not sandpaper.
While we’re at it, you may want to sharpen your knife skills and learn how to safely use bleach. Nothing ruins date night -or the entertainment budget- quite like a trip to the ER.
Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com
Post updated March 24, 2022.
