Chop, chop, chop

I use cutting boards on a daily basis. Cutting fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken, or seafood, a good knife and a cutting boards make the task quite simple. Upon noticing that my aged white plastic chopping was no longer anything like white and probably harboured an array of germs in the tiny cracks that appear over time, I was faced with choosing my new chopping board and to be truly diligent and separate meat from all other foods, I was looking for 2, perhaps even 3. I found a variety of materials on offer. The two most popular materials used are plastic and wood and these come in all shapes, finishes, thicknesses and textures.

Clean your Chopping  Board
While choosing chopping boards, the dilemma with plastic vs wood cutting boards obsesses many. When one thinks about it rationally, a plastic cutting board is more prone to bacteria as its surface is not porous. As compared to a wooden cutting board, due to its porous surface, even though bacteria may penetrate, it won't have the sufficient condition to reproduce and will die eventually. Plus, a wooden cutting board lasts longer than its counterpart.

You might find it useful to know how both these cutting boards should be cleaned. These steps will not help remove the stains off the boards, but they are useful for disinfecting them as well.

Wooden Boards
There are variety of woods used in making cutting boards. Out of them, the most popular one is a bamboo cutting board. Yes, bamboo is technically a grass, but the finish that it gives is wood like in all obvious characteristics.  Regardless of which wood is used to make the cutting board you own, the following cleaning tips should be administered.
To clean, place the board into a sink half filled with clean, hot, soapy water. Wear rubber gloves and use a washing up sponge, scrub the entire board, turn it around so that the other end soaks and scrub again.
Once complete, rinse with warm clean water and place in a drying rack. Do not soak your wooden board in the hot, soapy water unnecessarily.

To sanitize, again place the board into a sink half filled with hot water. Mix in 1 tablespoon chlorine bleach or lemon juice if you prefer with the water.
Submerge the wooden board completely in the bleach water and leave it in for about 10 minutes. Rinse under hot water and leave the board in the sun to dry completely.

Plastic Boards
Plastic cutting boards tend to have deep cuts because of the sharp knives. If these deep cuts on the board are not disinfected properly, you could be risking the chances of passing on bacteria. It is advised that you change plastic cutting boards from time to time especially those used for meat and poultry. If there are any instructions given on the wrapping you should use those instead of these generic steps as there may be particular treatments or coatings used.
To clean, take a cloth or sponge and wipe the board after every change of food. With a plastic brush, scrub the surface of the cutting board and then proceed to the same method as for wood.
You should properly clean your board after every cooking session, just as you would your plates and counters. Just rinsing plastic and wooden cutting boards under water isn't enough.

Based on look, feel and hygiene, I chose 3 bamboo chopping boards in small, medium and large. So far so good.

If you are interested in other bamboo products including linens, blankets and towels, have a look at 100bamboo.com.