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Bob (this one)
 
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Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> I just caught this on the tube, for periodic cutting board cleaning:
>
> Make a paste of dry cleanser (such as Comet), and water. Spread it evenly
> over the cutting surface and allow to dry overnight. Next day, rinse
> thoroughly under warm water using a paper towel to rub off any excess
> cleanser.


Essentially, this is concentratedly bleaching the wood and it will do
several undesirable things: It will raise the grain and make the wood
rough. It will penetrate the wood and flavor foods cut on it. It will
pull out any oil that's preserving the wood.

> Sprinkle wet cutting board liberally with Kosher salt. Scour salt on the
> board with a half lemon until salt is dissolved. Give a final quick rinse
> under warm water and let dry.


Jeez, this is harsh and unnecessary. The salt acts as an abrasive and
the lemon juice is just more of (a different) bleach. This will
aggravate the first step's injuries even more without adding any
sanitizing value.

> This is said to sanitize and remove stains.


Sanitizing is a lot easier than that. A 5% bleach solution will do the
same thing with less damage to the wood. I note that there's no
instruction about smoothing the wood after the treatments above. This
advice is seriously suspect. The wood will be showing splinters after
this procedure.

The best sanitizer and oxygen bleaching technique I've seen and used
is to spray white vinegar and peroxide from different containers
simultaneously onto the board surface. Let sit for a few minutes,
wipe, rinse and let air dry. The combination of the two sanitizes as
well as or better than bleach. And it's less damaging to the wood.
Leaves no taste on the wood and no harsh smell in the air.

And the boards should be oiled to keep the surface a bit more
impermeable to liquids. I use any oil but olive but there are
crusaders who say that it will become rancid and your hair will fall
out and other dire predictions. They say that only mineral oil will
do. My experience days otherwise. That works for furniture, not
cutting boards. I have a pecan wood cutting board in my kitchen that
my grandfather made more than a century ago and it's been oiled with
whatever oil was at hand, including olive back in the day. It smells
clean and appetizing.

When they get rough from all that cutting, a little sandpaper or, for
those in the restaurant biz, a grill screen will take down the surface
a tiny bit and restore the smoothness.

That whole argument about whether they're antibacterial still rages
with neither side producing any convincing evidence. Best to think
they're not and treat them accordingly. This is one bet you don't want
to lose.

> Since I use polypropylene and nylon cutting boards, I'll just keep this for
> reference.


Those boards profit from a dishwashing machine. That's where mine go.
Come out clean and sanitized.

Pastorio