Cutting Boards & Bread Boards

A wooden board on the kitchen counter, the same one for many years, with a small hollow in the middle where onions have been diced for ages. The grain is now darker than elsewhere, because cooking oil and a bit of life have been absorbed there. Every time you pick it up, it's a small feeling: This piece of work has experienced a lot with me.

A cutting board is the tool you use most often — more often than any pan, pot, or knife. No wonder it's worth having a good one.

Two Signatures

Seesucht Manufaktur from Mecklenburg produces boards from regional solid wood — oak, ash, cherry. The workshop cuts only a single piece from the board, no glued strips. Each board is treated with cooking oil, not varnished. The result: a board that absorbs and releases moisture, as wood should. If you re-oil the board after ten years, it looks like new.

Dutchdeluxes from the Netherlands takes the design route: boards with integrated stainless steel handles, with a leather strap for hanging, with polished edges that are more sculptural than rustic. For the modern kitchen, for the visible area above the countertop.

The Shapes

• Kitchen cutting board — classic rectangular, 30–40 cm long.
• Bread board — narrower, longer, with a groove for crumbs.
• Serving board & tapas board — thinner, with a handle, for cheese and cold cuts at the table.
• Large work boards — for dough work, bread baking, pizza preparation.

How a wooden board will outlast your life: Once a month, rub thinly with cooking oil (not olive oil — it can go rancid, better linseed oil or pure mineral oil for food contact) and let it soak in overnight. This protects against drying out and cracks and gives the board the dark patina that makes it indistinguishable from a piece of furniture in the end. A board cared for in this way can be passed down.

See also: Spatulas & Cooking Spoons, Bread & Vegetable Knives.