If you’re going to chop well, you need a great chopping board and you need to look after it. Here’s some helpful advice from the team at Milly’s Kitchen.
A chopping board needs to be weighty enough to not slip on your bench top, hard enough to sustain a few surface scratches but not the deep gouges that will harbour bacteria and roomy enough to accommodate the length of your knife. These days we have the choice of solid wood or wood fibre boards, plastic or resin and marble or glass.
At Milly’s, we don’t recommend glass or marble. They may be hygienic but knives hate them. Dishwasher-safe resin or plastic boards are a reasonable option especially for cross-contamination jobs like raw chicken — replace when the board becomes scratched.
Our favourites, however, are wooden and you have two choices. Firstly, a large, heavy wooden slab – use one side for kitchen work and save the other for serving. Clean by washing with a little dishwashing liquid and hot water, dry immediately and store upright. Never soak your board and keep it oiled with a board specific mineral oil (not olive or vegetable as they will gorancid). Our rule of thumb — oil your new board every day for a week, every week for a month and once a month from then on.
Secondly, newish to the market are wood fibre boards. These have the advantage of being light, but sturdy, dishwasher-safe and perfect for knife care.
For quality kitchenware, go to Milly's Kitchen.
