Despite these major benefits (knives stay sharper longer and safer for your family), there is one potential downside with an end-grain cutting board: wood does not like prolonged exposure to moisture. The reason is that it soaks up moisture and then can swell, potentially causing warping and bowing. Please keep reading, because a bit further down the page we explain how to make sure this never happens. Furthermore, wood does not like high temperatures combined with moisture because it soaks it up even faster. Finally, wood really hates detergent, mixed with high temperatures and moisture because the wood will soak up the detergent, and then completely strip the wood of its natural oils, thereby drying it out. 

And you know what we just described? The inside of a dishwasher! So, please never ever place wood products, especially those that are constructed of multiple parts, like a cutting board, into a dishwasher. 

There’s one more reason to avoid the dishwasher with multi-part wood products like an end-grain cutting board. That cutting board has many individual piece that are held together with a type 3 cross-linked polymer glue. Even though that glue is highly moisture resistant, it will still be severely degraded, if not completely eliminated by the dishwasher.  

Now that you know the reasons to avoid the moisture, this downside is pretty easy to avoid—just don’t put your wood products in the dishwasher.

After what we just explained in the last paragraph, we can keep this one nice and short. Don’t leave your board to soak in the sink and don’t leave it out wet. At Artisan Revere, we like to say, “moisture is the enemy of steel and wood”. Water can rust steel and cause cutting boards to warp, so make sure you get rid of the water from both sooner rather than later.

1. Once you are ready to clean the board, wet the entire board with warm water. 

a. Important: Wash all 6 sides to minimize the chance of bowing & warping. Why? Water swells the wood’s capillaries. Get all the sides, and they will contract and expand evenly.

2. Take a soapy sponge and scrub. First, use the rough side to scrape off all the gunk. Then use the soft side. 

3. When all food has been scrubbed away, wash off the soap and water. 

a. If food is crusted on, use a metal food scraper to remove.

4. Confirm all soap has been washed away with your hand. Your fingers are your best gauge of the cleanliness of the board. Go ahead and use them.

One of the reasons we’re not generally fans of fully serrated steak knives is that they tear your meat to pieces and cause massive cellular damage, releasing all the juices. If you’d like your cutting board to avoid the same fate, use your bread knife or steak knives elsewhere. 

Chinese and German cleavers, and really any very heavy knife, mallet etc, that you’d use to smash bones should be used only with plastic cutting boards. Never use one of these knives on an end-grain cutting board. 

As we explained in our Definitive Guide to Cutting Boards, we recommend butchering and preparing uncooked proteins on a plastic board or another board that can go through a dishwasher. Once you finish working with uncooked animal protein we recommend running the plastic, rubber, or dishwasher-safe board (to reiterate, end-grain wood is not dishwasher safe) through the dishwasher to eliminate the bacteria and avoid the risk of cross contamination. 

The bigger problem with heavy cleavers is that you can split a board if applying large amounts of force. 

Remember Newton’s second law: Force = Mass x Acceleration. 

A heavy knife being smashed into your board generates significantly more force than the basic rock-chopping, slicing, or push-cutting motions seen with chef’s knives, santokus, nakiris, etc.

And there you have it. Eight  easy steps to take care of your cutting board—brought to you by Artisan Revere.

Pro-tip: Invest in a quality cutting board designed to keep your knives sharper, longer, is easy to maneuver, and is built to last a lifetime with minimal care. Check out the Artisan Revere End-Grain Cutting Boards, made with rescued end-grain American hardwoods and meticulous attention to the details—for boards that are safer for you and your family, and a joy to work with.