Why choose a wooden chopping board
As a wood enthusiast I am fascinated by the colours, patterns and natural beauty that wood grains display but there are many other reasons despite beauty why wood trumps other materials when it comes to chopping boards. This a few main points why I believe wood beats plastic and glass chopping boards hands down.
Knives aren't cheap especially good knives, You've just purchased a new set of beautiful chef's knives perhaps you went for a well known brand like global or perhaps you found a smaller craft monger like this one, either way you don't want to constantly be blunting the knife on a glass chopping board plus the experience itself of cutting on glass is horrible. So that leaves wood and plastic, neither will damage your knives (unless the timber involved is Lignum Vitae, a wood that even chisels would lose against).
Plastic is generally softer than most woods especially the slow grown hardwoods used in most chopping boards and while that softness does your knives a favour it may not be ideal for your health. Microplastics have gained a lot of attention recently in the media and while their impact on health has not yet been assessed I think it is very safe to say it will only be negative. with every cut a knife liberates tiny traces of plastics from your plastic board, some of which will transfer directly into your food or wash round your dishwasher potentially coating every glass and piece of cutlery in there. I would personally rather like to avoid.
Plastic chopping boards are however very popular mainly down to one particular aspect, they are believed to be very easy to clean. Plastic can be simply placed into your dishwasher or left in kettle water after use, therefore as wooden chopping boards cannot be treated the same plastic is assumed to be more sterile. However mighty timber is not so easily defeated after all bacteria is not new to wood, trees have existed for 385 million years and they have been fighting against pathogens for all of that time and many of these defences live on even after the tree has been cut down. Timber naturally contains chemicals that inhibit and kill bacteria, these chemicals are believed to differ wood to wood and are only the tip of the iceberg for the bacteria killing wood. The real weapon that wood has at its disposal is capillary action which is constantly drawing moisture away from its surface and dehydrating bacteria. This is such an effective weapon against bacteria that there are companies looking at utilising this technology for hospitals. It is also worth noting that while when new your plastic chopping board is very easy to clean, over time it will acquire deep scratches that can become home to a resident colony of bacteria not so easy to clean these bacterial hotbeds will be protected like a over-ripe armpit.
Please note I am not advocating you lick the raw chicken juice of off your chopping board I am simply stating that if cleaned properly wooden chopping boards can be more hygienic that plastic ones.
There is also the environmental impact to consider, after all to many (ideally everyone) environmental impact is a major factor in making a purchase. I Persevere to only source timber from either fallen trees or from carefully estates that were removing the tree regardless of where its timber was going. Wood is a renewable resource and once dried will consist of 46-49% carbon that would otherwise be in our atmosphere, altogether safer in the kitchen under some courgettes. Plastic has been around only around 100 years and depressingly will continue to poison our planet for thousands of years, it will not decompose like your wooden chopping board would if left in the correct conditions and instead will continue to exist in some form.
Please note with these previous points in mind and in regards to the epoxy resin I use to fill gaps in any wood. Whilst epoxy resin has historically been made list tradition plastic out of fossil fuels I persevere to use biological based alternatives.
So please when looking to buy a new chopping board buy wooden, even if it is not from Barratt boards. There are cheaper alternatives available from Sainsbury's or John Lewis but if you intend to wow, please look no further.