Ask any chef or home cook what the most essential cooking tool is and he or she will most definitely give you the very same answer: chef's knife or a butcher’s knife. What most people miss when giving or receiving this response is the partner in crime for the knife: the cutting board. The cutting board, sometimes overlooked for its flashier, sharper-looking partner, doesn't always get the recognition it deserves.

If you used the same cutting board for each plate, or if you actually never thought of the distinction between a wood or plastic knife, we 're here to clarify your misinformed habits.

Durability

A good wood cutting board will last a long, long time, maybe not a lifetime. Even if you're scratching the surface with deep damages, sanding them away will always save the piece. On the contrary with plastic chopping boards, when you used it with sharp cutting tools such as butcher's knives, they can crack quite quickly, which can potentially turn into a problem very soon. These plastic boards can easily become scratched and weakened over time as this damage accumulates over time, producing a hard texture that can host a large number of harmful bacteria.

Killing off Bacteria

On Wood cutting boards, the bacteria sank under the cutting board surface where they did not reproduce and ultimately died away. However, bacteria were found on plastic boards in knife ridges that were almost impossible to clean, whether the board was washed by hand or with a dishwasher. So, while it might be easy to clean shiny new plastic cutting boards, any weathered plastic board can hold onto bacteria.

In the long run, wood may be more sanitary too. People believe that plastic boards are more resistant to bacteria, since wood is a porous surface and plastic is not. This statement does not take into account the scars which a plastic cutting board gets from regular use.

Preference and Longevity

If both wood and plastic are vulnerable to bacteria unless properly cared for and replaced, choice and longevity are the requirements. High-quality wood chopping boards can last a long time, at least an average of a few years. Some wood chopping boards have displayed a small ability to heal themselves, as the wood grain swelled a bit to repair itself.

However, they found that this capacity to self-heal tended to be limited only to quality wood products, and only if the chopping board is made from a source of quality wood using conventional manufacturing techniques.

Ultimately, whether you use wood or plastic, the best method for ensuring safety is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat and poultry, and for your vegetables, fruit and prepared food. And what more is the best method to separate your boards that using this color coded chopping board  that also helps eliminate cross contamination during food preparation.

All these combined factors make wood the obvious choice for many butchers. But if you're curious if you should get rid of your plastic chopping board, we 'd advise you to not worry too much, because both wood and plastic are safe as long as they're washed properly and sometimes replaced.