Oiling a Butcher Block cutting board...

[inkjunkie]

 
I deal with a lot of food professionals, and I use products that I don't need to wonder or worry about. If it has merit in the food industry, in inspected facilities, I will defer to their guidelines. Mineral oil and bees wax are recognized and accepted, food safe. I'm sure flax and coconut oils are fine to use. They provide very nice finishes. For a cutting board, the pores of the wood open and close with a self healing effect on end grain boards. A finish that "cures" or hardens will show those scratches, and I have heard of them flaking, and yellowing.

I highly recommend this. http://theboardsmith.com/product/board-butter/

Ernie will be ordering some of this here shortly...thanks for the link.....

 

[bladebuilder]

You are welcome.

 

[BandCollector]

Beautiful board Blade! 

Board Butter or Salad Bowl Mix is the way to go...Both good choices.

Good luck,  John

 

[bladebuilder]

Thanks guys, glad you liked my board. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[inkjunkie]

Just tried to order the Board Butter. Get an error message that states invalid shipping method? Not given any choice as to which carrier (USPS/FedEX/UPS) to use so how could I have chosen an invalid shipping method? Tried both our po box and our physical address, no different. Hope they answer the phone....

 

[inkjunkie]

Gave up trying to order the board butter. Kept getting a shipping error message when trying to order it online. Called, left a message and never got a response. Must not have needed my $$....

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I have used board butter and salad bowl mixes and I have found that they work great on items that don't get used often. For cutting boards that I use daily I have found that I prefer to use mineral oil. Mineral oil is cheap and I can get it off the shelf at our local grocery stores pharmacy. The hardware store next door has it too, but it's higher priced.

Do not use Flax oil it will go rancid. Flax oil needs to be refrigerated, or heat cured which you cannot do with a wood surface as the temp needed would burn the wood.

I have a friend that swears by coconut oil for his bowls he turns. They look nice but I always feel that there is a waxy feel to them.

The article that SQWIB linked is good for prep and mentions some other oils that could be used. I have never used the lemon and salt scrub mentioned but do use the vinegar water solution (50/50)when cleaning our cutting boards.

 

[joeyd]

On all the boards ive made i just used mineral oil. Never had one crack yet. I usually reoil every 3-6 months.