Chopping boards is an important item to have in your kitchen especially if you use your kitchen daily for preparing and cooking meals. Therefore, you must always keep them clean and maintain it regularly in order for it to remain safe and healthy to use. If you maintain your chopping board properly and using the correct manner, you would be able to use it for many years. This is important so that you can ensure the best health and safety either in a commercial or domestic kitchen. No matter what type of chopping board that you have like plastic chopping boards, wooden chopping boards, carving boards, or spiked chopping boards, all of them requires regular cleaning. Chopping boards that are seldom looked after and not caring it properly can pose serious health risks to you and your families.
To clean chopping boards, you need:
- Baking soda
- Bleach
- Hydrogen peroxide
- White vinegar
- Extra Virgin Oil
- Liquid Dish Soap
- Clean Rags or towel
- Sponges
- Hot water
- Table salt
- Lemon wedge
- Abrasive antibacterial cleaner (for tough stain)
- Scouring pad
- Sandpaper (for severe stains)
How to Maintain your Chopping Board
Maintaining Your Chopping Board
- You can make use natural items that you have in the kitchen such as baking soda. If your chopping board is made of wood or plastic, you can clean them by occasionally scrubbing it using natural solution like a paste made of 1 tablespoon each of baking soda, salt, and water. After that, you should rinse the board thoroughly using hot water.
- Another solution is by using 1 teaspoon bleach that you dilute it together with 2 quarts (2 liters) of water before scrubbing it in small circles. Make sure not to saturate the board especially the one made of wood. Wipe them completely using a slightly damp paper towel. Once finished, you have to immediately buff dry the chopping board using a clean cloth.
- You can use Hydrogen peroxide to kill off bacteria and also fight the proliferation of bacteria on the chopping board especially right after you cut chicken or other meat.
- Make sure that you use a paper towel when you want to wipe the board down with hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar.
- Then use another paper towel to wipe off the solution. The right level of hydrogen peroxide to be used for cleaning chopping board is 3%.
- White vinegar can be used for disinfect and clean your chopping board. Simply wipe them using a full-strength white vinegar right after using the board. White vinegar has acetic acid which is a good disinfectant and effective enough to fight harmful bugs like E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus.
- Make sure that you use a paper towel when you want to wipe the board down with hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar.
- If you encounter bad odor created by daily usage of your chopping board, simply rub its surface with the cut side of half a lemon before washing the chopping board in an undiluted juice taken right from the bottle.
Always remember not to leave your chopping board (especially if it is made of wood) in any standing water if you do not want to see the wood to split and warp. Do not wash it inside a dishwasher because it will definitely transfer pathogens into the washing water. Wooden chopping board has porous surface than absorb water causing the wood to split and warp.
- Minor stains that you found on wooden board can be removed by sprinkling some table salt on the affected surface before rubbing the area with a lemon wedge.
- The mixture of salt and lemon wedge can even helps you create an abrasive solution that you can use for removing stubborn stains. Apply the solution onto the board with a clean cloth.
- If it is a stubborn stain, leave the mixture to sit on the affected surface for a few minutes before scrubbing them off. It will be much easier to scrub it after that.
- The mixture of salt and lemon wedge can even helps you create an abrasive solution that you can use for removing stubborn stains. Apply the solution onto the board with a clean cloth.
- Fine sandpaper can also be used for rubbing the surface of the board for removing any severe stains.
- It is important for you to rub the sandpaper along the wooden board’s grain. After that, rinse the chopping board thoroughly.
- You also need to disinfect the chopping board from bacteria by spraying undiluted white vinegar onto it and then allow it to dry thoroughly.
- According to researched done by the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management, by wiping or spraying wooden chopping board with white vinegar, you would be able to remove any harmful bacteria residing within the board even after you have cleaned it. The white vinegar can also help you neutralizes any of the unpleasant odors coming from the wooden board.
- For those of you who do not have white vinegar, Use an undiluted solution of standard 3 percent hydrogen peroxide for sanitizing the board. The hydrogen peroxide needs to be applied using a cloth or paper towel before you start to wipe the chopping board.
- According to researched done by the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management, by wiping or spraying wooden chopping board with white vinegar, you would be able to remove any harmful bacteria residing within the board even after you have cleaned it. The white vinegar can also help you neutralizes any of the unpleasant odors coming from the wooden board.
- Finally, you need to wipe off any excess water using a clean towel.
- Then, lean the chopping board against your countertop so that you can allow it to dry evenly.
- Then, lean the chopping board against your countertop so that you can allow it to dry evenly.
In order to make the surface of your chopping board (especially wood chopping board) look like new, simply wipe the board using a small amount of extra virgin olive oil onto your clean wooden surface. Apart from that, the virgin olive oil will also provide you with an extra coating which will protect it from stains during future usage.
Always remember that whenever you want to clean your chopping board,
- Make it a habit to clean the board right after using it for sanitary purposes.
- Do not use water along with dishwashing detergent because it will weaken the surface of the wood board.
- As for plastic chopping boards, you need to scrub them completely until it is clean and free of bacteria.
- Make sure to prevent the board from getting moisture. It should be always clean and dry. Whenever you wash them, you have to stand the board when you store it in order to avoid moisture from building up beneath the chopping board.
- In order to maintain the wood’s attractive appearance, you can use a food-safe mineral oil to polish the board.
- Remember to avoid cleaning the board using your dishwasher. Even though, it helps you sanitize the board but it will also severely damaged the board along the way.
- If you find that the board produces unpleasant odors, you need to rub some salt or use some baking soda over the surface. Leave it for a few minutes before wiping it off and rinse the board. Besides that, you can also squeeze half a lemon onto the board and rub it across the surface of the board in order to produce a nice smell.
