How to clean the cutting board respecting the properties of the material (polyethylene, teflon, wood, various plastics …). Tips on how to wash and clean the kitchen cutting board.
It is important to ensure the correct maintenance of kitchen cutting boards . If the cutting board has dark lines, it means that there are food deposits and certainly colonies of bacteria: contamination is just around the corner! If you have reached this point, simple cleaning is not enough and you will be forced to replace the cutting board.
All cutting boards should be cleaned very frequently: always, after use!
If you have space, use a cutting board for meat, one for fish and one for vegetables.
How to clean a wooden or bamboo cutting board
Wooden cutting boards are not very friendly to food hygiene. As soon as you have the possibility to replace it, do it by choosing a polyethylene one which, among other things, is also cheaper.
Wood is difficult to manage, it is an organic material and to convince you to replace it I will only tell you that its use is prohibited in restaurants. When you cut a food you create a very small slit on the cutting board, in this slit food residues and bacteria settle… cleaning is difficult and the results are not always excellent. In this paragraph we will see how to best clean a wooden cutting board .
Wood tends to absorb water and with it dissolved detergents. For this reason, the use of detergent is not recommended. You can use a good number of natural detergents such as hydrogen peroxide (oxygenated water), lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda and salt.
The items just mentioned are quite effective for removing food residues and bacterial colonies from the crevices that characterize your wooden cutting board .
How to proceed? Sprinkle salt on the cutting board, cut a lemon in half and rub one half over the entire wooden surface. The citric acid in the lemon will eliminate any odor. Mix baking soda with equal parts salt and water until you get a paste to rub on the cutting board. A little vinegar will help you clean the surface without ruining the wood, even more suitable is the use of a solution of ethyl alcohol (liquor alcohol) diluted with water at 50%. Be sure to dry it thoroughly before storing it.
The advice just listed applies to any type of wooden cutting board, even bamboo. Wooden cutting boards or bamboo cutting boards should not be put in the dishwasher. Washing in the dishwasher, especially at high temperatures, tends to split the wood. Not only is it harmful but also useless: after removing the cutting board from the dishwasher, the colonies of bacteria would start reproducing again within a few minutes.
Consider replacing your wooden cutting board with a professional polyethylene cutting board. Polyethylene cutting boards comply with the standards imposed by the HACCP protocol and, as already mentioned, are cheaper than wooden or bamboo cutting boards. On Amazon, a 32.5 x 26.5 cm polyethylene cutting board can be purchased for 18.64 euros with free shipping.
How to clean a polyethylene cutting board
The polyethylene cutting board or commonly called plastic cutting board , is safe and easy to clean. Hotel facilities, by law, are required to use only polyethylene cutting boards , which is why professional cutting boards are generally made of this material.
You can clean the surface of the polyethylene cutting board with a 50% solution of ethyl alcohol (the alcohol in liquor) and water.
To clean the polyethylene cutting board , the ideal is to wash it at 70°C in the dishwasher which eliminates most bacteria.
If you don’t have a dishwasher (or the cutting board is too big!), in addition to using the ethyl alcohol solution, you can wash the cutting board under running water using very little detergent and rinsing very well. If you are considering buying a dishwasher, I recommend reading the guide on how to choose a dishwasher .
How to clean a teflon cutting board
Teflon is a material born in 1938, it is used as a coating for non-stick pans although quickly replaced by coatings more resistant to high temperatures.
A Teflon cutting board is sturdy and durable over time, this material is not altered by any chemical product, for this reason it is possible to clean the Teflon cutting board with any type of liquid dish soap.
During use, to keep the smooth surface of the Teflon cutting board clean , it is recommended to dry it periodically. To clean the Teflon cutting board as recommended for the polyethylene one, it is recommended to use the dishwasher.
