The Importance of Cutting Boards

When it comes to cooking and preparing food, you may like to call the cutting board the toughest player in the kitchen. The amount of action this one tool sees in a given year (if there is a proper chef conducting the kitchen operations) is undeniably large. An incredibly useful piece of equipment the, cutting board comes into contact with a plethora of different foods and food groups ranging from vegetables, to cheese, to all types of meat. But just as important, the cutting board comes into contact with all type of other kitchen utensils, ranging from different types of knives to spoons to cheese shredders. In addition, this is the area of the kitchen where all the raw material is being chopped up, seasoned, and ready for cooking whether it be on the stove, grill or in the oven. Thus, it is important to know what foods have, or haven’t been on the cutting board at any given time during preparation for your meal. Let’s break down all the aspects that make the cutting board an area of the kitchen no chef, amateur or professional, should take lightly.

Mixing food

When thinking about foods that are taken to the cutting board, we have to take into account that some foods, like fish and meat, may contain some things that we absolutely do not want to ingest. This is the most important thing we have to take into factor when considering cutting boards. Cut up the meat separately from the fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and sanitary raw foods. The last thing we want is to be bedridden the next two or three days.

So what can we do to prevent this type occurrence? Well there are two simple steps

Number one: Have two separate cutting boards. There should be one for raw meat and fish, and one for raw food that you will eat raw. This way, nothing will be mixed up, and your stomach will be safe from disaster.

Number two: Clean your cutting board every time you cut something up on it. You will have to thoroughly clean it, but this will prevent anything mixing into the raw food that you won’t be cooking.

For your health, these are the most important factors in consideration of the cutting board. Do these two things and you’ll have a safer, healthier kitchen.

Dispose of the waste

The cutting board can be a battlefield of sorts. What that means is, sometimes it really isn’t the prettiest place in the kitchen. During most cooking sessions, the cutting board is where all the food is chopped up and stripped of the parts that are not needed. Carrot stems, bones, apple cores, you name it. Whatever a fruit, vegetable or piece of meat has that we don’t want to eat is usually taken out on the cutting board.

The cutting board is so useful because in your kitchen you can really designate that area to be the one, which disposes of waste. Need to chop all the meat of this t-bone steak slab? Take it to the cutting board. Don’t want any seeds from the peppers thrown into the skillet? Take it to the cutting board. Want that apple cut up and served to be shared? Cutting board it is.

Cutting Board Material

As chefs, and masters of our kitchens, we want to protect our tools, which help us to stir up the fine dishes we make. When cutting up ingredients to prepare for a meal, we naturally would want to protect our knives. Picking good knives is just like investing in any other piece of equipment. We want our knives to last as long as possible, all the while maintaining their high level of endurance, strength, and most importantly sharpness. So it would only make sense that we take into factor what our cutting boards are made of, and what quality of material that they consist of. Cutting boards are of the utmost importance if we want to maintain the performance of our knives over a long period of time. So take some time, and think thoroughly about the type of cutting board you want to buy and use. Always keep in mind the well being of your kitchen knives doing all the dirty work for you.

It should be clear to us by now that if we plan to use our kitchen on a daily basis, then the cutting board has so much use and importance in our daily lives. Not only that, but a nice, strong, quality cutting board is an indicator of a well-equipped kitchen, and even more importantly, a good home.