I have a great Boos block that I use all the time but I’ll place a smaller separate, lightweight plastic cutting surface on top of it to work on things that might stain the board or leave odors that might permeate the wood. My wife usually gets these things at Bed, Bath and Beyond. They’re the kind that come in different colors so you use one color for meat, one fur fish, etc. The issue is that they warp very quickly and easily. At that point they’re pretty useless.
I might just chalk it up completely to my wife’s propensity to place them in the dishwasher except that one of the last sets of these things we’re using contained ONE that doesn’t warp. My thought is that the one that doesn’t warp may be cut in a different direction from the others. Since these things are different colors on each side it also occurs a to me they may be laminated and that may cause all this.
Anyway… anyone use something like these that don’t warp?? Product name or web links would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
The Epicurean cutting boards are lighter weight, don’t warp, go in the dishwasher, and are easier on your knife edges than real plastic. I don’t know if they are light enough weight for what you have in mind, but you should take a look at them.
I really like the Superboard boards. They will warp under high heat (the only time it happens to me is when I place a pizza on it straight out of the oven) but they always flatten out perfectly when they cool down. They are light, available in many sizes, are inexpensive (often on clearance at Target and regularly available at TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods, and I think that they look good. I have had 10 of these in different sizes for many, many years and have never had a problem or experienced permanent warping. I put them in the dishwasher all the time.
No links or names, but I know exactly what you mean Peter. We have one red plastic 'mat" which we have had for 10 years and use often for raw chicken, onions, beets, etc. Goes in the dishwasher, comes out the same shape, but still flexible if we want to bend it to help ‘pour’ food into a smaller pot or bowl. We went through a few of the thinner cutting mats and they were useless after a few uses.
Picked up two different brand boards at Target. One’s a Superboard. Haven’t had time to try them yet. They obviously won’t warp but they do feel heavier than what I was hoping for. Could be what it takes though.
I hope you like the SuperBoard. For anyone else who happens upon this thread, I wandered into a Target yesterday and found that they seem to have recently replaced the SuperBoards with a house-brand lookalike. I can’t speak to the quality of the lookalike. The real SuperBoards are still easily available at TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods.
Turns out (I’d not yet opened the bag from Target) that both boards are ‘house brand’. My wife bought them and said the Superboard was long enough but narrower than what she thought I’d want. Appsrently they had only an 18"x8.5" board. The house brand boards look OK and I’ll use them over the holiday. I suppose I can only ruin my knives if they’re not right.
