How To Finish A Cutting Board

Here is a small cutting board I made out of walnut scraps. It measures 10" x 10" and is over 1.25" thick. It has a little heft to it, which makes it a pleasure to use in the kitchen. Today I am going to tell you how I apply a finish to a cutting board.

Here you see the board sanded down completely with 220 grit sandpaper. I did most of the sanding with a flat sanding block. The flatter your board remains, the better.



Now I am going to show you an old woodworkers trick. I am going to raise the grain back up a little, with a damp paper towel and some water. What you are trying to do in this step is to raise all the wood fibers up evenly. You don't need to soak the wood or paper towel. You just want to dampen it a little.

Let the wood dry completely. The pores of the wood will now be open and free of clogging dust particles. The fibers of the wood will be raised and ready for a second haircut.

Time to sand again. Start off with your 220 grit. Then 320. End with 400.

I always use pure mineral oil on cutting boards. Nothing else works as well. Mineral oil is as food safe as it gets, unlike cooking oils that can turn rancid.

Wipe it down with generous amounts of oil. Let it soak in really well. Wipe off the excess after a couple hours. You want the wood to absorb as much of the mineral oil as possible. Apply a generous second coat and let it soak in overnight. Wipe off the excess again. It should look something like this.

All that is left now is to enjoy a little brie.

Never put a wood cutting board in a dishwasher. Reapply some mineral oil occasionally, as needed. Wash with a little dish soap and running water. Air dry your cutting board by standing it on end if possible. That's all there is to it!

By the way, a good wood cutting board is a real treat to use and is much easier on your knives than plastic. Wood boards also tend to clean easier and better than plastic and wood can also be resurfaced.

While wood requires trees, plastics require landfills. A good wooden board will last many years.

Hope you enjoyed the post.

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