Wooden chopping boards are a great addition to any kitchen. Great to be used for chopping up fruit vegetables, meat and to hold cheese platters!
Here Is Why A Chopping Board Is Antibacterial:
Wooden boards keep harmful bacteria away, studies have found that 99.99% of bacteria will die at room temperature when left over night. So a board is a great choice for preparing your food!
In this article we are going to go over how exactly chopping boards are antibacterial (in great detail!) and whether wood kills bacterial. We will also cover how can disinfect your board, so lets check it out!
Are wooden chopping boards antibacterial?
Yes, chopping boards made of wood have consistently been shown to halt harmful bacteria growth that contacts their surfaces.
They can quickly kill them. They also can draw moisture that comes close to the board’s surface in a natural way. Therefore, bacteria will love surfaces that have water, will be unable to multiply in the process, and die.
It has been shown that if you have new wooden chopping boards or even well-maintained older ones, they both can keep bacteria away.
Another study conducted by scientists at the University of Wisconsin found that when bacteria are placed on a wooden chopping board, 99.9% of them will die completely within minutes when the board is left overnight at room temperature.
Come the next day, the scientist did not find any remnants of the living bacteria on the wooden boards.
When you have a high wooden chopping board for your kitchen use, it can last you several years without experiencing its antibacterial abilities.
Quality wood sources made using traditional manufacturing techniques have self-healing fibers that can withstand all manner of chopping and cutting in the kitchen.
Do Wood Cutting Boards Kill Bacteria?
Woodcutting boards do kill bacteria when they settle on their surface.
The bacterium that brings about food-borne diseases will not reach the next day when they drop on a dry wooden surface because of the antibacterial properties that they contain.
Scientists have proven that when these bacteria settle on your wooden chopping board, 99.9 percent of them will not survive for three minutes after contaminating your board.
The wooden board will bind up water that resolves on its surface, thereby making the bacteria not get a favourable environment to grow, leading to their death. Wood also contains antimicrobial compounds.
Are Wooden Chopping Boards Less Hygienic?
Wooden chopping boards were the best hygienic when compared to other cutting boards materials.
A study conducted by Dean O.Cliver has shown that wooden boards are the cleanest. This is because they are more resistant when bacteria contamination than plastic, polyethylene, or fiberglass.
When you use sharp knives to cut on a wooden surface, usually, they will not make your blades go blunt quickly when you compare them to plastic or glass.
Therefore, they are suitable for knives. Additionally, a chunky wooden board does not slip around the work surface when you shop.
You can maintain the hygiene of your wooden chopping board by treating it using food-grade mineral oil, which will preserve it and kill germs and bacteria available.
It is easier to clean your wooden board and disinfect them, which are the most important steps one can take to keep them hygienic.
Wood is a natural material with an excellent surface for chopping activities that is durable, can last longer, and is easy to maintain.
When you take good care of your wooden chopping board, it can last for a lifetime and will not need replacement yearly like the other boards made of different materials.
Cleaning a wooden board is easy. You need running hot water, and then you scrub with a scourer and dish soap to keep it hygienic.
What Type Of Cutting Board Is The Most Sanitary?
Most people believe that cutting boards made of plastics are the most sanitary materials because you can efficiently run them through a dishwasher.
However, a study done at the University of Michigan found out that wooden cutting boards do not hold bacteria on their surface compared to the plastic types. More bacteria were recovered on the plastic surface than on the wood surface.
The study also found that while you can disinfect your new plastic board surface, it is impossible to clean and disinfect them manually.
Further, it also proves that your plastic board will have a knife-scatted surface when chopping, which means those plastic particles usually get into your food and can be dangerous for your health.
They also experience a lot of grooves where harmful contaminating bacteria can hide and harm your food. Therefore, plastic chopping boards are not great after all.
On the other hand, the wooden chopping boards are great when it comes to knife experience. This is because they usually don’t make knives go blunt and remain sharp for long.
The wooden boards are made of renewable resources, making them durable. They can halt the growth of bacteria and kill them at the same time when they come to their surface.
Wooden chopping board surfaces also do not scar easily compared to plastic. They also contain antiseptic properties, which are lucking on plastic covers. It would be best to clean them properly using hot water and soap and dry them to last longer.
Avoid using harsh chemicals when cleaning your wooden cutting board because they can contaminate your other food when used later. Chemicals are safer to use on plastic cutting boards when rinsing them after use.
How Do You Disinfect A Wooden Cutting Board?
Your wooden cutting board can become a breeding ground for bacteria if proper hygienic measures are not implemented.
Therefore, they will require disinfecting and appropriate cleaning to get rid of these harmful germs settling on the surface using these steps
(I)Scour the wood:
After you have finished using your wooden cutting board. It is essential that you rinse off any remaining food debris that is available on its surface before they dry up and stick to them. Use a stiff cleaning brush or sponge and soap for these duties to help make that stubborn food debris loosen up.
You can also use coarse salt and rub on your board surface immediately after rinsing to clean off the available food debris. If your board contains some stains, sprinkle some baking soda on its surface and leave it for a few minutes before scrubbing it, then rinse it.
(II)Disinfecting the Board:
You can use hydrogen peroxide to disinfect your wooden chopping board. Pour three percent of your hydrogen peroxide on your wooden board and spread it on the surface using a clean sponge.
After applying it, let it stand on the surface for a few minutes. It will fizz at this time as it kills all the available germs in the process. This is great for a board that has grooves or cracks caused by knife use
Once the fizzing is complete, please proceed to give your board a quick rinsing using hot tap water.
Then dry it using a clean towel, dry cloth, and place it to stand upright on your dishtowel propped up against a cupboard or wall. Leave the board to dry for several hours or overnight before you use it again.
(III)Deodorize:
Supposing your wooden cutting board, you notice it has some lingering odours even after disinfecting it. It would be best to consider spraying it using white vinegar.
Would you please keep a bottle of white vinegar if you notice your board has odours and use it regularly to spray your wooden chopping board? The vinegar is essential for neutralizing odours while also working as a natural disinfectant
Alternatively, you can use lemon for this purpose to eliminate odours. Cut your clean lemon in half, and then rub it on your chopping board surface. When you are done, rinse it and wipe it using a clean towel.
Your wooden chopping board needs to completely dry after cleaning it to eliminate all the bacteria on the surface.
Is A Teak Cutting Board Antibacterial?
Yes, teak is one of the best cutting boards with antibacterial properties.
What makes it stick when it comes to keeping bacteria away because it has water restive properties. This is a combination of tight wood grain, natural wood oils, and tensile strength.
While other hardwoods like cherry, walnut, and maple have to apply oil on their surface to keep water away, teak has a natural ability to retain most of its natural oils even when it has been processed.
The ability of teak wood to retain its natural oil for a long makes it a virtually maintenance-free material for a chopping board.
When your wooden chopping board made of teak is exposed to UV light, it will have no problem preserving its natural colour.
You also will not need to protect your board using oil to avoid experiencing grooves and cuts, hiding places for bacteria.
Additionally, teak is more resistant to scarring when you compare it to other woods. Your wooden boards made of teak can last for years. However, if not covered properly, it has large pores on its surfaces, which can make your chopping board vulnerable to bacteria, stains, and moisture compared to beech, walnut, and maple.
Teak also shrinks less compared to another hard word for making a chopping board. Therefore, it only requires conditioning to be done quarterly or biannually to keep bacteria and germs at bay.
It also boasts a hardness of 1,070 lbf, making it a better holder to impact and scratches that might lead to an opening for bacteria manifestation.