black walnut safe for cutting board?

[David Winer]

Wow, what a lot of divergent recommendations in this thread.

Re several comments to the effect that no one died using the material: This is hardly a convincing argument. Low-level toxicity may have deleterious effects that you don’t want to encounter even though short of fatal! However, I am dubious that cutting board uses of oils recommended in this thread pose much more than hypothetical problems.

I have made cutting boards over the years and finished them with Watco. Supposedly this oil-based product “polymerizes” and is inert for food purposes after some days of application. "No one has died." On the other hand, I’ve seen recommendations for various oils and sort of come to the conclusion that heat-treated walnut oil would be a better for cutting boards. (Available at Highland woodworking, but I have yet to try it.) Now I see Jeffrey Langdell’s note about "Preserve Woodenware Oil” of 100% non-toxic nut oils. I plan to try one of these two oils immediately.

My experience seems to belie the general recommendations that cutting boards require some sort of treatment. Yes, the appearance is improved, but the functionality is not harmed by neglecting to oil the surfaces. All we do is wash and dry cutting boards to remove all vesitiges of food after each use—not to be concerned about the cosmetics. Still, the idea of oiling with a nut oil seems appropriate and I will try it.

I just snapped a picture of a Dansk cutting board given to us as a wedding present forty years ago. It as been in daily use all this time and as far as I know has never been refinished in any manner. The board is thin plywood with end-grain teak (I think) on both faces.

[Lee Schierer]

Tell your Dad not to gnaw on the cutting board and he will be fine. As long as they aren't finely chopping stuff the small bits and pieces that may eventually come off should pass right on through his system. On the other hand the tung oil may not be as forgiving. Only mineral oil should be used as vegatable or other plant type oils can go rancid and leave a foul taste on foods being cut. If the cutting surface starts to look chopped up a short trip past the ROS will take care of it.

As far as dulling knives if concerned, black walnut certainly isn't going to dull a kinife as it is considerably softer than steel.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Chef Peter can chime in on this - Maple is the preferred and safest cutting board surface. Yes, all of the contrasting woods are pretty and attractive, but maple has better natural anti-microbial properties inherent to the wood.

Will other woods kill you or make you sick? No, but if you go and cut raw meat on it, you have a heck of a time neutralizing the bloom of bacteria that can develop. Oh, and that stuff about plastic cutting boards? They harbor bacteria worse than anything.

As for finishes, if you can't put it in your mouth, don't put it on your food prep surface.

[Howard Acheson]

>> I finish it with salad bowl finish

"Salad Bowl Finish" is just an oil/varnish mixture not too much different from Watco or Minwax Tung Oil Finish.

Most makers of "Salad Bowl Finish" use an alkyd varnish and linseed oil and copious amounts of mineral spirits.

On another point, tung oil will never go rancid. Walnut oil however can.

And another point. As already said, dust from Walnut is a sensitizer for some folks but solid walnut is not considered toxic. However, walnut sawdust and chips are harmful to the hooves of horses so should never be used in stables.

[Dan Gill]

Walnut is safe to use, it is not very hard (certainly softer than hard maple), and mineral oil will work very well as a cutting board finish. It will not go rancid as salad oil will. As for bacteria bloom, yes that can happen, which is why lots of folks use the plastic cutting boards. Me, I just wash my boards frequently, scrubbing with an old toothbrush. To each his own.

[Cody Colston]

No, a Walnut cutting board will not make anyone sick.

Mineral oil is the most-used and probably the safest "finish" you can put on a cutting board if you have to put something on it.

As someone else mentioned, we just wash ours and let it dry. It's a utensil, not a piece of art.

[Maurice Ungaro]

As for bacteria bloom, yes that can happen, which is why lots of folks use the plastic cutting boards.

Actually, plastic boards are the worse for promoting bacteria. Here's a quick little read from UC Davis: http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/fa...ttingboard.htm

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Yah the tree has a toxicity to it mostly it's to give the seedlings a head start the level of toxicity in the wood will be immaterial unless one is highly allergic or planning on eating the word directly.

[Rusty Elam]

I am not sure, I made a Walnut cutting board in woodshop 35 or more years ago and have eaten thousands of items cut on it. But now that you mention it I have been having a hard time remembering things lately and my eyesight seems to be getting worse. I ll bet its from that Walnut.