11 Reasons Why You Don't Need An Expensive Cutting Board

As a keen home chef with almost two decades of international professional experience in the restaurant industry, I always find it interesting what people are willing to spend on kitchenware. Some folks will skimp on things that are genuinely worth spending extra money on, while others splash crazy cash on equipment that's supposed to be incredibly simplistic — with cutting boards typically falling into the latter category.

Now, retailers may claim premium cutting boards last longer, protect your knives, and make for a better cutting experience. Some even suggest cutting boards are self-healing or have antibacterial properties. The veracity of these claims tends to vary between true (to an extent) and outright nonsense. In fact, when it comes to high-end boards, you're essentially paying for the material and craftsmanship. More often than not, expensive boards are made from wood, while cheap boards are made from plastic (and I'd avoid glass cutting boards altogether, regardless of price).

I should clarify that while there are legitimate reasons why plastic boards are often better than wood, that doesn't mean pricier wooden boards are never worth it. Our own Tasting Table cutting board awards feature a combination of both styles, after all. Still, there are plenty of reasons why don't need an expensive cutting board.

Cutting boards have one single purpose: To provide a flat, stable, and safe surface for preparing food that will protect your knife and your countertop or table. They're such a simple yet functional necessity that they've been around for all of recorded history. In fact, for thousands of years and in every corner of the globe, a flat block of wood has largely been sufficient.

There are many ways to justify the cost of an expensive cutting board, like the type of wood or even the brand name. Yet there's a limit to how much extra functionality you can buy. The act of cutting food hasn't changed much over time, after all. Our cooking ingredients are much the same, albeit more widespread. Our knives are sharper and more durable, as well, but they don't require a specialist board to use.

At the end of the day, if you want to chop some vegetables, a maple wood cutting board that costs $100 is going to do the exact same job as a plastic on that costs $10. The one caveat I'll make is when it comes to serving food. Using fancy wooden boards in place of regular plates is a little overdone, but it can be a great way to present a dish aesthetically.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the benefits most often attributed to expensive cutting boards is that they're easier on your knives — thus keeping them sharper for longer. A sharp knife is indeed safer than a dull one, and anyone who's used a properly honed chef's knife knows how much better they are for food prep. Of course, while this is an appealing feature, spending more on a cutting board won't make that much difference in that regard.

While harder surfaces will take the edge off your blade more quickly, both plastic and wood sit in the sweet spot. There are even studies that show high-quality hardwood dulls a blade faster than plastic, though I guarantee you won't notice either way. In fact, in all my time working in professional kitchens using heavy-duty plastic cutting boards, I never once heard a chef complain about their knives dulling too quickly because of it. They did, however, complain when the quality of the knife itself was poor, or because someone had thrown it in the dishwasher.

With that in mind, you're better off buying a budget cutting board and spending the extra money on a premium chef's knife. It'll make food prep easier and more enjoyable, plus it'll hold its edge longer (as long as you remember to sharpen the blade when necessary).

They say it's a poor workman who blames their tools, and there's definitely some truth in that. I've seen world-class chefs produce stunning, multi-course meals for large groups with equipment that I wouldn't do the honor of calling "budget." Yet I've also witnessed a novice cook nearly lose their fingertips to a knife worth several hundred dollars. While there are definitely kitchen tools that will make cooking easier if you were to spend more for a premium version, but cutting boards aren't one of them.

There's also no substitute for practice and experience. If you can't julienne vegetables accurately or dice an onion rapidly on a cheap plastic board, a fancy board won't make much difference. You'll be far better off brushing up on all the different types of knife cuts and honing your skills through repetition. Push your boundaries by experimenting with dishes that require a variety of cuts to prepare, and remember: Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

If investing in an expensive cutting board will motivate you to use it more often, then go ahead and grab one; I completely understand. Just don't expect the board to magically make you a better chef.

One of the most crucial aspects of a cutting board – arguably more important than how it impacts your knives – is how sanitary it is for preparing food. The effects of foodborne illnesses can range from unpleasant to deadly, and food safety is something that any restaurant professional worth their salt is always aware of. While some may disagree with me, I'm yet to be convinced that an expensive board is safer than a cheap one.

Regardless of the type, all wood is porous, meaning it absorbs liquid. You can put whatever finish you like on a wooden cutting board, but that won't matter after you've taken your knife to it a few times. Plastic, on the other hand, is non-porous. It's a lot easier for raw meat juices or bacteria-harboring moisture to soak into a wooden board than a plastic one. Some argue that wood has antibacterial properties; this has some truth to it, but that doesn't mean your cutting board will self-sanitize.

Let me put it this way – I've worked in restaurants all around the world, and every health code I've encountered deems wooden boards to be too risky for commercial use. Admittedly, there is some concern over whether plastic boards are one of the many sources contributing to our consumption of microplastics. However, the long-term health impact of microplastics is yet to be determined, so the choice is ultimately up to you.

You may be wondering why the material of your cutting board is a food safety issue, particularly if you thoroughly wash and sanitize your cutting board between each use. But the fact remains that cleaning plastic is a lot quicker and easier than cleaning wood.

For instance, you can throw a plastic cutting board in the dishwasher and it'll come out clean and sanitized; however, a wooden board exposed to that level of moisture and heat will warp and split over time. A misshapen board isn't suitable or safe for food prep, of course, especially as cracks can begin to harbor harmful bacteria. To effectively clean an expensive wooden board, you first need to wash it by hand on both sides to ensure it dries evenly and won't warp. Next, you have to go through the additional step of using a sanitizer to ensure it's food-safe. Depending on what you have among your cleaning supplies, this may mean having to carefully dilute bleach to effectively destroy any harmful microorganisms in the wood.

Even if you don't have the luxury of a dishwasher, you don't have to worry about doing damage to a cheap plastic board when you're cleaning it. You can get it as wet as you like, and use a coarse scouring pad or wire brush to thoroughly remove stains and food debris. If you're too rough with an expensive cutting board, you might ruin that premium finish you paid for.

Another drawback of expensive cutting boards is that they typically require careful maintenance. Cheap plastic boards, on the other hand, require nothing more than proper cleaning. Cheap wooden boards may last longer if you rub a little cooking oil on them from time to time, but you can simply replace them when they're past their best. I wouldn't keep a cheap board for longer than about three years anyway, and most will easily last that long.

It's true that a high-end wooden board can last much longer than a budget plastic one – I know people who've nurtured the same board for over a decade – but it takes time, effort, and money. Before you break in a fancy wooden board, you need to season it liberally with food-safe mineral oil. You then need to repeat this process every few weeks – good practice is to do it every time you sharpen your knives. Mineral oil isn't immensely expensive, but it's not necessarily cheap for a bottle of something you wouldn't need for a cheap board.

For ultra-premium wooden boards, you may even need to wax and polish them, too. Even with regular maintenance, these boards will eventually pick up deep grooves, gouges, and cracks. If you want your cutting board to survive, these need to be fixed or filled as soon as possible to prevent irreparable damage.

If there's one thing that expensive cutting boards almost always have in common, it's that they're thick and heavy. It stands to reason that hardwood is heavier than plastic, and that for a high price, you want a cutting board large enough to accommodate all your culinary needs. Of course, customers typically like to feel like they've gotten their money's worth — and subconsciously or not, many often associate weight with quality (it's why luxury goods manufacturers often make products heavier than necessary).

As such, most premium cutting boards are way more cumbersome than required. These boards take up more kitchen space than necessary, whether they're in use or in storage. If you're someone like me who moves their cutting board around the kitchen based on what they're prepping, the extra weight can be a pain.

Hefty cutting boards are also less maneuverable than cheap, lightweight alternatives. I want to be able to hold my board over a saucepan with one hand, so I can use my free hand to knock in my chopped ingredients. The same goes for scraping food waste into the trash can. Good luck trying that with a two-inch-thick, nine-pound slab of walnut or maple.

If you spend any amount of time looking into premium cutting boards, it's only a matter of time before you encounter the term end-grain. Rather than being constructed from a single piece of wood or several pieces cut lengthways, these boards are made from many sections of wood that have been cut across the growth rings. End-grain cutting boards are easy to spot due to their checkerboard pattern.

There are a lot of myths about end-grain chopping boards that are frequently touted by those who make and sell them. Many claim that end-grain boards are better for your knives than long-grain boards, but there's little more than anecdotal evidence for such claims — and I've never found a noticeable difference between the two. You'll also hear that end-grain boards are self-healing, so to speak. While the checked pattern can make it harder to notice wear and tear on the wood, the material won't magically repair deep cuts or gouges made in it.

If anything, end-grain boards are at higher risk of damage because they're made of so many more pieces of wood. Each glued joint is another potential failure point should the wood begin to split or warp. End-grain boards are more labor-intensive to produce than long-grain boards, so it's understandable that they cost a bit extra, but you're not getting any functional benefits. Ultimately, it's the type of wood used for the cutting board that's actually important, not the cut or grain.

Typically, when someone invests a lot of money in a high-end cutting board, they want to use it for everything. It becomes their go-to board, taking a place of pride on the kitchen countertop. Whether that's to show it off or because it won't fit in the drawer is up for debate. However, the downside of relying on a single cutting board is the increased risk of cross-contamination between ingredients.

Cross-contamination could mean the transfer of bacteria from raw meat to cooked food items, or it could be a mix-up involving an allergen. Either way, it can have serious consequences, which is why professional kitchens normally use a multitude of color-coded cutting boards. You don't prepare raw meat on the cooked meat board, vegetables on the seafood board, or dairy on the raw poultry board. I'm not saying you have to be this stringent at home, but it's not safe to use the same cutting board for everything.

Instead of buying one extra large, premium cutting board, you're better off buying a higher quantity of cheaper boards. At the very minimum, I'd recommend having two boards of reasonable quality – one for uncooked meat and seafood, the other for bread, dairy, and fresh produce.

I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't take some skill and woodworking aptitude to make your own cutting board, or that it's possible without already having suitable tools. That said, crafting a functional and visually appealing cutting board is more achievable than you might think.

Assuming you've got access to the right equipment, the only real material cost of building a cutting board is the wood itself. Cherry, for instance, is an inexpensive hardwood that's ideal for a sturdy board, and you can even use offcuts or scraps. Although a table saw is the best tool for the job, you could also use a hand saw if your wood is already the right thickness.

Once you've cut your wood into long, even blocks, they essentially just need to be glued and clamped together in place until dry. Then you can square off the sides, and polish it smooth with an electric sander or by hand. Lastly, you just need to season it with mineral oil. You don't even need to round the edges or create a recessed rim for it to be an attractive and functional cutting board — one you can be proud to say you made with your own hands.

Most of us don't have an unlimited budget to deck out our kitchens, which means prioritizing how we spend our funds. As I mentioned earlier, while there are some appliances, equipment, and utensils worth putting extra money toward, cutting boards aren't one of them. That's not to say you should never buy one — just that there are better ways to allocate your hard-earned money when it comes to kitchen items.

One high-end item that should be on your list (ahead of an expensive cutting board) is a quality chef's knife and sharpener, or even a full knife set if you have the budget. A versatile cast iron skillet is another solid purchase, especially as it's something that'll last almost indefinitely. In fact, good pans in general are a worthy investment, as is a reputable Dutch oven.

With your basics covered, you can look into the nice-to-haves, like a quality food processor or stand mixer. In my experience, these are prime examples of the "buy cheap, buy twice" mantra. But no matter what you desire, you shouldn't splash out on an expensive cutting board — at least not before your other kitchen needs are met.