A butcher block or butcher's block is a heavy duty chopping block, typically laminated of hardwood. Traditionally made of

hard maple Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

, it was commonly used in

butcher shop A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

s and meat processing plants but has now become popular in home use. The term “butcher block” can also refer to the pattern or style of a traditional block adapted to other functions, such as

table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

tops and

cutting board A cutting board (or chopping board) is a durable board on which to place material for cutting. The kitchen cutting board is commonly used in preparing food; other types exist for cutting raw materials such as leather or plastic. Kitchen cutting bo ...

s. There are two basic styles of butcher block: end grain and edge grain. Besides maple, popular contemporary woods include

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

, or

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

, sometimes in alternating patterns. A simple variant of the function of a chopping block is made out of a several-inch-thick cross section of a wide hardwood log.

Use

Butcher blocks have been used in butcher shops for centuries, and still are in many European countries. Increasingly, a version of butcher block is also being used in domestic kitchens as an alternative to stone and laminate countertops. This has created a new industry in the kitchen design arena and many furniture manufacturers and hardwood flooring companies are getting into the production of butcher blocks and butcher block countertops, in part because the countertops can be constructed from left-over wood that would otherwise be discarded.

Basic care

Proper care of a butcher block is important for longevity of the material and, to a degree, food safety. If the material is regularly exposed to water and not well cleaned

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

can form. The seams where the wood is joined can buckle as the wood expands and contracts. Keeping the material well oiled allows it to maintain a rich color and its water repelling properties. To properly care for the butcher block any foreign material should first be removed, it can be disinfected with

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

(or in extreme cases, bleach), allowed to dry well, and refreshed with

mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

or other food safe

sealant Sealant is a substance used to block the passage of fluids through openings in materials, a type of mechanical seal. In building construction ''sealant'' is sometimes synonymous with '' caulking'' and also serve the purposes of blocking dust, so ...

References

External links

Butcher block care (PDF)
Food preparation utensils Meat industry Kitchen countertops {{material-stub