How to sanitize a wooden cutting board using DIY remedies
Wooden cutting boards come into contact with many different foods and need to be thoroughly cleaned occasionally. Since wood is naturally porous, it absorbs all the juices from the food we cut on it, and even if we clean it regularly, it is inevitable that traces of food and food juices remain trapped between the fibers.
So how to do to sanitize it properly? This is a practice that is quite aggressive to the wood, and shortens the life of the cutting board, but there are DIY methods to deal with it. We some of these below:
The need to sanitize a cutting board actually arises only when it has been used to cut raw meat or fish on. The bacteria must be eliminated, and therefore we must resort to a thorough cleaning. Generally, it is better to have metal cutting boards for this type of meat and fish processing, and to use wood and plastic boards for all the other foods. Even chopping boards made with plastic materials, in fact, become filled with bacteria in the groves and cuts caused by the blades - although it is always a little easier to clean these thoroughly than it is cleaning those made of wood.
When the time comes to sanitize you can:
- Use bleach: be careful, very little is needed. Fill a basin or sink tub with 4 liters of hot water, pour a single tablespoon of bleach into the water and let the cutting board soak in the solution for 5-10 minutes, then rinse it off thoroughly. If you want, you can also wash the board with a mild dish soap and rinse again with warm water. Dry it well and use it only when it has thoroughly dried out.
- Use white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide: mix one part of vinegar or hydrogen peroxide and four of water, and follow the same procedure as for bleach, described above.
- Once a month, you can use a slightly more delicate method: sprinkle the cutting board with salt and then rub the salt over the surface with half a lemon, like a sponge. Do this on both sides, wait 5 minutes, then clean everything off with a sponge, rinse and dry.
To regularly wash the cutting board:
- Rub some mild dish soap (Marseille soap is fine, or antibacterial one will do too) over the surface with a dish-washing brush or even a sponge (using the non-abrasive side, of course), and then rinse off thoroughly with very hot water. Repeat these steps with a brush or sponge and rinse off again. Focus in particular on where there are cuts and cracks in the board.
- Remember to always wash the wooden cutting boards on both sides, so that you do not avoid getting it wet only one side, which deforms the board when it is drying.
- Dry off as much as possible with a dry cloth and let the board drain by holding the cutting board vertically.
Great job!
