Best Cutting Boards for Your Kitchen
I tried bamboo, maple, plastic, and teak boards to cut through all the options
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
A chef’s knife may play the starring role in dinner prep, but your cutting board certainly deserves a nod for best supporting actor. It’s easy to write off these utilitarian boards as interchangeable, but the truth is, some are much better than others.
I know this to be true from culinary school, the time I’ve spent in professional kitchens, and more recently from time spent in my own kitchen, where I assessed six cutting boards of varying materials to see which were the easiest to use, clean, and maintain.
The Case for Two Cutting Boards
Before we delve into the specifics, know that you should keep a minimum of two cutting boards in your kitchen.
“Raw meat, poultry, and seafood can carry harmful bacteria and should have a designated cutting board,” says Sana Mujahid, PhD, manager of food safety testing and research at Consumer Reports. “Have a separate board for foods that don’t require further cooking, like bread, fruits, and vegetables, to prevent cross-contamination.”
While either wood or plastic can be safely used with raw meat and then disinfected, plastic just makes more sense. The easiest way to sanitize a cutting board is in the high-heat cycle on your dishwasher, and many wood boards aren’t technically dishwasher-safe.
How I Evaluated Cutting Boards
I set out to find boards that represented a good mix of materials, while also looking for popular sellers of each type. The six I chose—from Carrollar, Gorilla Grip, John Boos, Oxo, TeakHaus, and Totally Bamboo—are all widely available and represent a variety of options, including bamboo, maple, plastic, and teak. I opted not to include any tempered-glass boards because many pros say they can wreak havoc on a knife. Plus, even though they’re tempered they can still break, which to me seems like an unnecessary stress in the kitchen.
I ran those thoughts by one of our engineers, Bernie Deitrick, who tests everything from vacuum sealers to sheet pans for Consumer Reports. “With a glass board, there’s no traction for the blade,” he says. He prefers wood boards—he owns one that’s 34 years old—while thicker plastic options come in second.
Photo: Paul Hope/Consumer Reports Photo: Paul Hope/Consumer Reports
