The best cutting boards

• The cutting board is perhaps the most essential tool in your kitchen for meal prep.
• Plastic and wooden cutting boards both have their pros and cons, so we've found the best of both worlds in the plastic OXO Good Grips Cutting and Carving Board and the wooden John Boos Maple Wood Edge Grain Reversible Cutting Board.

Let's face it: a cutting board is not the sexiest utensil in your kitchen. It's not shiny, it doesn't turn, flash, or beep. In fact, it doesn't perform any high-tech hijinks at all. It just sits there. Still, a high-quality cutting board is an essential culinary tool. The preparation of many foods and meals requires that you use one. In addition, a high-quality cutting board can help keep you and your family healthy by preventing foodborne illness. Some of them are even beautiful to display on your kitchen counter.

Most experts agree that you should have a minimum of two cutting boards: one for cutting raw meats and one for chopping raw vegetables and everything else. There are cutting boards made from a variety of materials, but according to experts, including those at Good Housekeeping and The Sweethome, plastic and wood are best for most kitchens. You can also get glass ones, but they are prone to shattering and they dull your knives quickly.

Pros and cons: Plastic cutting boards

One of the main benefits of using a plastic cutting board is that it is easier to clean. In most cases, it can be run through the dishwasher. That said, all plastic boards scar over time and deep knife gouges can eventually become home to dangerous bacteria that is difficult to remove.

A study from the University of Wisconsin, found that plastic cutting boards actually had more bacteria than their wooden counterparts. In addition, wooden cutting boards fared better than plastic ones when exposed to toxic bacteria strains like Salmonella, E.coli, and Listeria.

Plastic also tends to be rougher on your knives than wood. Still, plastic is very durable, affordable, requires almost no maintenance, and if you throw out your plastic boards after two years of use, plastic can be an excellent option.

Most plastic cutting boards are made of polyethylene or polypropylene. Cutting mats are also a popular option. They are made of flexible silicone or other softer plastics and they typically come in sets of three or four in a variety of bright colors. The idea is that you use one color for meat, one for veggies, and so on.

Pros and cons: Wooden cutting boards

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Wooden cutting boards look gorgeous and you can get them in tons of different styles, shapes, and wood grains. Cutting boards are made from pecan, walnut, teak, and cherry, but by far the most popular type of wood is maple. Why? Maple is a beautiful light wood, it is strong, sustainable, and abundant in North America.

Wood boards are also heavier and feel good to use. They also won't dull your knives much, either. Still, wooden cutting boards require much more maintenance than plastic ones. They must be washed and dried carefully after each use and oiled regularly.

Wooden cutting boards come in two versions: end grain boards and edge grain boards. End grain boards are the more expensive option of the two. They're made of several board ends glued together. They tend to be more gentle on knives, but more susceptible to drying out, staining, and cracking. Meanwhile, edge grain boards are easier to clean, but they tend to be harder on knife edges than end grain boards. However, they withstand moisture-based cracking and splitting better.

Pros and cons: Bamboo and composite cutting boards

Bamboo cutting boards are another popular option. Many people think bamboo is a wood, but it's actually a grass. Like wood, it has a porous surface, but it's even harder than wood. Bamboo cutting boards are attractive, lightweight, and affordable. This good-looking material is also an excellent choice for eco-conscious consumers because bamboo is a highly renewable resource - a typical bamboo shoot can become fully mature within three to six years - and is often raised organically due to the ease of farming it. Bamboo cutting boards also need to be oiled on a regular basis, according to Cuttingboard.com

You can also opt for a composite cutting board, which is made from a combination of wood fibers and phenolic resins. Epicurean is the most popular brand name in composite cutting boards. Food-safe, long-lasting, and incredibly durable, composite cutting boards, unfortunately, do a number on your knives.

Other things to look for in a cutting board

According to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, you should also consider the size of cutting board you need, how you're going to use it, and whether you need more than one to do the job.

Some cutting boards have features that make it easier to cut and serve meat. For instance, some models have raised pyramid points that puncture that meat to hold it securely, while others have an indentation in the center of the board where the meat can sit securely. A board with handles can also make it easier to transport the meat to the table.

If you'll be using the board for cutting meat, you may opt for a model with a generous juice trench around the board's perimeter. The trench should be deep and wide enough to catch the juice without having it drain onto the countertop. Some juice trenches feature a notch on the rim that serves as a pouring spout.

Many cutting boards are reversible, allowing you to use both sides and to prevent cross contamination. Some experts claim this is the best reason to select a board without feet, although others like the extra stability that feet provide. But there's an easy way to ensure that your board doesn't slip around the counter: simply wet a paper towel and insert it under the board.

With all that in mind, here are our picks for the best cutting boards. We've included a plastic option, a high-end solid wood one, a pack of cutting mats, a bamboo board set, and a stunning teak wood cutting board.

Here are the best cutting boards you can buy:

• Best cutting board overall: OXO Good Grips Cutting and Carving Board
• Best high-end wood cutting board: John Boos Maple Wood Edge Grain Reversible Cutting Board
• Best bamboo cutting board: Totally Bamboo Cutting Boards
• Best teak wood cutting board: Teak Haus Edge Grain Cutting Board
• Best cutting mat: Imperial Kitchen Cutting Mat Set

Updated on 10/28/2019 by Caitlin Petreycik: Updated prices, links, and formatting. Added related guides.

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