Cool Tip: About Cutting Boards...

So many kinds of cutting boards--how and what do you choose?

We'll answer like the lawyers we used to be: it depends.

There is nothing better than a beautiful wood cutting board with a deep well around the perimeter to cut cooked foods that release some of their juices as you cut them.The deep well captures and retains those juices and makes it easy for you to pour them back on your food or make a sauce, and you avoid an overflow on your counters. But the issue with a wood board is: how clean can you get it when you've cut raw food?

Therefore, there is a place in your kitchen for cutting boards that can be washed at high temperatures in a dishwasher to sanitize them and avoid contamination.

Cross contamination is one of the current cautions in the kitchen--you don't want your raw chicken to infect your cooked food or the ingredients like fruits and vegetables that will be eaten raw or close to raw. For cutting up raw food, we prefer a cutting board that can go happily in the dishwasher and come out sanitized.

The are a few choices in this arena. We have tried to love the thin flexible cutting boards that stack compactly and bend to deliver cut food into your bowl or pot, but after only a few washings in the dishwasher, most of them warp, and then you're chasing your cut food all over your counter.

We've found two choices that are consistently reliable: silicone and sturdy polypropylene plastic.

The only silicone cutting board we've found that really does the trick, is the beautiful Lilypad Cutting Board from Charles Viancin.

For plastic cutting boards, we turn to Alton Brown, who states that he uses only hard polyethylene or polypropylene plastic boards, because they are "dense and heavy so they stay put on the counter (in addition, some polypropylene boards feature nonskid corners); they're heat-, odor-, and stain-resistant; they never warp or crack; they don't absorb moisture; and they can be washed in the dishwasher."

The two polypropylene boards that we like are the ones from Joseph Joseph and Norpro.

So, choose your board for the job you plan to do...and ones with good design that look good will make you smile more!