Jean in Newcastle Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Do you use those? On what kinds of foods? How do you clean it? Do you trust that it is truly clean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have a mat for each type of meat and one for cheese and bread. I pop them in the dishwasher when I'm finished and they get nice and clean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 :bigear: I've been wondering all that myself. My kitchen has a place for a pull out cutting board, but the board itself is gone. I've been thinking about replacing it, but I wasn't sure if it would be worth the hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 My childhood home had one of those! I remember being surprised that other homes didn't have that or a laundry chute. Ours could be pulled all the way out to be washed. So it was our main big cutting board (used on the counter for wet things). Also, the spot it was in had some space above and below so it had air circulation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have a mat for each type of meat and one for cheese and bread. I pop them in the dishwasher when I'm finished and they get nice and clean. I have those and don't have an issue with them. What I'm asking about are the plywood/butcher board cutting boards that are usually hidden over a drawer and pull out for use and then slid back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have a pull out cutting board that gets used constantly. For meats and veggies and everything else. After cutting raw meat, I wipe down with clorox wipes (GASP!). If it's messy, I pull it out and wash with soap and water in the sink. I do not expect to die from having the raw meat come into contact with the board. It's quite handy. I have considered buying a mat to use on top of it just so clean up would be easier on nights when we have lots of food prep happening there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have used them and the height seems a little off to me. And even when they are sturdy and not wobbly, I still feel like I'm facing in the wrong direction when I use one, because it seems like I'm sideways when I should be facing the counter. Also, stuff falls off of them if you are cutting larger things because the boards aren't that deep. And maybe this isn't an issue for others, but I ended up with a lot of crumbs and little bits of food ending up all over the floor when I tried to wipe it off. I know many people use them and love them, but I prefer to use a regular cutting board on the countertop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 We have one, and I've never used it in the 6 years we've lived in this house. It's in the area of the kitchen that my husband uses for all of his electronic devices. :-P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 had one long time ago in an old house. I thought it was unhygienic. Would never want one. I like my cutting boards to be soakable or to go in the dishwasher.... (& we don't even eat meat. Can't imagine using it for anything other than breads & then the crumbs would be everywhere & just attracting mice into the cupboards.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 We had one in the house I grew up in. It was big and was used for Everything. It was wiped down with a soapy dishcloth. Nobody ever died nor did we suffer from any type of stomach ailments..... I want one.... Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 We use ours a once or twice a week--always for kneading or rolling out dough, usually pizza dough. I've never cut anything on it-veggies, fruit, or meat. Even the finished pizza gets put on a different board for cutting. It's just for dough basically. This house was built new for us, so I'm the only one who has used it--no previous owner germs or knife gouges to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I use mine all the time but it's the kind that you can take all the way out and put on the counter. I don't think I'd like it if I had to use it pulled out while standing in the middle of the kitchen. As it is I love it. I use one side for veggies and the other side for cooked meat. I do not use it for raw meat; I have a separate board for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatechip Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I don't really like them. They are too low or something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewber Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I don't like mine either. Mine is over my utensil drawer and the whole space would be do much more usable if the drawer were deeper and the board was gone. I prefer the Mats that can go in the dishwasher too. I like that they're flexible for getting stuff to the trash and that they're easily washable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I don't really like them. They are too low or something. The ones that pull all the way out get put on the counter, so are not any lower then any other cutting board you'd use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have 2. One is huge (something like 2 drawers long and counter deep) and in an awkward spot. I don't usually use it. That's a little too big. It tilts a little. One of my kids likes to eat on it because it's right next to the refrigerator. It's like another counter space when everything else is messy. The other one is a drawer wide and counter deep. It's right by the stove and I love it. It has great balance (no way you need to pull all of that out) and you can chop while you're cooking. I even pull it out and use it on the counter to roll out pizza or pie crust. Love it. Use it daily. It gets washed the way you wash anything. It pulls all the way out and you take it to the sink or you can pull it out a little farther and wash it right there. We like wood cutting boards here. It has two downsides. One is if some thoughtless person closes the board to get into the drawer below it. :P It doesn't touch on the inside but there's nothing like finding that mess later. The other is that you don't want to cut anything wet on there. It's too easy to move the board and have liquid trickle onto the floor. I consider mine my go-to veggie slicing and baking board, so I really don't want to cut meat on it anyway. We have a separate board just for meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I only use my pull-out cutting board for bread. That way it stays dry & can be pulled out and just brushed off over the sink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn&charles Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Do you use those? On what kinds of foods? How do you clean it? Do you trust that it is truly clean? No, because it's unwieldy to pull out and clean properly. It also isn't as stable unless it's only pulled out a little. Oh, and drippy things can spill onto the floor instead of the counter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I don't really like them. They are too low or something. I'm with you and Cat - they're a little odd to me in terms of height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 My mom has one but never uses it as a cutting board. She just pulls it out and uses it as extra counter space to pile stuff when she's filled the rest of her counters with other junk. My entire childhood, I had no idea it was a cutting board. My mom CALLS it a breadboard, so I assume she knows what it's for. eta: maybe I do remember her cutting ends off carrots there occasionally. Which she wouldn't do on the countertops. But she never cleaned it except to wipe up the crumbs that ended up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I store my cutting boards upright between microwave and flour canisters so they don't really take up any room. If I had one of these pull out ones in my own home, I don't think I'd actually use it. Pulling it out and then reinserting seem like it would be a problem for me. I need quick. We do own a rental house with a couple. They have some serious gouges in them. I don't know if the previous owners were idiots or if that's really easy to do. Isn't wood supposed to be somewhat anti bacterial? So the thinking is they don't need to be as thoroughly cleaned? I don't know that I'd trust that though. I like the high heat in the dishwasher and a bit of bleach now and then. But I virtually never cut meat. I try to plan my life so as to avoid that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I use mine all the time, just not for raw meat. I have a special one for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 We have one. It's unfinished wood, so we don't usually cut anything on it (bread once in a while), plus it's too low to work on. It mostly gets pulled out and put on the dining room table so a kid can do a jigsaw puzzle on top of it and move the whole thing off the table at mealtimes. I have 5 plastic cutting boards in assorted sizes that go into the dishwasher after use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 My mom and my MIL both have one. I am not a neat freak or nervous about things normally, but I would not want one myself. My mom is a neat freak so I don't worry too much that hers is clean, and my MIL is well organized and keeps hers wiped well, but I would worry about one for myself and my own family. Even knowing how clean my Mom amd MIL keep theirs, something about the whole think still makes me nervous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 My parents had two. We used them all the time. Usually my mother would wipe them down with a dishcloth :ack2:. And no one ever died or even got sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okra Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I would not use one of these. I'm a big fan or dishwashing our cutting boards, and I'm with other posters that say it's not the right height for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 The idea seems gross to me too, but every study I've ever seen on the subject said wood and bamboo boards are naturally antibacterial, whereas the plastic ones (that I use and stick in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle) apparently get microscopic valleys in them that make them impossible to sterilize. ETA: I still can't bring myself to go back to wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 The idea seems gross to me too, but every study I've ever seen on the subject said wood and bamboo boards are naturally antibacterial, whereas the plastic ones (that I use and stick in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle) apparently get microscopic valleys in them that make them impossible to sterilize. ETA: I still can't bring myself to go back to wood. I only use wood and bamboo, except for raw meat. I hate the plastic. I usually end up cutting raw meat on a plate to avoid the plastic cutting board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I have two pull out cutting boards in my kitchen and I looooove them. My kitchen is small and I don't know how I would do without. They are on either side of the oven, so they are very convenient. I own a large collection of cutting boards that people have given me as gifts over the years, and I have them in the pantry (a set of shelves in the basement, lol) because I never use them. I keep those very thin cutting boards, that come in different colours, on them. They stay on the wooden cutting boards even when I slide them in. I can change those if I am cutting something messy. I don't eat meat and if I did I wouldn't cut it on a wooden cutting board. But, I am not worried about bread crumbs or onion skins or coring an apple. I wash them off with soap and water if the wooden ones get dirty and call it good. But I don't cook with anything that requires gloves or separate cutting boards etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I've had one before, in a brand new home so I know it hadn't been used before. I NEVER used it, unless I was out of counter space and needed some place to set a pie to cool. I didn't feel I could pull it out and decontaminate it well enough. Besides, I thought the official word was not to use wood cutting boards anymore? This reminds me that I've seen countertops advertised that you can actually cut right on like a chopping block. What material would that be, do any of you have/use countertops like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I'm too tall to use most of the ones I have had comfortably and my experience is they are wobbly. I don't want to be using a huge knife on a wobbly surface that is awkwardly low for me. It sounds like a recipe for needing stitches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 It is my understanding that cutting on a wooden cutting board is not good for your knife. I think it dulls it faster than plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 We use ours all the time. It is oak and is still in great shape after 14 years of use. I don't use it for meat, oily or highly aromatic things like garlic, but it is used daily for bread and fruit/veggies. Ours is 18" x18" so it is quite large. It does pull out all the way, so it can be washed in the sink (albeit awkwardly) but I just wipe it with a hot/soapy cloth like the counters. It is very solid and not wobbly, so it is also where hot pans are set if they are right out of the over or off the stove. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I have a mat for each type of meat and one for cheese and bread. I pop them in the dishwasher when I'm finished and they get nice and clean. You, my friend, are a genius! I don't have a pull-out, but a relative does, and I'm going to tell his this great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I have those and don't have an issue with them. What I'm asking about are the plywood/butcher board cutting boards that are usually hidden over a drawer and pull out for use and then slid back in. I thought Tammy meant she puts the thin cutting mats on top of the pull out cutting boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 It is my understanding that cutting on a wooden cutting board is not good for your knife. I think it dulls it faster than plastic. Gah. People - I don't mind if you all don't want a wood pull-out board because it's wobbly and too-low (although I still don't understand why you'd leave it half-pulled out, low, and wobbly when you can put it on the counter where it is none of these - I keep mine in there to keep it conveniently stored, not to get 'extra' counter space - I like a really big board, and it's awkward to store elsewhere. Takes me about one second to get it in and out). But... stop with the backwards information about wood vs. plastic! Wood has been shown repeatedly in multiple studies to have natural anti-bacterial properties and is usually recommended as more sanitary than plastic - in spite of the fact that you can put plastic in the dishwasher because it gets grooves that the bacteria can hide in (although plastic is still recommended for raw meat). At any rate, you should have a separate board for raw meat. Also, wood is better for your knives than plastic (although plastic is better than glass or cutting on your granite countertop). The thin plastic ones are also very bad for your knives. Wood is best, thick plastic second, everything else - bad. Just in case I was remembering wrong, I just googled both things and found multiple sources and articles to back this up. I'm on my phone so it's hard to link. But this info is correct. Carry on. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Thanks for this thread. It reminded me that I have a pull out cutting board I've never used and I went and pulled it out, which hasn't happened in maybe 5 or 6 YEARS. Folks, it was covered in a blanket of green MOLD. I wiped it all down with Clorox wipes and then sprayed it with a mixture of vinegar and Borax. There is still black gunk in all the knife grooves that I can't get out. I am in no way a clean freak (obviously, since I hadn't pulled this baby out in 5 years!), but no, no, I will not be using my pull out cutting board :ack2: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Thanks for this thread. It reminded me that I have a pull out cutting board I've never used and I went and pulled it out, which hasn't happened in maybe 5 or 6 YEARS. Folks, it was covered in a blanket of green MOLD. I wiped it all down with Clorox wipes and then sprayed it with a mixture of vinegar and Borax. There is still black gunk in all the knife grooves that I can't get out. I am in no way a clean freak (obviously, since I hadn't pulled this baby out in 5 years!), but no, no, I will not be using my pull out cutting board :ack2: . You win...something. I'm not sure what, but it's yours because this post is just so delightfully horrible, you need to win. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I'm not sure how tall you all are or how low your counters are that these are too low? I'm 5'10 and the pull outs are only two inches below counter level. My house was built in 1960 so I don't think the counters are unusually tall. The difference between cutting something on the counter (unless you have a butcher block on top of the counter) and doing it on a pull out is negligable. I say that as a tall woman. Maybe I'm just used to everything being low? ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 We had one and used it for cutting bread wiped the crumbs away with our hands. We're not dead yet. It was very handy. But anything else--meat, cheese, veggies--separate board we would throw in the washer. The pullout board got sanded every couple of years and reoiled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I wouldn't care for it. Cutting boards wear out over time. I can't imagine what that thing starts looking like after awhile. I also wouldn't want to worry if I got it clean enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't use it so much for cutting. Maybe bread or something dry and easy to wipe off. I usually use it to put things on like cookie sheets straight from the oven or other this. It's hard to clean. I use a plastic one for meat and throw that in the dishwasher and I have a portable wooden one for other things and wash that in the sink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't use it so much for cutting. Maybe bread or something dry and easy to wipe off. I usually use it to put things on like cookie sheets straight from the oven or other this. It's hard to clean. I use a plastic one for meat and throw that in the dishwasher and I have a portable wooden one for other things and wash that in the sink. I'm starting to think I chop different things than y'all?... Sure, I have a plastic one for the raw meat and a portable bamboo one for bagels, just one onion, and other small stuff - but I couldn't imagine not having my big honking one. How would I quickly and efficiently chop up three heads of kale? I keep thinking I need a bigger board! Or a pound of mushrooms, or a head of cabbage, or peeling and chopping 5lbs. of potatoes? Or when I'm making soup and am chopping one thing after another? Little boards just don't cut it! (oops, a pun!) ;) My mom always had a huge wooden chopping board - still does, and it's bigger than mine (this must be where I get the big board envy). She just always keeps hers on top of the counter and never puts it away. I like to be able to stash mine. Oh, and I re-did the kitchen almost 20 years ago, and the board still looks almost like new. My mom's always look clean and nice too. Apparently they don't grow mold if you use them!! :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't peel potatoes (or carrots) on a cutting board. I peel either straight into the garbage or into newspaper or the compost container. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 We had one growing up. Fresh bread sometimes tasted like onions. :ack2: No one ever died, true. I'd want those mats mentioned up-thread if I had one, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't peel potatoes (or carrots) on a cutting board. I peel either straight into the garbage or into newspaper or the compost container. But where do you chop them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 But where do you chop them? On a cutting board but I keep them in a pot of water and take them out one at a time and put them back in after I chop one or 2. Or I keep them in a bowl. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I wouldn't care for it. Cutting boards wear out over time. I can't imagine what that thing starts looking like after awhile. I also wouldn't want to worry if I got it clean enough. Yes. My parents' dated from the 1920s (and this was the 70s and 80s) and they had worn away in the middle. A lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Yes. My parents' dated from the 1920s (and this was the 70s and 80s) and they had worn away in the middle. A lot. I guess I shouldn't expect another 30-40 years out of mine, then? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Yes. My parents' dated from the 1920s (and this was the 70s and 80s) and they had worn away in the middle. A lot. They can be replaced rather easily. It's not a big deal. Things do wear out and need to be replaced. So do our refrigerators and ovens, and pots and pans etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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