Care Instructions Cutting & Charcuterie Boards
Let’s talk about how to properly care for your beloved new butcher block, cutting board or charcuterie before you go ahead and start using it, so that you can make sure that it lasts for ages and stays under warranty.
As you probably have gathered, these products are made out 100% hardwood. This wood started as rough lumber from a lumber yard, and has not been reclaimed or used for any other purposes other than for your cutting board. Your board will arrive finished and ready for use. This means that it has already been treated with food grade finish to seal and protect it. Upon receiving your board, you may notice some areas that have residual finish oil still seeping out of the grain. This is totally normal, and you can just wipe it down with a paper towel. This is simply because we put a heavy coat of finish on it before sending it to you as the new wood is often more “thirsty” in it’s early days, and also so you don’t have to worry about conditioning right out of the box.
Ongoing Care:
- Use a butcher block conditioner about every other week or so for the first couple months while it’s new.
- Following that, you can use a conditioner on it every few months, or as needed depending on how much you use it.
- Use a conditioner whenever you notice it starting to get dry and rough, or see the color start to fade.
- Wash with liquid soap and warm water, then towel dry
- Be aware that wood can absorb moisture and can stain if not wiped off promptly. For example, we wouldn’t recommend mushing up a bunch of blackberries or raspberries on it as the juice may leave behind a stain. Same goes for oils.
What NOT to do:
- Do not put the board in the dishwasher
- Do not use a heavy meat cleaver, hatchet, axe or chainsaw to cut your food.
- We recommend not cutting raw meat on it, as it cannot go into the dishwasher afterwards
- Do not expose to extreme heat or cold - most commonly, don’t set a hot pan from the stove on it.
- Do no try to alter the board in any way.
- Make fun of your friend’s lesser-quality butcher blocks and ruin your friendship. Unless you’re about to offer them our website info, in which case we can help lead them into butcher block salvation land alongside of you. DO do that!