Anatomy of a cutting board

My end grain cutting boards are hand-made here in my little shop on Salt Spring Island, and have been since 2016. They are made primarily from North-American sourced hardwoods sourced from a reputable “green” supplier. Being an end grain cutting board means that the wood in every board is oriented vertically, exposing the end grain (as opposed to a face grain cutting board, where the grain of the wood runs along the surface of the board). This vertical orientation serves to improve the cutting board in 2 main ways. Firstly, it creates a more comfortable chopping experience, by allowing the knife to enter into the surface of the board and create a cushioning effect with every chop. Secondly, it prolongs the life of the board for the same reason. The knife enters into the surface of the board in between the vertical fibres of the wood, and does very little damage to the wood fibres themselves. Your cutting board will show marks from use, but will hardly wear at all. As you wipe your board with a wet cloth when you are done cutting, the fibres swell, and heal most of the marks made. End grain cutting boards are also much gentler on your knife edge, leaving your knife sharper for longer. There are many other reasons that I like end grain cutting boards, not the least of which is that the designs you can come up with are many and exciting as I’m sure you can see.

See these links for more info -

https://blog.metrokitchen.com/guides/endgrain-edgegrain-cutting-boards/

http://www.therobotchef.com/2016/08/the-wooden-cutting-board-conundrum-end-grain-vs-edge-grain/

https://gearpatrol.com/2016/07/22/endorsement-end-grain-cutting-board/

Feature 1

My cutting boards also all come with a nice handle cut-out, to make it easy to move around, rubber feet to keep them solid on your counter (and to space them up to stop them getting wet underneath), and my own custom brand.