Introduction

In this post, we will explain how wood is treated in the process of making chopping boards, plus how to care for a chopping board after the purchase to ensure that it lasts you for years.

Basically, care instructions remain the same for all types of wood.

There are two ways that wooden chopping boards can be treated before being sold on the market:

1. A board undergoes steam treatment for 4-5 days with further natural drying for 3 months or longer. This changes the wood structure - fibres become more stable to temperature changes and are less susceptible to deformation. This is how beech chopping boards are usually treated.

2. The second method is widely used for treatment of oak boards. The boards are placed into a modern drying room - this allows them to be dried to a humidity level of 3-5%. Only at this level of humidity can wood bars be glued together and form a strong chopping board.

After this, a wooden board should be oiled regardless of the wood treatment method (steam processing or drying). The main reason for oil finishing is to preserve the wood fibres from moisture ingestion, which can cause splitting, warping and mould.

Dry wood has the excellent property of absorbing moisture so it is important that the wooden board absorbs the oil that forms a protective field against moisture.

It is very important to apply oil regularly as oil is not only being washed off over time but it also dries up.