Repairing Cutting Boards

[dale2242]

I was given a laminated wooden cutting board with some small worm holes in it.
I would like to fill these holes to prevent any chance of meat, blood, etc. contaminating this board with bacteria.
I need something that is food safe that I can fill these holes and sand smooth to make it more sanitary.
Anyone out there done this or have any ideas?....dale

[oneokie]

Acra-glass?

[country gent]

Check out Woodcrafters websites for one near you they specialize in woods and finishes and tools. If you know what kind of wood it is a dowel cutter and a block of that wood, cut a couple doels 3/8" long or so drill appropriate holes to depth with a foreseter bit and glue press in place. Sand to finish and And rub down with peanut oil o[r some actual butcher block oil

[Janoosh]

Wood absorbs water at a higher rate on end then on its side. Accraglass or a cyano-acrylate type glue is best.

[Wayne Smith]

Depends on how big and where they are. You can rout them out and use that as a grease groove to drain grease away. You can get some raw tung oil and mix it 1/3 to 2/3 mineral spirits and sand this in, the sanding dust packs in and fills the holes, the tung oil seals than in and fully polmerizes. Once it's dry there is no problem. This is how I fill gunstocks I'm refinishing.

Most woodworking catalog companies will carry raw tung oil. I know Woodcraft and Rocklear have it. I get it at my local Woodcraft store.

[bangerjim]

Be careful you are creating a possible health hazard. Unless that board is really cool or is a family piece, scrap it. They are not that hard to make.

You will never be able to seal those holes with anything that will not eventually srink/swell/crack and let food juices in and grow bacteria. No amount of any kind of oil will seal those areas. And dowels absobrb from the endgrain like crazy!

As said, woods are hygroscopic (absorb water like crazy) and anything borne in that water goes in as well! And can stay and grow.

I got rid of all our wooden cutting boards many years ago and now use only thick polypro or other plastic boards. Last much longer and can be easily washed with strong detergents. I have two that are from a counter-top job that are the best I have ever used.

banger

[texassako]

If you want an epoxy get a food safe epoxy listed for food contact, and I don't think acraglass is on of those. Personally, I would use Tightbond III wood glue and mix it with some sawdust from sanding the cutting board to make your own wood putty. It is the only glue I use to make cutting boards, and is FDA apporved. If the borers are still active, you may find the occasional new hole.

[starmac]

I made a reloading bench out of mine. It didn't have any holes, but it does now. lol

[Janoosh]

+1Texassako. The primary glue I use for work is a Titebond.
Perhaps using some type of injector would fill the holes starting from the bottom as an air bubble would stop the fill otherwise.

[Beagle333]

I got a pretty nice one, but I do sand it and seal it pretty often with Butcher Block.
edit** Y̶o̶u̶ I don't really want y̶o̶u̶r̶ my meat touching wood that other meat has touched (and seeped into.)

[MaryB]

Tests have found that wood cutting boards are pretty sanitary. The wood compounds act as an antibacterial to prevent growth.

[Plate plinker]

I think Mary is onto something, if wood was so bad we would all be dead by now. Butchers used to rub boards down with salt and saw dust suppose those techniques are still viable?

[oneokie]

The safety factor for wood cutting boards is dependant of the sanitation practices of whomever is using the cutting board. Wiping it off with a soapy dish rag is sufficient (imo) for most foods except for fish and chicken. For those, I wipe them down with a bleach solution. Plain old mineral oil is the best surface treatment. The kind you find in the health isle of the store, same stuff that is used as a laxative.

[geargnasher]

I use bamboo cutting boards for fish, chicken, and pork. Venison and beef go on any of several cherry, rock maple, and black walnut cutting boards I have made and sealed with Watco teak oil finish. Cleanup with all of them is just a quick scrub with detergent and hot water. If you seal the wood with the teak oil it requires no further maintenance until the nicks and cuts get deep enough to require sanding down again. Bug holes can be filled with beeswax or sanding dust and Titebond III as was mentioned.

My least favorite cutting boards are the HDPE ones such as commercial kitchens use. Those things hold meat particles like crazy in all the little slice marks, and they don't sand smooth very well. There is a different care philosophy involved, though, as those can stand any sort of bleaching or washing you like, and usually are fed through a high-temperature commercial dishwasher daily to disinfect them.

Gear

[twc1964]

Years ago, my dad owned a small country store in lees creek ohio. He was the meat cutter- butcher in the back area and did it all. The cutting block was probably nearly 80yrs old then and was a cross section of a tree trunk with small logs for legs. He scrubbed that block every nite with scalding water and bleach to clean it. Nobody ever got sick from meat cut on that. Clean it well and all is good.

[MtGun44]

MaryB beat me to it. Wooden cutting boards will not support bacteria on the surface. Of course,
filling the holes should be done, anyway since there could be a layer of guck in there not in
direct contact with the wood. I'd mix up some epoxy and sawdust and pack it in.

Tests have shown that, in reality, plastic cutting boards hold bacteria in the inevitable grooves
made by the knives, where wooden boards do not. However, our wonderful government
agencies require plastic cutting boards in food service "for sanitary reasons". Typical.

Bill

[TXGunNut]

Tests have found that wood cutting boards are pretty sanitary. The wood compounds act as an antibacterial to prevent growth.

True story. Sometimes cleaner than the plastic ones. But I can't run a wooden board thru a dishwasher. With chicken and some other stuff I'll use plastic but most days the wood board is just fine.

[wlc]

I have to use them(plastic) cause of food code, don't like them at all and would much rather have a good wood cutting board. Gear summed it up pretty good in his earlier post.

[MaryB]

I use disposable cutting boards on chicken on top of a poly board. Poly boards can be smoothed by using a wide chisel to go across the surface or a dough scraper with a sharpened edge

[Cowboy_Dan]

Be careful you are creating a possible health hazard. Unless that board is really cool or is a family piece, scrap it. They are not that hard to make.

You will never be able to seal those holes with anything that will not eventually srink/swell/crack and let food juices in and grow bacteria. No amount of any kind of oil will seal those areas. And dowels absobrb from the endgrain like crazy!

As said, woods are hygroscopic (absorb water like crazy) and anything borne in that water goes in as well! And can stay and grow.

I got rid of all our wooden cutting boards many years ago and now use only thick polypro or other plastic boards. Last much longer and can be easily washed with strong detergents. I have two that are from a counter-top job that are the best I have ever used.

banger

+1 I work in a kitchen and we aren't allowed to have anything wood, not even utensil handles.