Beauty And Function, Butchers Block Chopping Boards
A butchers block was used originally in the butcher’s shop. It was designed especially for cutting meat. The block is made of wood pieces which have been stuck together. The wood most commonly used for butcher block is sugar maple. The best butcher block is invariably made from hard woods.
Butcher’s blocks are made with the wood facing one of two ways. If the wood grain is perpendicular with the surface of the wood, it is called end grain and if it is parallel it is called edge grain. The way the wood faces effects the quality and cost of the butcher’s block.
The reason for preferring end grain buchers block is that they keep your cutting tools and other cutting instruments sharper. Most end grain blocks are at least four inches thick, thus they are both tough and durable. Repeated blows by cleavers do no significant harm to these blocks. Occasionally, the surface has to be re-planed and re-oiled, but with the great thickness, the block continues to be useful for a lifetime. This invariably makes the best chopping board.
Edge grain butcher’s blocks use rails that are full length, although at times there may be jointed construction. Although these blocks are also durable, they are not as durable as blocks made with the end grain surface.
Up until the 1880s, butchers cut meat on tree rounds, which were a section of a tree trunk that was set on legs. These predecessors of the butcher block would often crack and meat waste and blood could collect in these cracks to form a breeding ground for bacteria. The stuck construction of the butcher’s block makes cracking much less likely. Red Maple provides the right hardness for durability, yet is not so hard as to dull knife blades. Even with today’s high standards, butcher blocks are considered sanitary.
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