The best plastic cutting board is the type that doesn’t wear down quickly and remains hostile to microbes for months. This becomes possible when the surface of the best cutting board material is resistant to knife-edge impact. Like a rubber cutting board, the best cutting board for Japanese knives may well be a high-quality PE cutting board that is good not just for Japanese knives but all kinds of knives that need to stay sharp because they’re going to be used daily in the kitchen.
Are Plastic Cutting Boards Good for Knives?
The best cutting board for kitchen knives is the plastic PE cutting board for many, many reasons. Plastic cutting boards are hard but not so hard that they will damage any kitchen knife’s sharp edge. So whether you have a Damascus steel knife or an ordinary kitchen knife, you’re going to have a good experience with PE cutting boards because they will resist knife damage and, at the same time, help maintain the sharpness of your blades.
Plastic boards will not make your knives dull, and in time, of course, you can replace them as all cutting boards are replaced after a year or so of use.
Suppose the cutting board is not suitable and barely has any durability. In that case, it will take damage much more quickly, regardless of how careful you are with slicing and cutting. High-quality PE cutting boards are made of polyethylene, a thermoplastic type for many kinds of products, including food packages.
Best of all – these boards are safe for everyone, too!
The US FDA has cleared polyethylene as a food-safe material. That means there is no risk involved when using a plastic cutting board at all. It won’t release chemicals into your food, and it will remain chemically and physically stable for the rest of its lifetime.
PE also offers additional benefits:
- PE is highly economical, so even the most durable cutting boards won’t cost a lot of money but will remain dependable throughout the product’s lifetime.
- PE doesn’t produce a lot of friction, so it helps maintain the edge of your knives. Unlike super hardwood that can easily damage knife edges, PE cutting boards have a certain level of giving that prevents knife damage on the surface while taking care of your knife.
- As we discussed earlier, it also has high impact resistance, so when you are cutting, chopping, or crushing anything on the cutting board, you won’t have any issues with dents and malformations easily, especially if you invest in virgin PE, which is the most popular type of material for hard-wearing cutting boards. Use these cutting boards for your crafts projects and other similar projects, and you’re going to get good results each time.
Another great advantage of PE cutting boards is they are approved by both the USDA and the FDA in the United States. US standards for food safety are high and consistent, and when a material is given the green light, that means it has passed countless tests for food safety across the years, making PE an excellent choice for your kitchen. We highly recommend investing in economic PE cutting boards (emphasizing the plural) because, with a little investment, you can have multiple boards for different types of preparations.
It is not safe to use the same cutting board for different kinds of preparations. For example, if you like making salads and sliced tomatoes and preparing fresh greens, it is unwise to do so on the same plastic cutting board you use for pork, beef, and poultry. It is wise to have a separate board for pork and beef, and then for poultry. We know it will be more challenging to organize your kitchen with different cutting boards but think of all the risks that you will be avoiding health-wise by simply avoiding contact with potentially dangerous surfaces. This applies most especially to instances when you are slicing bread and fresh produce that are not meant to be heated or cooked anymore.
The boards you use on fresh salads, and other similar ingredients should not be used for fresh meat and other items that may harbor bacteria. Additionally, the juices and fragments or food particles from meat can contaminate fresh fruits and vegetables, increasing the risk of salmonella and Escherichia coli.
These situations can easily be avoided if you have multiple PE cutting boards at home. Then again, you have to pick the right kind of cutting boards first. Foremost, the cutting board has to be made from virgin or non-recycled PE. Recycled PE is weaker, and there may be additional chemical compounds involved. You will know immediately when plastic has been recycled because of the smell and appearance. Virgin PE is light and attractive and has natural heft to it.
Recycled plastic is often lighter, more brittle, and has an odd smell to them straight from the box. With high-quality PE cutting boards, you know that you have the right product with you because everything is smoother, heftier, and there are no odd smells. Virgin PE is also highly resistant to solvents and corrosive substances, and it can handle a lot of punishment. Wear resistance and fatigue is not a problem. The best PE also does not absorb water, which is important if you want your cutting board to remain naturally antimicrobial.
What Cutting Board Is Best for Knives?
Plastic cutting boards are best for all kinds of knives. High-quality PE boards have high impact resistance, for one. Why is high impact resistance important? Impact resistance ensures that the surface of the cutting board will not be damaged or destroyed quickly. Small instances of knife damage tend to build up over time, causing spaces where bacteria can fester. Food particles, even the smallest ones, can become sources of microbial accumulation in low-quality cutting boards.
Tests also show that knives’ edge sharpness is preserved during pressure tests, compared to what happens to knives when put up against harder surfaces like hardwood cutting boards.
