[8 - 8] i hope you cut this part
[11 - 13] [Music] a good knife is nothing without an
[13 - 15] a good knife is nothing without an equally good cutting board to use it on
[15 - 16] it's something that every cook should
[16 - 19] have some cooks see the ultimate cutting
[19 - 22] board as a thick unbudgeable wood or
[22 - 24] bamboo board others prefer to do their
[24 - 26] work on a lightweight no maintenance
[26 - 28] plastic board today we're going to
[28 - 30] explore both wooden and plastic cutting
[30 - 32] boards so you can decide which one is
[33 - 35] up first lisa with our favorite wooden
[41 - 41] okay so let's talk about cutting boards
[41 - 44] in general the biggest mistake we see in
[44 - 45] people's home kitchens is that they're
[45 - 47] using a cutting board that's just too
[47 - 49] small now if you're going to be cutting
[49 - 51] anything up this little thing which is
[51 - 53] about the size of a piece of copy paper
[53 - 55] not big enough look at the size of my
[55 - 58] eight inch chef knife with this board
[58 - 59] anything you cut on this is going to be
[59 - 61] rolling off you're going to be
[61 - 62] aggravated there's just not enough room
[62 - 64] to do what you need to do
[64 - 67] so this little thing save that for
[67 - 69] slicing up a wedge of lemon or something
[69 - 72] for your for your drink get a real
[72 - 75] cutting board we tested seven wooden and
[75 - 77] bamboo heavy duty cutting boards there
[77 - 80] are both end and edge grain boards edge
[80 - 82] grain is where the pieces are laid the
[82 - 85] long way end grain is where they're
[85 - 87] standing up which often people call
[87 - 89] butcher block we set a minimum size of
[90 - 91] 15 by 20 inches because we think that's
[92 - 93] the minimum size you should have for an
[93 - 95] all-purpose cutting board in your
[95 - 97] kitchen they're priced from about 85 to
[97 - 100] about 250 dollars and we put them
[100 - 102] through all kinds of kitchen tests every
[102 - 103] kind of thing that we'd normally do with
[103 - 105] the board but we also sent them to
[106 - 108] autodesk they used this robot arm with a
[108 - 111] brand new knife and it used the same
[111 - 113] amount of force and cut five thousand
[113 - 115] times on each board that's because one
[115 - 117] of the categories we looked at is
[117 - 119] durability we want a board that's not
[119 - 121] going to get cut to ribbons as you work
[121 - 123] on it and also we wanted to look at the
[123 - 125] effect it had on your knife you know a
[125 - 127] really hard board might damage your
[127 - 129] knife more than a softboard but a
[129 - 131] softboard might get kind of cut up the
[131 - 132] other criteria that we looked at was
[132 - 134] stability we don't want your board to
[134 - 137] jump or rock around on your countertop
[137 - 139] we want it to stay anchored we looked at
[139 - 141] ease of use you know and that's also in
[141 - 143] terms of the weight and how easy it was
[143 - 146] to pick up and finally we looked at
[146 - 148] clean up and maintenance how hard are
[148 - 150] they to take care of and keep them
[150 - 152] really performing in your kitchen for
[152 - 154] years to come this one has won the last
[154 - 156] couple of testings it's made by protiq
[156 - 160] it's made out of teak wood it's 18 by 24
[160 - 163] inches and that is enough room to really
[163 - 165] stretch out and do what you got to do
[165 - 166] especially if you're you know we're all
[166 - 168] trying to eat more vegetables these days
[168 - 170] you want room to chop things and not
[170 - 172] have them bouncing all over the kitchen
[172 - 174] so we did a lot of cooking tests on each
[174 - 177] board we just wanted to know practical
[177 - 178] everyday things one of the things we did
[178 - 180] was chop herbs
[180 - 183] and so i have a bunch of cilantro here
[183 - 184] and i'm going to cut them on this board
[184 - 186] i'm going to just trim the ends
[186 - 189] get rid of those
[190 - 193] and be able to chop the rest of this
[193 - 195] be able to chop the rest of this very nicely
[195 - 196] we wanted to get a feel for how it felt
[196 - 198] to cut on this board and whether it felt
[200 - 202] comfortable whether the knife felt good on the board
[202 - 204] whether the knife felt good on the board because one of the things that's really
[204 - 206] nice about a wooden board is that knife
[206 - 208] feel it feels good on your knife you're
[208 - 210] not hitting something hard you're not
[210 - 211] hitting something that's really
[211 - 213] unresponsive in some ways wood is kind
[213 - 215] of responding to your knife you can feel
[216 - 218] it not really biting in but just kind of
[218 - 220] gently interacting with the knife and it
[220 - 222] feels very natural so personally i
[222 - 224] really like that about a wooden cutting
[224 - 227] board one of the tests we like to do is
[227 - 229] to pound chicken breasts on the boards
[229 - 231] and this really speaks to not only their
[232 - 233] durability when you're whaling on them
[233 - 236] but also how stable are they are they
[236 - 238] rocking are they making it seem more
[238 - 240] precarious to be pounding this chicken
[240 - 242] breast we have our favorite pounder
[242 - 244] and chicken breast i put it between two
[244 - 247] pieces of cling wrap it just keeps it a
[247 - 249] little bit neater and i'm gonna pound it
[249 - 254] down to about a half inch thickness
[256 - 256] so everything in my kitchen is shaking
[256 - 258] but this board isn't going anywhere also
[258 - 260] really the ones that are too high and
[260 - 262] too thick we found that you're up here
[262 - 264] and you don't have the force you need
[264 - 266] you need that board to be in
[266 - 269] a nice position for smaller people like
[270 - 273] to have some leverage on the pounding
[273 - 275] so this was really hitting a sweet spot
[275 - 277] with a nice height
[278 - 280] nice and heavy 15 pounds doesn't move
[280 - 282] around doesn't scoot you don't need a
[282 - 284] grip or mat under it or anything else
[284 - 286] and when you're pounding it it's not
[286 - 288] bowing and flexing like some plastic
[288 - 290] boards be tested this is thick it's
[290 - 293] going nowhere we like to use chipotle
[293 - 295] chilies and adobo
[295 - 297] and they create a big standing mess on
[297 - 299] most cutting boards so we want to know
[299 - 302] how badly do they get stained and how
[302 - 304] hard are they to clean up and get the
[312 - 312] and that is a big
[312 - 314] delicious smelling mess
[314 - 318] i'm gonna chop it up
[322 - 322] okay so wow these are
[322 - 325] nice and chopped
[325 - 327] and i've really smeared that sauce
[328 - 334] around cut it right into the board
[342 - 345] well my hands are a little orange
[345 - 347] the board is you see a lot of stuff on
[347 - 349] the internet and there's a lot of rumors
[349 - 352] about wooden cutting boards being safer
[352 - 354] or less safe than plastic boards so we
[354 - 357] actually did that test we took boards
[357 - 360] and we um sent them to a lab where they
[360 - 363] coated covered them with bacteria
[363 - 366] and watched for a couple of days to see
[366 - 368] whether some really propagated the
[368 - 370] bacteria more than others they washed
[370 - 373] them all with hot soapy water and
[373 - 376] checked again now here's what we found
[376 - 378] none of the boards were worse or better
[378 - 381] than others when you wash with hot soapy
[381 - 384] water the bacteria are killed this board
[384 - 386] really doesn't show stains as badly as
[386 - 387] some of the other ones
[388 - 389] especially some of the plastic ones that
[389 - 391] are white plastic you can see this
[391 - 393] little orange blot on there for much
[393 - 395] longer than you'd expect some of the
[395 - 398] wooden boards are very pale colored
[398 - 400] just a light cream color and you could
[400 - 402] see the stain on that but you know after
[402 - 404] a couple of washes
[404 - 406] most of the stains are gone i'm gonna
[406 - 408] take the cutting board over to the sink
[408 - 410] and give it a good scrub with hot soapy
[414 - 414] you're not just washing one side or just
[414 - 416] trying to wipe it like it's a counter
[416 - 418] you want to get it in the sink scrub it
[418 - 421] with hot soapy water pat it dry and let
[421 - 423] it really air dry don't let it sit in a
[423 - 425] pool of water in your drain board or
[425 - 427] anything like that because wood is a
[427 - 429] natural material it will expand where
[429 - 431] it's wet and then as it dries it
[431 - 434] contracts and that can cause cracks it
[434 - 435] can make boards fail along the glue
[436 - 438] lines and we saw that a lot more with
[438 - 440] end grain boards where the pieces were
[440 - 442] vertical and stuck together this is
[442 - 444] mineral oil you can buy it in
[444 - 446] supermarkets and hardware stores
[446 - 448] it's you can drink it i mean it says
[448 - 450] here you can use it as a laxative
[450 - 452] but uh whatever you don't want to use
[452 - 455] your olive oil your vegetable oil on the
[455 - 458] board that oil will turn rancid and will
[458 - 461] create a bad smell you don't want that
[461 - 464] this is what this you want to use mineral oil
[464 - 466] is what this you want to use mineral oil it will keep the wood in great shape it
[466 - 469] will keep it moisturized just like your
[469 - 472] own skin it's a natural substance so you
[472 - 474] want to keep moisture in there the oil
[474 - 476] helps seal the board a little bit and it
[476 - 478] just keeps it nice and resilient you
[478 - 481] want to do it about once a month in the
[481 - 483] beginning and then you know every six
[483 - 485] months or so after that you can tell
[485 - 487] when you're looking at it if it looks a
[487 - 489] little dried out and it's so rewarding
[489 - 492] to actually put some of this oil on and
[492 - 493] then wipe it in and you want to get all
[494 - 496] the sides you want to do the sides the
[496 - 498] top the bottom all equally
[498 - 500] you don't want you know to ignore any
[500 - 502] part of it because that part will dry
[502 - 505] out and as you rub that in it's just you
[505 - 508] know it brings out the beautiful wood
[508 - 510] and it's it's really it's good for your
[510 - 513] hands too as your i sometimes use my
[513 - 514] hands to rub it in
[514 - 517] but you let it sit overnight you're good
[517 - 518] to go and it's a little bit like you
[518 - 521] know having a cast iron pan i mean that
[521 - 523] pan takes a little maintenance totally
[523 - 525] worth it this is old school
[525 - 527] and i think old school is pretty cool
[527 - 529] hannah's gonna try to convince you
[529 - 531] otherwise she's in her kitchen with a
[531 - 533] plastic cleaner
[534 - 536] [Applause] [Music]
[536 - 538] [Music] all right so i am here to talk to you
[538 - 542] about plastic cutting boards now they
[542 - 544] aren't as gorgeous as wooden cutting
[544 - 545] boards we need to get that out of the
[545 - 548] way our co-worker mia who wrote this
[548 - 550] review had a great line in it where she
[550 - 552] says this is not one you're going to be
[552 - 554] handing down to your grandchildren but
[554 - 555] that doesn't mean that there aren't
[555 - 557] benefits to having a plastic cutting
[558 - 560] board they are typically lighter which makes
[560 - 563] they are typically lighter which makes them easier to maneuver and clean
[563 - 565] they are also easier to handle because
[565 - 567] you don't have to deal with maintenance
[567 - 570] like oiling the board and whatnot they
[570 - 572] are also cheaper typically compared to a
[572 - 574] really gorgeous wooden cutting board
[574 - 577] they're also lastly dishwasher safe so
[577 - 578] you can put the whole thing in the
[578 - 579] dishwasher and make your cleanup much
[579 - 581] easier so they're easier to maintain
[581 - 583] easier to clean easier to lift
[583 - 585] they're basically the easier option
[585 - 587] compared to a wooden cutting board
[587 - 590] we tested seven models in our lineup
[590 - 592] priced from about 20 bucks to about 70
[592 - 594] bucks this is our winner right here from
[594 - 598] winco it is polypropylene and made with
[598 - 599] a little bit of polyethylene mixed in
[601 - 604] it's a plastic cutting board basically
[604 - 606] we had a lot of fails and a lot of
[606 - 607] triumphs in this testing it was a really
[607 - 609] interesting testing so
[610 - 612] first off some of the boards were too
[612 - 615] thin you need a medium thickness board and
[615 - 618] you need a medium thickness board and that's for durability because some of
[618 - 621] the thinner boards warped after washing
[621 - 623] me i washed these things 50 times in the
[623 - 625] dishwasher which is
[625 - 627] a lot but it's really important in this
[627 - 629] testing because we did see some warping
[629 - 631] and you want to make sure that your
[631 - 633] cutting board stays completely flush
[633 - 635] with the countertop because once you
[635 - 637] have warping then you have rocking and
[638 - 639] that is not a comfortable surface to cut
[640 - 641] on if it's moving and you don't feel
[641 - 643] secure and stable
[643 - 645] another important thing was grippiness
[645 - 647] another thing that will make it a pain
[647 - 649] to cut on is if the board feels like
[649 - 651] it's slipping and sliding around and you
[651 - 654] can use a gripper mat underneath you can
[654 - 656] also use a wet paper towel but if you
[656 - 659] don't have to that's even better you can
[659 - 661] see these red parts here
[661 - 664] they're tackier grippier material that
[664 - 666] makes it sit right on the countertop i'm
[666 - 668] really trying to push this here and i
[668 - 671] can't so that was awesome some of the
[671 - 672] boards we tested were a little over
[672 - 674] designed one came with two parts you
[674 - 675] know it's supposed to help with
[675 - 676] grippiness but we didn't like that we
[676 - 678] just want to deal with one piece we
[678 - 681] liked this little handle here but beyond
[681 - 683] that we preferred boards that just kept
[683 - 685] it simple okay so one of our tests we
[685 - 688] did was to chop up bunches of parsley
[688 - 690] we do this test
[691 - 693] for all of our knife testing our cutting
[693 - 694] all of our knife testing our cutting board testing and we choose it
[694 - 696] specifically because of the way you need
[696 - 698] to cut parsley
[698 - 699] it's a slightly different motion you
[699 - 701] know you're really rocking your knife on
[702 - 704] the board and that um there's a lot of
[704 - 706] movement there and so we can look at is
[706 - 709] the board sliding around is it staying
[709 - 711] in place you'll see right now the board
[711 - 713] is not budging one bit i'm rocking my
[713 - 717] knife back and forth
[719 - 719] some of the other boards that motion
[719 - 722] that rocking chopping motion the board
[722 - 723] would scoot when you moved your knife
[724 - 726] forward the best thing you can say about
[726 - 727] a cutting board is when you forget that
[727 - 729] you're on one and this cutting board
[730 - 732] so another element of our durability
[732 - 735] testing was staining and odor retention
[735 - 737] this is important for all cutting boards
[738 - 739] wooden and plastic you cut something
[739 - 741] stinky on it or something very vibrantly
[741 - 743] colored you don't want your cutting
[743 - 746] board to smell bad or be stained for the
[746 - 748] rest of its lifetime we were
[748 - 750] particularly interested in the staining
[750 - 752] test with the plastic boards because if
[753 - 756] stored chili in a tupperware container
[756 - 758] you know that plastic can definitely
[758 - 760] hold on to smells it can stain really
[760 - 762] readily so we were curious to see how
[762 - 766] the boards would do in this test
[768 - 768] so all of the boards interestingly
[768 - 772] enough fared pretty well in this testing
[772 - 774] they didn't always come clean right away
[774 - 776] sometimes it took a couple washes for
[776 - 778] them to come clean
[778 - 780] um but our favorite boards cleaned up
[780 - 782] slightly easier our winner here stained
[782 - 785] after the first wash
[785 - 787] one more wash and it was fine all right
[787 - 790] so our cutting board is nice and messy
[790 - 792] i'm gonna take
[793 - 801] and try to clean it
[803 - 803] as you can see
[803 - 806] super clean nice and white again really
[806 - 808] easy yes in case you're wondering we do
[808 - 811] smell checks at all of these it's part
[814 - 816] hmm smells beautiful no staining or odor
[816 - 819] retention the wood versus plastic
[819 - 820] cutting boards
[820 - 823] i am in the wood camp i think they're
[823 - 826] wonderful surfaces to cut on
[826 - 828] they look beautiful they last forever as
[828 - 829] long as you do a little bit of
[829 - 832] maintenance and basically they're just
[832 - 834] so much more rewarding i don't put
[834 - 836] things as big as cutting boards in my
[836 - 838] dishwasher anyway so i would be hand
[838 - 840] washing either board and so i don't mind
[840 - 842] washing a wood board
[842 - 844] it's heavy it's durable and it's
[844 - 846] beautiful i would think of a plastic
[846 - 848] cutting board as the slightly easier
[849 - 851] option they're typically a little lighter a
[851 - 853] they're typically a little lighter a little easier to maneuver which means
[853 - 855] they're easier to clean
[855 - 856] they're not something you'd want to put
[856 - 858] a cheese board on necessarily but
[858 - 860] they're easier to use we have a great
[860 - 862] winner here we have a great winner in
[862 - 864] the wooden category so you really need
[864 - 866] to think about what style of cutting
[866 - 869] board is right for your lifestyle and
[869 - 871] like lisa said they're both sanitary
[871 - 873] that's a really important thing hot
[873 - 874] soapy water and you're good to go you
[874 - 876] just have to think about usability i
[876 - 878] think plastic little easier wood
[878 - 880] requires a little maintenance and
[880 - 882] they're both a good option i have to
[883 - 885] agree so for more information on all the
[885 - 886] so for more information on all the products we mentioned and all the
[886 - 888] testing we did check out the links below
[888 - 890] yep and let us know any of your cutting
[890 - 892] board questions in the comments and make
[892 - 899] sure to hit that subscribe button