Beauty And Function, Butcher’s Block Chopping Boards

A butcher 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 welded together. The wood most commonly used for butchers block is sugar maple. The best butcher block is invariably made from hard woods.

Butchers 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.

End grain butcher’s block is the preferable style of butchers block as it helps to keep knives sharper. With most end grain butcher block being over four inches in thickness, eng grain butchers blocks are very tough and durable. Even repeated blows by large meat cleavers do not harm these blocks. On occasion, the surface may need to be re-planed and re oiled, but this does not remove any appreciable amount of the total thickness of the block. This invariably makes the best chopping board.

Edge grain butcher 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.

The butcher block was only invented about one hundred thirty years ago. Until then, butchers used tree rounds to cut meat on. A large section of tree trunk was mounted on legs. These sections had the problem of often splitting or cracking. The cracks proved to be unsanitary, as they provided breading grounds fro bacterial The welded construction of a butcher’s block makes cracking less likely. Maple was chosen because it is the correct hardness to be long lasting, but soft enough to prevent dulling of cleavers.