Walnut End-Grain Cutting Board

Walnut End-Grain Cutting Boards are a prized item in the modern kitchen! The end-grain surface is much gentler on the knife edge and it also won't show knife marks on the surface as easily as if it were a face or edge-grain board. At 2 inches thick, it will also last a lifetime if cared for properly! 

This particular board had a hidden surprise in it that changed the way I was planning on doing the pattern. As you can see in the photo, it had a small hole hiding in the center of the board. I'm not sure what caused this defect, but it clearly wouldn't work for a cutting surface. For that reason, I filled it with epoxy to seal it, then mounted rubber feet to the bottom to ensure it wouldn't be used as the cutting surface. This really isn't an issue of any kind, but I'm not in the habit of hiding things or trying to pass something inferior off as if it weren't there. 

Hand made in our shop with only food safe products so you can rest assured you won't be getting any nasty plastics or other chemicals. It's finished with several treatments of mineral oil and finally finished off with a mineral oil and beeswax mixture to give it a lovely shine while blocking moisture and other food smells from penetrating into the wood!

When making an heirloom quality product such as this cutting board, a lot of care goes in to making it the highest quality possible. Once the board is assembled and glued, the finishing process starts. Because of how wood fibers swell when exposed to moisture, I do a process of sanding and wetting all of the surfaces to "raise the grain". This process is repeated several times, going through the lower grit sanding up to the highest grit for a polished smooth surface. By doing it this way, it ensures that the surfaces will remain smooth and not have an unexpected rougher texture after the first time you clean it. By raising the grain and sanding it out, then soaking in oil, it blocks out any chance of moisture penetrating into the fibers. As long as the owner continues to keep it cleaned properly and oiled well, it will last a long time before needing to be resurfaced!

Comes with a complimentary 1oz jar of the same oil/beeswax mixture I make.

Dimensions: 
(accurate to within about 1/8 of an inch)

13.5" long 
14.75" wide
2" thick - 2.25" with the feet
9lb 4oz

Care Instructions:

All wood charcuterie boards or cutting boards need to be cared for properly in order to keep them in good condition to last for decades. Keeping it clean and oiled will ensure it won't develop a rancid smell, dry out, or warp.
- Never put it in the dishwasher!
- Hand wash only with lemon juice or white vinegar, and salt. 
- You can use a small amount of a mild dish soap if necessary. Too much will strip the oils away.
- Rinse it well to make sure all the cleaning material used comes off.
- Re-oil regularly with mineral oil or cutting-board oil only. Mineral oil can usually be found in the pharmacy for around $2 or $3 and will last a long time. 
- DO NOT use olive oil, vegetable oil, or other food based oils. They will develop a rancid small and ruin your board.
- For the first few months, reapply oil every time you wash it. After that you can start to space out the reapplications. 

I'm calling this a charcuterie board, or a serving tray, because it's pretty thin. For a cutting board, you'll want something thicker so you can recondition it more often. You can still use this as a cutting board if you choose, but I don't recommend it if you're trying to keep it as an heirloom piece. Also, the face grain will get marked up by knife marks more easily compared to an end grain.