Why Chopping Boards can Blunt your Knives

Chopping boards can blunt your knives

It seems that social media is awash with retailers, like Amazon, flogging metal chopping boards, specifically Titanium ones. And, sure enough, the boards look good, are very easy to clean, don’t transfer odours, and should be light in weight. All great qualities in a chopping board, except for one thing. Metal (also applies to melamine and glass) chopping boards blunt knives much faster than does a wood or plastic board.  This is because the most vulnerable part of any knife blade is its edge. And, the action of cutting on a very hard surface typically folds the fine edge of the knife over (blunts it). It's for this reason that you won't find any metal chopping boards in our shops.

Plastic boards are ok but can trap dirt or germs in the cuts and therefore can be difficult to clean thoroughly.  Cleaning in the dishwasher is probably the best way to neutralise any nasties.  

And so it is that I end up going back to either real wood (which has a natural antibacterial quality to it) which is harder than most plastic chopping boards but still gentle on hard earned knife edges.   Their main drawback being that they're handwash only*.

Alternatively Epicurean Boards (made of resin and wood pulp) are both very easy to clean (dishwasher friendly) and kind to your knives.  More on these later.

My birthday

It was my birthday last week, and quite a significant one, because, as you’re reading this on Saturday morning I’ve now been around on this planet for 70 years and 10 days. It was a birthday that I was looking forward to, rather like a visit to the dentist (sorry Caroline) just because 70 sounds so flipping old, 69 felt so much younger! So, I was rather astonished by how pleasant the day was, in the end, including having the afternoon off (which our staff handbook tells me is my right!).

And, in the evening having a small dinner party with a few friends. There were eight people invited but Jeanne, who was doing the cooking, had other ideas and had secretly invited four more, which was the most lovely surprise. And, at some point in the evening as I looked down the table, at people I love, watching them in small groups all chatting happily together, I felt so valued, so loved and I remember wondering “Could life get any better than this?” ….. I was in fact in my seventh heaven and suddenly being 70 was quite immaterial. What a wonderful present.

Ok, to product

NEW Tala Wood Chopping Boards:

My old chum Nick Squire**, MD of George East recently renamed Dayes, has recently extended his range of largely Beech chopping boards to include Acacia and Hevea woods (both ecological as they are fast growing hard woods).

** You will recall that tis he, who has very mixed vehicular taste, ranging from a beautiful Jensen Interceptor to a god awful BMW X5. He also delights in telling me he’s ordered a new X5…… It’ll be another of these newfangled things where they’ve got things arse about face and need a battery to help it along.

Tala Dual Purpose Rectangular End Grain Chopping Board 42cm x 28cm x 2.8cm

Acacia often (but not always) looks rather like teak (a slow growing tropical hardwood) and he has put Acacia to good use here with a heavy duty end grain chopping board, measuring 42cm x 28cm x 2.8cm thick . This is a substantial bit of kit, with a handy juice groove on one side, for carving meat perhaps. And a plain uninterrupted surface on the other, for general chopping work. There are indents machined out of each end to provide “handles” that enable you to lift it easily. End grain is a very hard surface that is highly practical and looks very attractive as it is made up of lots of blocks of wood (I counted 58 on the one I have in front of me as I write) that are glued together, and won't blunt your knives. * £39.50

Tala End Grain Chopping Board 37cm x 30cm x 2.8cm

This is a similar board in thickness and dimension to the one above (though a little squarer), but made of Hevea Wood (sometimes known as rubber wood). But this one is flat on both sides (no groove for catching juices). I’m not a fan of Hevea myself, as I’m not fond of the light colour nor the grain pattern that looks almost as if it’s been printed on, but as is often the case, my taste is not on trend. Care and use is the same as the board above.  £34.95

Tala Hevea Presentation/Chopping boards in two sizes

These two boards are much lighter in weight than the two above, chiefly because they are about half the thickness. Fashioned in Hevea they are 33cm x 25cm x 1.5cm and 41cm x 28cm x 1.5cm respectively. There's rather less to say about them, other than being very serviceable chopping boards that you could also use as a cheese board or serving board.

Tala Double Handled Long board in Acacia

These paddle boards are quite impressive pieces at 55cm over the handles, 47cm of usable space. And, apart from use as an impressive cheese board, I could see it laden with charcuterie, or as a bread board for baguettes.

There are a few other boards, including an impressive Pizza Board that is a huge 55cm in diameter, at a very reasonable £29.50. How do we do it….?

* Like all wood you must not put it in the dishwasher, and don’t leave it soaking in the washing up bowl. After washing it up, leave it to drain along its long side, as there’s less water absorption in side grain.

The Offer

For this weekend and all of next week, up until Friday night, you can use code CHOP20 to get 20% off any Tala board, all of which we do have good stocks of! If you’re coming into Cobham or Reigate shops just let us know you get this newsletter and we’ll do the rest

Epicurean Chopping Boards

I think that’s enough of selling Nick's wares for now . Would I buy any of these? Well, the long paddle board maybe, otherwise I’m a huge fan of the Epicurean range of chopping boards. These are light weight, wood fibre and resin boards in a variety of sizes, that are dishwasher proof, knife friendly and are all I ever use at home for all my chopping needs . And of course, as i have in the past, I would be extoling their virtues here and now had we got stock….

The story behind this dearth, started in 2000, when a charming fellow called Brian Rogers came to see me, representing a new company he had just started called WineArts, which as the name suggested had a focus on barware. Over the years the focus broadened to include far more kitchenware and eventually he changed the name to Eddingtons, after the mill that was his home and warehouse. I always got on well with Brian, who was clearly very bright and an excellent buyer, a bit of a wheeler dealer, with a dry sense of humour and always a twinkle in his eye….my sort of bloke in fact. But like any human being he had/has his flaws. His cash flow was (presumably) rubbish, and so he was always running out of stuff. I used to engage him in earnest conversation about how much more business we could do with him, if only he had less exotic holidays and spent more on stock (sorry Brian, that maybe just my fantasy) . These conversations always ended with a promise from him that this year things would be different,  but that twinkle in his eye was always there, and I never managed to really pin him down.

Twenty five years on, and we’re still frequently out of stock of my favourite chopping boards, and for a good number of those years it's become an accepted part of the landscape, that if something is out of stock, oh it has to be an Eddingtons line?  But it’s also a testament to Brian’s charm, kindness and good nature that despite the situation going on for ever and a day, I still delight in telling this story and have very fond memories of the man and of those conversations. Just a confirmation, in fact, that there’s a great deal more to life that rather boringly always being in stock (of Epicurean Boards) and making a fast buck. For instance, looking on the bright side, we've become pathetically grateful and excited when they do arrive!!!... Can't say that about Le Creuset or Riedel!

STOP PRESS. Well, I’ve now got to eat humble pie because as I was just finishing the email Wednesday late afternoon, I thought I’d ring Richard Walker, who is the current Eddingtons MD.  He “grew up” (in a business sense) with Brian and has his charm. So, after a very enjoyable chat about business generally he checked and found that he had stocks of all but one line (who said miracles don’t happen!) and then offered to get the stock to us by Friday (which was yesterday, if you’re reading this Saturday morning). So, thank you Richard.  This means we now have stock of most lines and, that being the case, please use Code EPIC20 to get 20% off any Epicurean board. As a reminder, they are dish washer proof, light in weight, slim, so take very little space, and the slate coloured ones, I think, look very smart.  The slate sets off a cheese selection beautifully.  Pretty much the perfect product really.

I trust that you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend.

Warm regards,

Andrew