Ever notice that your cutting boards are not looking as vibrant as they once did? or that they seem dried out?? Or those knife marks are very evident?? Well sadly this is likely because they are.
All wood products that are washed and used for food preparation or display need some TLC from time to time. This is because they do not have a lacquer coating like your wooden furniture does to keep them looking shiny and new. The reason for this is lacquer is not food safe, so products intended for food purposes are left uncoated with such preserving materials. Instead they require conditioning and hydrating with things that they need. These things are Mineral oil (food grade) and Beeswax. I have seen people use olive oil as well however using both mineral oil and beeswax have show the best results for us. Plus they are both natural. You can find name brands like Howard Butcher Block conditioner or in our case we have our own blend ( you can find this in our Merchandise collection under "Board Butter").
With this Board Butter you take a clean cotton cloth ( you can also you a piece of a old t-shirt) get a nickel to quarter size glob of board butter and rub it all over your wooden item. Depending on the size of your cutting board or cheese board, etc will dictate how much board butter you need to coat the surface. Once you have coated one side, stand it up on its edge and coat the other side. Then allow it stay up on its side to give it time to absorb the butter for a few minutes (3-5 minutes). After that wipe off any excess board butter with a clean cotton cloth and you are ready to go.
Doing this will help keep the boards from drying out and cracking, as well as help to improve the knife marks left from cutting items on it.
You will notice a big difference in how the color of the wood will go from dull to vibrate from start to finish. Its like you are giving the board a well deserved spa day and now it is refreshed and ready to work.
Doing this type of conditioning ONCE A MONTH is important to keeping your board in good condition for years to come.