I headed to my neighborhood butcher one night right before they closed and caught the butcher cleaning his butcher block. I sat and listened to his wisdom about this ancient process of cleaning the nice bamboo and wood cutting boards. This is super cheap and you most likely have all the ingredients in your home.
The salt gets into any of those chop marks in the wood where bacteria gets trapped, and the lemon and salt both have antibacterial properties. For me, this is now a biweekly ritual. Hope you enjoy!
Oh and p.s. If you have a plastic cutting board, do your self a favor and trash that and invest in a nice wood or bamboo one this is much better on the wear of your knifes edge. Your knives will thank you!
What you will need:
- salt
- lemon
- mineral oil
- soap
- water
How to clean your boards:
Step one: Clean your wood cutting board with soap and water let air dry just for a moment. You will want to do this process while the board is still moist.
Step two: Sprinkle with a cup of course salt, slice your lemon and turn citrus side down
Step three: Scrub using the lemon as your scrubbing device
Step four: Scrub some more
Step five: Scrub the corners and edges
Step six: Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of salt and evenly spread out
Step seven: Leave over night or for at least 2 hours; this allows for the lemon and salt to penetrate the wood and thoroughly clean it.
Step eight: Scrap off salt into a tupperware I use the back of a spatula (you can re-use this salt until it is no longer white)
Step nine: Take a damp clean cloth and remove excess residue
Step ten: Make sure your board is dry and drizzle mineral oil on board and spread it thinly all over the board allow the oil to sink in for as long as you can (i like to let sit over night); this keeps the wood hydrated
Your butcher block is now ready for use!
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