cutting board stain- Walrus Oil

[Keye]

I recently made 10 cutting boards and finished them with Walrus Oil. I used sapele and maple.

Last night we cut tomatoes on one of the boards. Left the juice on the board until after dinner cleanup. When the cutting board was cleaned it has a stain from the tomato juice.

I gave 7 of the boards away. I am now really concerned about using the boards with raw meat. I am going to tell everyone not to use the boards until I figure this out.

Is this just a matter of not enough coats or something else. I used two coats and allowed it to dry for 24 hours between coats. It did not absorb all the oil and I figured it would not be of any benefit to add addition coats. Am I wrong?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[mdbuntyn]

Even though the product copy claims that they contain beeswax, the SDS for both the Cutting Board Oil and the Wood Wax for Cutting Boards only list mineral oil.

In addition to the color, tomato juice is slightly acidic. You would need a product with a drying oil (e.g. linseed or tung) to offer any protection from staining.

 

[Berta]

I use mineral oil, then a mineral oil beeswax topcoat. I never leave wet things sit on my boards.

 

[Bill J]

Fist, let me second the beeswax treatment. But if you are actually using a cutting board, the surface treatment will wear off pretty quickly. Since it's strawberry season there are a lot chances to stain a board! I have found that the stains will disappear pretty quickly with normal usae and washing. We stained a small maple board last week. It is over 20 years old and is pretty much untreated at this point but the stain is gone now.
As to cutting meat, wood has been shown to have natural antibacterial properties. See reference below from the NIH. In fact, USDA recommends using wood instead of plastic to reduce possible contamination from meat, etc. So let your friends use the wood boards!
Note that the USDA does recomend using different boards for meat, vegetables, etc in commercial applications.
Links:

Testing the Antimicrobial Characteristics of Wood Materials: A Review of Methods

Some wood species have antimicrobial properties, making them a better choice over inert surfaces in certain circumstances. However, the organic and porous nature of wood raises questions regarding the use of this material in hygienically important places. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Myth or Fact: The Antibacterial Properties of Wood

www.rowandsons.co.uk

 

[Keye]

Even though the product copy claims that they contain beeswax, the SDS for both the Cutting Board Oil and the Wood Wax for Cutting Boards only list mineral oil.

In addition to the color, tomato juice is slightly acidic. You would need a product with a drying oil (e.g. linseed or tung) to offer any protection from staining.

Matt, I thought I was done with MSDS when I retired. I have noticed you reference MSDS's in other posts. Thanks for you input.

 

[Keye]

Fist, let me second the beeswax treatment. But if you are actually using a cutting board, the surface treatment will wear off pretty quickly. Since it's strawberry season there are a lot chances to stain a board! I have found that the stains will disappear pretty quickly with normal usae and washing. We stained a small maple board last week. It is over 20 years old and is pretty much untreated at this point but the stain is gone now.
As to cutting meat, wood has been shown to have natural antibacterial properties. See reference below from the NIH. In fact, USDA recommends using wood instead of plastic to reduce possible contamination from meat, etc. So let your friends use the wood boards!
Note that the USDA does recomend using different boards for meat, vegetables, etc in commercial applications.
Links:

Testing the Antimicrobial Characteristics of Wood Materials: A Review of Methods

Some wood species have antimicrobial properties, making them a better choice over inert surfaces in certain circumstances. However, the organic and porous nature of wood raises questions regarding the use of this material in hygienically important places. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Myth or Fact: The Antibacterial Properties of Wood

www.rowandsons.co.uk

Thanks, very helpful.

 

[Cuprousworks]

My nephew started making and selling laminated cutting boards, he gives them a heavy dose of mineral oil as a finish, and provides each with a tag noting that with use additional mineral oil treatments will be necessary. The good news is that it's a simple, quick and cheap solution.

For any doubters about wood, note that the NSF - pretty much the final say about what can be used in commercial kitchens - certifies wood cutting boards.

 

[Willw21]

Walrus Oil makes a wood wax that is NSF and it can be used alone or over their cutting board oil. I've used it on a few projects that didn't need to be food safe just to save myself some exposure to chemicals in paste wax and it works great. I also put it on tools to prevent rust.

~Will