Seal end grain Cheese Board with Polyurethane?
I’m making several end grain cheese boards (hard maple, cherry and walnut) and now ready for finishing. After reading tons of articles on “best” food safe finishes I am thoroughly in a quandry as I’m finding all are safe after curing. No article, however, mentions the use of polyurethane diluted 50%-75% as a sealing method, not to build a coat but only to seal the wood. Is this possible as I have quite an inventory of poly and don’t want to buy salad bowl varnish (too expensive) or use a mixture of mineral oil combined with pararfin wax as my consigned stores may object to an oily finish?
Also, any suggestions on a cherry wood substitute as the natural “black” part of the cherry has been interpreted as an imperfection by my customers. My local wood guy suggested red birch as a medium shade wood but it is hard to get. Thanks.
Replies
I have made and sold hundreds of cheese or cutting boards. I use walnut oil. This is a dull finish and doesn't accentuate the grain like a film finish. However, a film finish will get visible cut lines after use. Eventually, small pieces of finish will start to flake off after water gets under it through the cut lines. The oil finish doesn't have this problem because it never cures.
I have made and sold hundreds of cheese or cutting boards. I use walnut oil. This is a dull finish and doesn't accentuate the grain like a film finish. However, a film finish will get visible cut lines after use. Eventually, small pieces of finish will start to flake off after water gets under it through the cut lines. The oil finish doesn't have this problem because it never cures.
I'd agree that poly will peel or get ratty looking in time. I've used the recipe below. It needs to be periodically renewed, but it looks good when fresh.
http://andreasrecipes.com/2009/03/23/beeswax-paste-for-cutting-boards-and-butcher-blocks/
You should not use a film forming finish on a item like cheese cutting board. Once the film gets penetrated--and it will--food, and other gunk will get into the wood and/or under the adjacent film causing the finish to fail.
An excellent treatment for wooden food preparation surfaces like cutting boards and butcher blocks is a mixture of mineral oil and either paraffin or beeswax. This is what is used on many commercial wood surfaces. It will last longer and be more protective than just mineral oil. Mineral oil can be found in most supermarkets in the pharmacy section or in a true pharmacy. Paraffin is found in the canning section of the store or in a hardware store.
Heat the oil in a double boiler and shave in some wax. The exact proportions are not critical--a 5-6 parts of oil to one part of wax will work fine. Stir the mixture until all the wax is liquefied. Apply the mixture heavily and let it set 10-12 hours or overnight. Next day do it again and continue until the wood will no longer absorb the finish. Let it set for 10-12 hours and then lightly scrape off any excess. Then buff it with a rag.
Reapply whenever the wood begins to look dry.
Never put a wood board in the dishwasher and don't soak it in dishwater for long periods.
Cheese board finish
Howie,
After reading many of your responses to questions regarding woodworking over the years, I'm convinced you know what you are talking about so thank you for offering your "two cents" on this subject. Although never working with an oil finish for any of my woodworking projects (I've always used poly for most because I have kids) I did try your oil/paraffin mixture yesterday for the first coat on my cheese boards and the results were superb! Today, I'll apply the second coat as you recommend and I'm sure the results will be even better. I did think of walnut oil but there were too many negative comments regarding potential peanut allergies associated with it. Also, it does make perfect sense that poly will not work for reasons you mentioned. Will the oil/paraffin mixture provide adequate sealing capabilities after cleaning the boards with mild soap and water?
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