Despite all of the advanced tools and fancy appliances you could have in your kitchen, you can never overlook the value of a trusty wood cutting board. We all love how long-lasting and beautiful a great wood cutting board can be, but keeping it deep cleaned and sanitized is not always an easy task.
Lucky for you, we’ve got our top tips clean your cutting board with these simple all-natural ingredients that you can get right from your kitchen cupboard.
Baking Soda
No matter whether you’re someone who likes culinary experiments or only cooks once in awhile, we all can agree on how annoying stubborn food stains on a cutting board can be. Cutting board stains come from excess fats, grease, and juices from earlier food prep. Baking soda is a mild alkali that makes it easier for stains to soften and be more easily cleaned with water. The magic doesn’t just stop at a dirty cutting board. You can solve many more cleaning problems with this simple ingredient.
Lemon Juice
Lemon carries a citrusy fragrance that neutralizes more pungent odors from your cutting board. When your board starts to smell like onions, garlic or raw meat, rinse it with lemon juice to kill food-borne bacteria and to deodorize errant smells. With the juice of a lemon, you no longer have to fear any smelly cutting boards that will ruin the taste of your food.
Vinegar
Not only does it elevate your dishes with its tangy taste, vinegar is also an amazing cleaning solution with its ability to kill bacteria. Regular white distilled vinegar contains about 5% of acetic acid that can kill foodborne bacteria like salmonella, E. Coli and others. Grab yourself a bottle of white vinegar next time you deep clean your board!
A bonus tip for seasoning your cutting boards
It may be the first time you have heard about this, but seasoning your cutting boards is one way to revive them and keep their original condition over time. Sadly, many available seasoning oils in the market are derived from petroleum byproducts and barely make the grade as food-safe. Even though various cooking oils can be used, coconut oil has been kept in our top products from Mother Nature.
You are probably wondering how it works exactly. As a fat featuring primarily medium chain triglycerides, coconut oil has unique antimicrobial properties that make it an excellent oil to use for reviving and rehydrating the fibers in your wood cutting board. Although coconut oil standalone is a great option, having it combined beeswax creates an ultimate solution. The secret to yield a board that is healthy and long lasting for years to come is to season it with coconut oil monthly or bi-monthly.
Taking care of your wood cutting board has never been easier with these four simple ingredients that are probably already in your pantry (or are easily available at the grocery store). These helpful tips will make your cooking experience much more enjoyable the next time you get in your kitchen.
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