Which Cutting Boards are Best for Knives? (2024)

A chef has many tools, but one stands out above the rest: a knife. Correct that, a sharp knife.

A properly honed blade makes prep work easier, results in cleaner cuts and isactually much safer to use.Contrary to popular belief, a dull knife is actually dangerous to use, because it requires much more force to get the same job done as a sharp knife. Keeping a knife sharp is thus of utmost importance, which is why we often are asked which cutting board is best for knives.

The first thing to understand is how knives actually becomedull. The two main reasons a knife becomes dull is either a rolled edge or anedge that has become rounded. To understand both, you need to consider thatwhile the knife edge may look uniform to the naked eye, the actual edge isquite thin and jagged at the microscopic level.

A rolled edge is when the edge becomes bent or rolled overto one side and is caused by physical pressure to the edge of the blade. If youcan imagine pressing a fork into a brick, the bending of the fork is exactlywhat happens to the edge of the knife on the microscopic level. This is mostcommon reason that knives become dull, which is why nearly all knife setsinclude ahoning steel (often referred to as a “sharpening steel” although technically incorrect). The honingsteel works by physically forcing your knife edge back into place, as opposedto grinding away bits of your knife with a true sharper.

Image Credits: Brod & Taylor

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A rounded edge is when actual material is removed from theblade due to friction, tearing or abrasion. In English, this is normal wear andtear on your knife from slicing food, chopping against your cutting board oreven from corrosive effects due to the acids in your foods (tomatoes arenotorious for this). When your knife edge becomes rounded, this is when yourknife requires actual sharpening by grinding down the edge.

Now that you understand these two methods of dulling, let’stalk about how the cutting board material factors in. If you have a board madefrom a hard material, it will cause your knife edge to roll because there isless give. If you have a board that resists scoring, that will cause your edgeto round because it creates greater abrasion on the knife. In most cases, thesetwo factors go hand in hand, but there are a few exceptions because densitydoesn’t always equate to cut resistance.

Since we are talking about the interaction of two materials,we also need to address the hardness of the knife. The top selling knives aremade with stainless steel, which has varying Rockwell hardnessratings from 55 to 59. Specialty knives, such as carbon steel knives orJapanese VG steels, are harder with Rockwell ratings 60+, but have the drawbackof being more brittle and prone to chipping.

So, the true answer for what is the best cutting board foryour knife is not black and white, because the answer is it reallydepends! Here is a table that we’ve puttogether to give you a good idea of the pros and cons of each cutting board andknife combination:

As a few definitions, we refer to a knife material as "Rigid" if it is made of a steel that generally doesn't bend (Rockwell 60+) or is a ceramic blade. A "Good" rating for Knife Chipping means that there is a low chance of chipping.

To start with an easy villain, one of the worst boards for yourknives is glass (or any stone). Glass cutting boards are very hard (almost as hard as steel)and will not score, which is why these boards are notorious for dulling eventhe best of knives. On the other hand, plastic HDPE and softwood cutting boardsare given good scores on maintenance and chip risk, which are great for yourknives, but come at the expense of the durability of your cutting board.

Composite fiber cutting boards are often seen in commercialkitchens and are made from layered phenolic resins, often called Bakelite orRichlite. Thoughthese composite boards claim that they are “knife friendly”, this material isincredibly strong and does not score easily – which is why we gave it poor orfair scores for knife usage.

The conclusion to draw from this chart is that you caneither have a low maintenance cutting board or a low maintenance knife, but notboth. If you’re a gambler, you could try using that $300 Shun VG-MAX on acomposite board and possibly have the best of both worlds, but you’re alsoplaying with fire and hoping you don’t chip your edge.

*Note that we listed a softwood cutting board as having poor board life with a rigid knife, although we are not factoring in knife skills or the type of knife. If you are a sushi chef with a straight Shun knife vs a home cook chopping away with a $10 ceramic knife, your mileage will vary of course.

We will say that the one contender that is potentially lowmaintenance for knives and long lasting are plastic HDPE boards. These are mostoften used in commercial kitchens as well and have the benefit of being able totoss in a dish washer. The drawback is that they are not the prettiest boardsand are more prone to harboring bacteria than wood cutting boards.

Since wood cutting boards are our most popular item, thequestion that we know is coming is “Which woods are considered a hardwood andwhich are considered a softwood?” While there is a technical definition, whatwe’ve done is listed the most common cutting board woods based on theJanka scale. This rating is used to rate the durability and hardness of wood,based on the pounds of pressure required to dent the wood with a metal ball.

Thanks to theWood Database for many of these Janka ratings

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A high Janka rating generally means that the wood will bemore resistant to scoring, though a woodworker will tell you this is not alwaysthe case due to the grain and wood fibers. Some woods, such ascherry wood forexample, are lower on the Janka scale, but can be difficult at times to work with. In regards to knives, a wood grain that is straight will often be better for your knives because there will be more consistent pressure along the edge of the blade when slicing and especially with chopping. A prime culprit are some types of bamboo boards which have a straight consistent grain, but also have intermittent nodes. These nodes are incredibly dense compared to the rest of the grain, which is the metaphorical equivalent of exposing your knife to a pillow fight... except some pillows have books inside of them. It's a bad surprise.

Of the woods listed,larch wood andhinoki are consideredsoftwoods while the rest are considered hardwoods. There are, of course, manyother common softwoods such as fir and pine, but these are not commonly used tomake cutting boards, due to their porous nature. You can read more about this on our articleWhy some woods are better than others in the kitchen. Brazillian Walnut (Ipe)and Brazillian Cherry are not commonly used for cutting boards either, but we listedthem to show the upper bound of Janka ratings, as Ipe is one of the hardestwoods available.

An interesting thing to note is thatmaple andbamboo are almostidentical in their Janka rating and these are both the most commonly usedmaterial for natural cutting boards. Given that most consumers are moreinterested in the longevity of their cutting board than the sharpness of theirknife, this gives a good indicator of what material density is holding up in thekitchen.

However, if you do have quality knives, our opinion is thatit makes much more sense to pick a softer wood, such asteak orwalnut, whichis at the lower end of the density range. Walnut is known to have a highworkability (and thus, easy to score) and teak has an abundance of sidebenefits, not the least of which is superior maintenance.

So which cutting board are best for your knives? The answer is that there is no definitive "best" board out there, because it depends on your willingness to compromise between a sharp edge and a cutting surface that scores. Plus, unless you are a commercial chef, looks almost always plays a part in which cutting board people purchase. If you are a knife aficionado, it would make sense to invest in a softwood cutting board or even just go with a basic plastic board. If you're looking for a middle ground, any hardwood board (except the very dense boards) will likely do just fine. Most importantly, utilizing proper knife care and knowing how or where to sharpen your knives will always be the main factor in keeping a sharp edge.

As always, from us at CuttingBoard.com, chop responsibly!