Butcher block
Encyclopedia
A butcher's block is a style of assembled wood
(often sugar maple
, teak
, or walnut
) used as heavy duty chopping block
s, table
tops, and cutting board
s. It was commonly used in butcher's shop
s and meat processing plants but has now become popular in home use.
It is made in two basic styles:
End grain butcher's blocks are generally preferred by professional chefs because the end grain wood fibres absorb the impact of the knife blade by allowing it to go between the fibres. This in turn keeps knives sharper for longer, and makes the boards more resistant to nicks and gouges.
Edge grain butcher's blocks generally feature full length wood rails that span the length of the piece, but they can sometimes be laid in a jointed construction, which looks like a hard wood floor. Both styles are equally durable, though not as durable as end grain. Both styles, if built with a natural oil finish, will need to be re-oiled to preserve the life of the wood. Both can be cut on directly.
The modern butcher block was always solid and usually very thick. The thickness was important for the longevity of the block, and also for the stability the mass provided. Butchers needed a block that was stable ensuring that the block would not move as large pieces of meat were placed on the block. Additionally, the blocks were usually very thick to allow the butcher to work on the block for a long period of time. A butcher would buy a block as an apprentice and use the block his entire career. When the block became worn it would be planed down to create a rejuvenated cutting surface.
Because of these features, the butcher's block became tremendously successful with butchers. Today, butcher's block cutting boards are still considered food safe and acceptable for food preparation. Butcher's blocks are still manufactured by several companies.
For butcher's blocks treated with a natural oil finish, it is recommended that you re-oil every 3 months to maintain the health and life of your butcher block. You can use a pure white mineral oil that you purchase at a local hardware store or grocery store. In addition to the natural oil finish, some butcher's blocks can be purchased with a durakryl 102 semi-gloss finish that is virtually maintenance free and does not need to be re-oiled. Durakryl 102 semi-gloss finish butcher's blocks are generally used in aesthetic applications, and are not meant to be cut upon directly.
s, or the classical legged chopping block. Traditionally made from tightly grained hardwoods like maple
, teak
, walnut
and cherry
, butcher's blocks are easily cut and shaped with conventional woodworking tool
s. Compared to many countertop materials, such as Corian
, granite
or bamboo
, it offers a comparably long service lifetime with a relatively low purchase price. Teak is an extremely expensive option that may stand up well to water but is full of silica which dulls knives. The standard, most affordable, and recommended thickness for butcher block is 1.5 inches.
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
(often sugar maple
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas...
, teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
, or walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
) used as heavy duty chopping block
Chopping Block
Chopping Block is a webcomic by Lee Adam Herold, hosted on Keenspot. It chronicles the exploits of Butch Reginald Mann, a hockey mask-wearing serial killer who is equal parts Jason Voorhees, Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, and Ziggy...
s, table
Table (furniture)
A table is a form of furniture with a flat and satisfactory horizontal upper surface used to support objects of interest, for storage, show, and/or manipulation...
tops, and cutting board
Cutting board
A cutting board is a durable board on which to place material for cutting. Common is the kitchen cutting board used in preparing food; other types exist for cutting raw materials such as leather or plastic....
s. It was commonly used in butcher's shop
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
s and meat processing plants but has now become popular in home use.
It is made in two basic styles:
- End grain
- Edge grain
End grain butcher's block
This type of butcher's block is made by gluing pieces of wood with the wood fibre perpendicular to the surface. Most commercial butcher's blocks have a thickness greater than four inches. This produces an extremely tough, durable surface capable of withstanding repeated blows from large, heavy meat cleavers. Its thickness also allows it to be resurfaced many times without wearing away an appreciable percentage of the total thickness.End grain butcher's blocks are generally preferred by professional chefs because the end grain wood fibres absorb the impact of the knife blade by allowing it to go between the fibres. This in turn keeps knives sharper for longer, and makes the boards more resistant to nicks and gouges.
Edge grain butcher block
This type of butcher's block is made by gluing pieces of wood with the wood fibre parallel to the surface. As with end grain butcher's block, the planks are then glued up under heavy pressure. Edge-grain butcher's blocks are considerably easier to make than end-grain and are therefore less expensive. The number of times it can be refinished depends on its thickness.Edge grain butcher's blocks generally feature full length wood rails that span the length of the piece, but they can sometimes be laid in a jointed construction, which looks like a hard wood floor. Both styles are equally durable, though not as durable as end grain. Both styles, if built with a natural oil finish, will need to be re-oiled to preserve the life of the wood. Both can be cut on directly.
History
The modern butcher's block was developed in the 1880s and was called at the time “The Sanitary Meat Block”. It was developed to address a need by the meat cutting industry for a more sanitary and stable cutting surface. Prior to the invention of the butcher block's, butchers cut on “tree rounds” or a section of tree trunk set on legs. Butcher's block, because of its construction, was fundamentally more stable. Tree rounds were susceptible to cracking, creating an unsanitary condition. Butcher's block minimized this cracking. Solid northern hard maple was used because it is the proper hardness. This was important because the butchers cutting tools needed to be durable and woods harder would blunt the edge of these tools and woods softer would degrade quickly.The modern butcher block was always solid and usually very thick. The thickness was important for the longevity of the block, and also for the stability the mass provided. Butchers needed a block that was stable ensuring that the block would not move as large pieces of meat were placed on the block. Additionally, the blocks were usually very thick to allow the butcher to work on the block for a long period of time. A butcher would buy a block as an apprentice and use the block his entire career. When the block became worn it would be planed down to create a rejuvenated cutting surface.
Because of these features, the butcher's block became tremendously successful with butchers. Today, butcher's block cutting boards are still considered food safe and acceptable for food preparation. Butcher's blocks are still manufactured by several companies.
Finishes
Butcher's block can be finished with non-toxic oils (when used for food preparation) or with conventional wood finishes (when used for its decorative effects). Oil finishes tend to darken over time and must be re-applied from time to time as exposed, unfinished wood will degrade fairly rapidly. Conventional finishes do not darken but are much more susceptible to damage from cutting tools and damage to them must be rapidly repaired or the underlying wood will be damaged. Note that olive oil and vegetable oil are not suitable for finishing, as they will become rancid, giving the block a sour odour and foods an off taste.For butcher's blocks treated with a natural oil finish, it is recommended that you re-oil every 3 months to maintain the health and life of your butcher block. You can use a pure white mineral oil that you purchase at a local hardware store or grocery store. In addition to the natural oil finish, some butcher's blocks can be purchased with a durakryl 102 semi-gloss finish that is virtually maintenance free and does not need to be re-oiled. Durakryl 102 semi-gloss finish butcher's blocks are generally used in aesthetic applications, and are not meant to be cut upon directly.
Use in the home
Butcher's block is now commonly used in the home. It may form table tops, countertopCountertop
Countertop usually refers to a horizontal worksurface in kitchens or other food preparation areas, bathrooms or lavatories, and workrooms in general. It is frequently installed upon and supported by cabinets...
s, or the classical legged chopping block. Traditionally made from tightly grained hardwoods like maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
, teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
, walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
and cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
, butcher's blocks are easily cut and shaped with conventional woodworking tool
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
s. Compared to many countertop materials, such as Corian
Corian
Corian is the brand name for a solid surface material created by DuPont. It is composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate. Corian can be thermoformed by heating it to 300°F , allowing unique shapes to be created...
, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
or bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, it offers a comparably long service lifetime with a relatively low purchase price. Teak is an extremely expensive option that may stand up well to water but is full of silica which dulls knives. The standard, most affordable, and recommended thickness for butcher block is 1.5 inches.