These Wooden Cutting Boards Are Great for Food Prep and Chic Enough to Gift

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Anniversaries, weddings, housewarmings, holidays — whatever the occasion, a high-quality wooden cutting board makes for a thoughtful gift guaranteed to last a lifetime. The trick is to know what you’re looking for.

The best wooden cutting boards should be durable and feel substantial. A solid wood cutting board should be at least a few inches thick, and made from a high-quality wood that is naturally antibacterial, soft on knives, and likely to last. Cheap, thin cutting boards are prone to warping or cracking, which not just looks bad but could be unsafe — divets in the surface created by a knife blade is a great place for germs and bacteria to collect. When shopping for the best wooden cutting boards, we also look for details like grooves along the edge for juices to collect, and built-in handles for easy carrying (say, when you want to use the wooden cutting board as a cheese tray or party platter).

Wooden Cutting Board Materials

There are a few common wood types used for cutting boards. The best woods are hardwoods like walnut or teak, as softer woods will become easily scratched or dented, and can dull knives after repeated use. Also look for close-grain woods which have smaller pores and woods that are non-toxic. Materials like bamboo (which is not technically a wood but has similar properties) earns points for eco-friendliness.

Bamboo: Bamboo is actually a soft grass, not a wood, and it is the preferred choice of many environmentally-minded consumers because it is an easily renewable resource that is highly sustainable. However, bamboo is also 19 times harder than common hardwood like maple, and so can be more damaging to your knives in the long run. Bamboo cutting boards also have a shorter shelf-life than hardwood.

Hardwood: Commonly considered the gold standard when it comes to long-lasting, high-quality cutting boards, hardwood like walnut, teak, or maple are easy on knives and long lasting, in addition to being mostly sourced in the United States. The downside is that they can be pricier than other cutting boards, and require regular maintenance.

Acacia: This sustainably-sourced hardwood is gaining in popularity and not just for cutting boards. Like other hardwoods, acacia is gentle on knives, water-resistant, and long-lasting.