Get ready for a bunch of cutting board posts. Let’s start with this one:
End grain, opposed to face or edge grain, is found at the top of a piece of wood. Basically, looking down onto those squares is like looking directly down a tree’s trunk. Because the cells are oriented vertically, end grain (or true butcher block) boards are much more durable and kinder to kitchen knives (hence their use by professional meatcutters). When cutting, the knife slides in between the fibers (imagine cutting into the bristles of a paint brush) rather than coming down in a crushing action which dulls the blade. You might be saying “if these are so good then why is your knife broken in the picture?” to which I’d respond “well, I broke the tip using it stupidly as a pry bar and that’s rude for asking.” So there.
I used hard maple, cherry, and walnut for this board. Here’s another attempt at an artsy pic (it helps if you yell ‘EXTREME CLOSE-UP!’ like that scene in Wayne’s World).
Where can you find such a fine kitchen essential? At the Little House on the Urban Prairie‘s semi-annual Holiday Open House this Saturday from 2-6pm, of course. Follow the link or contact me for details.
[...] some more end grain butcher blocks. The first is a cousin of the walnut/maple/cherry board posted earlier. I believe this was purchased at the Little House on the Urban Prairie’s holiday open house. [...]
[...] surfaced some of my other end grain boards in my 13″ planer, stupidly ignoring the sage advice of many, many [...]