Beech wood, oak or bamboo: which cutting board is best?

For a cutting board you use every day, beech wood is a strong choice: hard enough to last, with a fine, close grain, and still kind to your knives. Oak is sturdy too, but has larger pores. Bamboo is hard and light, but the glue and the hardness make it tougher on your knives.

Which type of wood is best depends on what matters to you: your knives, care, looks or price. Below you find the three most chosen materials side by side.

At a glance

	Beech wood	Oak	Bamboo
Hardness	Hard	Hard	Very hard
Grain and pores	Fine and close	Coarse, open pores	Tight, glued strips
For your knives	Kind	Kind	Tougher, knives go blunt faster
Colour	Light, warm once oiled	Golden brown, pronounced figure	Light to caramel
Care	Oil regularly, never leave it soaking	Oil regularly	Oil regularly
Sanding and restoring	Easily done	Easily done	Limited

Beech wood

Beech is one of the most used woods for cutting boards, and for good reason. The wood is hard and has a fine, even grain without large pores. That makes the surface smooth, keeps dirt from soaking in easily and keeps cut marks small. At the same time it is soft enough to spare your knives.

The thing to watch: beech wood reacts to moisture. A board that stays wet for a long time or sits in water can start to move. Oiling it regularly and drying it straight away after washing prevents that. Do that, and a solid beech wood board lasts for years and can simply be sanded down after a long time.

All boards from TheWootz are solid beech wood, made by hand in a social workshop in Friesland.

Oak

Oak is strong and heavy and has a beautiful, pronounced figure. It is much used for serving boards. The grain is coarser and the pores are larger than in beech, so moisture and grease soak in more easily. Oak also contains tannin, which can discolour on contact with iron and moisture. Well oiled, oak makes a perfectly good board, but for everyday cutting the finer grain of beech is more practical.

Bamboo

Bamboo is technically not a wood but a grass. A bamboo board is made of strips glued together. The material is hard and light, and bamboo boards are often cheap. That hardness has a downside: it makes your knives go blunt faster. And because the board is made of glued strips, it is harder to sand down if it gets damaged.

And plastic?

A plastic board can go in the dishwasher, that is the advantage. But knives cut deep grooves into the surface, and after half a year a board like that looks worn out. A wooden board you can sand down and oil again, after which it looks as good as new.

What suits you?

• You cook every day and want a board that lasts: beech wood, for instance the cutting board of 45 x 36 cm.
• You want to serve on it too, or you cut a lot of meat and fruit: beech wood with a juice groove, such as the cutting board with juice groove.
• You chop a lot or work with big cuts of meat: a thick butcher block of 6 cm.
• You are mainly after a good-looking serving board for the table: oak is a good choice as well.

Not sure between a cutting board, a juice groove and a butcher block? Read Cutting board, cutting board with juice groove or butcher block?

Frequently asked questions

Is beech wood suitable for a cutting board?

Yes. Beech is hard, has a fine grain and spares your knives. It does ask for regular care: a thin coat of oil twice a month and drying it straight away after washing.

Which type of wood is best for your knives?

Hardwood with a fine grain, such as beech, is kind to your knives. Bamboo and glass are harder and make knives go blunt faster.

How do I care for a beech wood cutting board?

Wash it after use, dry it straight away and let it dry upright. Rub in about 20 ml of oil twice a month. The full step-by-step is in Caring for a wooden cutting board.