I am purchasing a 32W x 48L table for my not-so-large kitchen, that is 8"
wider than the 24" stainless steel work table that I use constantly and
love, and use it as a moveable kitchen island, but the width of 24" is just
too narrow for me in bread-making.

The new table top is a solid piece of oak and I notice that John Boos' oil
http://www.amazon.com/John-Boos-Myst..._product_topis made not only of mineral oil, but linseed and tung, and recommendsregular oiling every 4-6 weeks with their product.It seems to me that a mineral oil-only is used more often; say, once aweek. I've read a bit about tung. I have little experience with oilingwood, I believe it was linseed oil, which was most common in the 70's &80's, but what I've done left me totally unsatisfied. I was very happy whenthey started making cutting boards plastic ;-)) DH will be a help to meapplying whatever I choose.I'm going to have a problem, I'm sure, because I use the ss for just aboutevery sloppy job imaginable, and it will be hard to not use it for thingslike this, as an example, things I can remember in the last day or so:Separating milk and cream into jars; prepping cilantro and putting them intoice cubes, peeling apples, oranges, preparing any number of vegetables forcooking; wrapping cooked meat for the freezer; setting the garbage bowl on;making yogurt, setting dishes on to fill to take to the dining room .....I will purchase a couple of matching bar-type proper heigth seats for it, soI can do a couple of these chores, while I'm sitting, or even watching a DVDor TV; It has two small stainless steel shelves below the top on one side,and the chairs go on the other side.I'm not sure exactly how to handle this furniture piece insofar as keepingit relatively clean enough when I decide to put the working machines on it(electrolux mixer, kitchenaid food processor), or drag out any innumerablepieces of wood for shaping and rising; cleaning off the excess flour andcleaning up the water that is spilled on it. It will be getting a lot ofhard use. I don't cook timidly ;-))Thankful for any comments.Dee Dee

On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:17:09 -0500, "Dee Randall"
> wrote:

>
>I am purchasing a 32W x 48L table for my not-so-large kitchen, that is 8"
>wider than the 24" stainless steel work table that I use constantly and
>love, and use it as a moveable kitchen island, but the width of 24" is just
>too narrow for me in bread-making.
>
>The new table top is a solid piece of oak and I notice that John Boos' oil
> http://www.amazon.com/John-Boos-Myst..._product_topis made not only of mineral oil, but linseed and tung, and recommendsregular oiling every 4-6 weeks with their product.It seems to me that a mineral oil-only is used more often; say, once aweek. I've read a bit about tung. I have little experience with oilingwood, I believe it was linseed oil, which was most common in the 70's &80's, but what I've done left me totally unsatisfied. I was very happy whenthey started making cutting boards plastic ;-)) DH will be a help to meapplying whatever I choose.I'm going to have a problem, I'm sure, because I use the ss for just aboutevery sloppy job imaginable, and it will be hard to not use it for thingslike this, as an example, things I can remember in the last day or so:Separating milk and cream into jars; prepping cilantro and putting them intoice cubes, peeling apples, oranges, preparing any number of vegetables forcooking; wrapping cooked meat
>for the freezer; setting the garbage bowl on;making yogurt, setting dishes on to fill to take to the dining room .....I will purchase a couple of matching bar-type proper heigth seats for it, soI can do a couple of these chores, while I'm sitting, or even watching a DVDor TV; It has two small stainless steel shelves below the top on one side,and the chairs go on the other side.I'm not sure exactly how to handle this furniture piece insofar as keepingit relatively clean enough when I decide to put the working machines on it(electrolux mixer, kitchenaid food processor), or drag out any innumerablepieces of wood for shaping and rising; cleaning off the excess flour andcleaning up the water that is spilled on it. It will be getting a lot ofhard use. I don't cook timidly ;-))Thankful for any comments.Dee Dee


It depends on what you consider your kitchen to be. Is it a workshop
or a display room? Workshop tools tend to look like they are used.
That said, a wood table is always going to be harder to keep clean and
show the effects of use much more than metal or stone.

Is the table top finished in any way or is it raw wood? If it has a
finish you will have to treat the finish, not the wood.

My choice for my wood cutting boards is plain mineral oil. I have
been using plain mineral oil on my end grain cherry board for about 10
years and it still looks great, especially after I clean it well and
re-oil it. It also tends to repel liquids. I have started on the
process of getting a good oil finish on a new John Boos board I
recently purchased.

Have fun with the new table.

"The Cook" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:17:09 -0500, "Dee Randall"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>I am purchasing a 32W x 48L table for my not-so-large kitchen, that is 8"
>>wider than the 24" stainless steel work table that I use constantly and
>>love, and use it as a moveable kitchen island, but the width of 24" is
>>just
>>too narrow for me in bread-making.
>>
>>The new table top is a solid piece of oak and I notice that John Boos' oil
>> http://www.amazon.com/John-Boos-Myst..._product_topis
>> made not only of mineral oil, but linseed and tung, and recommendsregular
>> oiling every 4-6 weeks with their product.It seems to me that a mineral
>> oil-only is used more often; say, once aweek. I've read a bit about
>> tung. I have little experience with oilingwood, I believe it was linseed
>> oil, which was most common in the 70's &80's, but what I've done left me
>> totally unsatisfied. I was very happy whenthey started making cutting
>> boards plastic ;-)) DH will be a help to meapplying whatever I
>> choose.I'm going to have a problem, I'm sure, because I use the ss for
>> just aboutevery sloppy job imaginable, and it will be hard to not use it
>> for thingslike this, as an example, things I can remember in the last day
>> or so:Separating milk and cream into jars; prepping cilantro and putting
>> them intoice cubes, peeling apples, oranges, preparing any number of
>> vegetables forcooking; wrapping cooked meat
>>for the freezer; setting the garbage bowl on;making yogurt, setting dishes
>>on to fill to take to the dining room .....I will purchase a couple of
>>matching bar-type proper heigth seats for it, soI can do a couple of these
>>chores, while I'm sitting, or even watching a DVDor TV; It has two small
>>stainless steel shelves below the top on one side,and the chairs go on the
>>other side.I'm not sure exactly how to handle this furniture piece insofar
>>as keepingit relatively clean enough when I decide to put the working
>>machines on it(electrolux mixer, kitchenaid food processor), or drag out
>>any innumerablepieces of wood for shaping and rising; cleaning off the
>>excess flour andcleaning up the water that is spilled on it. It will be
>>getting a lot ofhard use. I don't cook timidly ;-))Thankful for any
>>comments.Dee Dee
>
>
> It depends on what you consider your kitchen to be. Is it a workshop
> or a display room? Workshop tools tend to look like they are used.
> That said, a wood table is always going to be harder to keep clean and
> show the effects of use much more than metal or stone.
>
> Is the table top finished in any way or is it raw wood? If it has a
> finish you will have to treat the finish, not the wood.
>
> My choice for my wood cutting boards is plain mineral oil. I have
> been using plain mineral oil on my end grain cherry board for about 10
> years and it still looks great, especially after I clean it well and
> re-oil it. It also tends to repel liquids. I have started on the
> process of getting a good oil finish on a new John Boos board I
> recently purchased.
>
> Have fun with the new table.


Thanks for the information. Sorry about the OP not having any paragraphs -
I put them in, don't know what happened.

My kitchen is for me, totally a workshop.
The table when it arrives is raw wood, so I will be treating the wood,
correct? not a finish. So mineral oil will do it? In your opinion,of
course.

Are you using plain mineral oil on your John Boos board?

The two previous boards I treated many years ago were the myrtle, I believe,
from Oregon. It was very hard. Also I 'seem' to remember a lingum vitae
board, if that is possible.

I had a tremendous looking salad bowl set that was almost black with red
streaks in it, but it cracked, big time.

I believe all of the above were treated with linseed oil.

Dee Dee

Regarding the Boos Mystery Oil or anything else with tung oil in it,make sure
neither of you has nut allergies.

Then you'll have to figure out if you like the way the tung and linseed
components cause it to set up / harden on your tabletop. We use a similar blend
on our teak dining room table, and like it a lot. It does very well on side
grain wood which does not get wet that often. But I'm not sure I'd like it on a
cutting board.

My primary cutting board is a piece of end grain oak, 24 inches square, and four
inches thick. On nice thing about end grain wood is that it is immediately
evident when even the smallest area is drying out and in need of oiling. My
board gets wiped with a damp sponge at least six times each evening during
dinner prep -- I don't let fruit or vegetable juices stand on it for long at
all, and use a synthetic board for all meats. At that level of use, I find that
my block needs a liberal application of mineral oil every two to three months.

Enjoy the new table!

-- Larry

On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:46:22 -0500, "Dee Randall"
> wrote:

>
>"The Cook" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:17:09 -0500, "Dee Randall"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>I am purchasing a 32W x 48L table for my not-so-large kitchen, that is 8"
>>>wider than the 24" stainless steel work table that I use constantly and
>>>love, and use it as a moveable kitchen island, but the width of 24" is
>>>just
>>>too narrow for me in bread-making.
>>>
>>>The new table top is a solid piece of oak and I notice that John Boos' oil
>>> http://www.amazon.com/John-Boos-Myst..._product_topis
>>> made not only of mineral oil, but linseed and tung, and recommendsregular
>>> oiling every 4-6 weeks with their product.It seems to me that a mineral
>>> oil-only is used more often; say, once aweek. I've read a bit about
>>> tung. I have little experience with oilingwood, I believe it was linseed
>>> oil, which was most common in the 70's &80's, but what I've done left me
>>> totally unsatisfied. I was very happy whenthey started making cutting
>>> boards plastic ;-)) DH will be a help to meapplying whatever I
>>> choose.I'm going to have a problem, I'm sure, because I use the ss for
>>> just aboutevery sloppy job imaginable, and it will be hard to not use it
>>> for thingslike this, as an example, things I can remember in the last day
>>> or so:Separating milk and cream into jars; prepping cilantro and putting
>>> them intoice cubes, peeling apples, oranges, preparing any number of
>>> vegetables forcooking; wrapping cooked meat
>>>for the freezer; setting the garbage bowl on;making yogurt, setting dishes
>>>on to fill to take to the dining room .....I will purchase a couple of
>>>matching bar-type proper heigth seats for it, soI can do a couple of these
>>>chores, while I'm sitting, or even watching a DVDor TV; It has two small
>>>stainless steel shelves below the top on one side,and the chairs go on the
>>>other side.I'm not sure exactly how to handle this furniture piece insofar
>>>as keepingit relatively clean enough when I decide to put the working
>>>machines on it(electrolux mixer, kitchenaid food processor), or drag out
>>>any innumerablepieces of wood for shaping and rising; cleaning off the
>>>excess flour andcleaning up the water that is spilled on it. It will be
>>>getting a lot ofhard use. I don't cook timidly ;-))Thankful for any
>>>comments.Dee Dee
>>
>>
>> It depends on what you consider your kitchen to be. Is it a workshop
>> or a display room? Workshop tools tend to look like they are used.
>> That said, a wood table is always going to be harder to keep clean and
>> show the effects of use much more than metal or stone.
>>
>> Is the table top finished in any way or is it raw wood? If it has a
>> finish you will have to treat the finish, not the wood.
>>
>> My choice for my wood cutting boards is plain mineral oil. I have
>> been using plain mineral oil on my end grain cherry board for about 10
>> years and it still looks great, especially after I clean it well and
>> re-oil it. It also tends to repel liquids. I have started on the
>> process of getting a good oil finish on a new John Boos board I
>> recently purchased.
>>
>> Have fun with the new table.
>
>
>Thanks for the information. Sorry about the OP not having any paragraphs -
>I put them in, don't know what happened.
>
>My kitchen is for me, totally a workshop.
>The table when it arrives is raw wood, so I will be treating the wood,
>correct? not a finish. So mineral oil will do it? In your opinion,of
>course.
>
>Are you using plain mineral oil on your John Boos board?
>
In my opinion you need nothing more than mineral oil. It is safe and
cheap. Unless you use something to really seal the wood grain, it
will take a while to develop good water resistance. I put oil on my
new one after I use and rinse it off. It is already starting to bead
water some. Sort of like it takes some use to get a cast iron skillet
to be non-stick.

Dee Randall wrote:

.... things I can remember in the last day or so:Separating milk and
cream into jars; prepping cilantro and putting them intoice cubes,
peeling apples, oranges, preparing any number of vegetables
forcooking; wrapping cooked meat for the freezer; setting the garbage
bowl on;making yogurt, setting dishes on to fill to take to the dining
room .....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I dunno about oiling. I've got a 24x72 inch block that I use exactly
the same way: for everything; every meal. It's 40 years old and, for
the last 15 years it's been on a steel cart with wheels in the middle
of the kitchen. No oil. Gets wiped down several times a day and I use
a bench knife to clear flour residue... Once in a while I scrub it
with vinegar and salt to sanitize it. Every other year I lightly
machine sand it with fine grit paper. The sanding restores it to as-
new (for about a week). It was 2 inches thick when I got it and it's
two inches thick this morning. So I figure it will be 2 inches thick
when I die. If the wood surface is dense, end-grain, and if the block
is well laminated and trussed internally with steel rod... it's
already bomb-proof.

"pltrgyst" > wrote in message
...
> Regarding the Boos Mystery Oil or anything else with tung oil in it,make
> sure
> neither of you has nut allergies.
>
> Then you'll have to figure out if you like the way the tung and linseed
> components cause it to set up / harden on your tabletop. We use a similar
> blend
> on our teak dining room table, and like it a lot. It does very well on
> side
> grain wood which does not get wet that often. But I'm not sure I'd like it
> on a
> cutting board.
>
> My primary cutting board is a piece of end grain oak, 24 inches square,
> and four
> inches thick. On nice thing about end grain wood is that it is immediately
> evident when even the smallest area is drying out and in need of oiling.
> My
> board gets wiped with a damp sponge at least six times each evening during
> dinner prep -- I don't let fruit or vegetable juices stand on it for long
> at
> all, and use a synthetic board for all meats. At that level of use, I find
> that
> my block needs a liberal application of mineral oil every two to three
> months.
>
> Enjoy the new table!
>
> -- Larry


Thanks for the good advice - Larry -- and everyone else. I feel so much
better about it, now.

Yes, I think I'll be OK; any little things I'll make some adjustments; no
problem.

It takes valued time to answer and I always appreciate it.
Dee Dee

"Dee Randall" > wrote in message
...
>
> I am purchasing a 32W x 48L table for my not-so-large kitchen, that is 8"
> wider than the 24" stainless steel work table that I use constantly and
> love, and use it as a moveable kitchen island, but the width of 24" is
> just too narrow for me in bread-making.
>
> The new table top is a solid piece of oak and I notice that John Boos' oil
> http://www.amazon.com/John-Boos-Myst..._product_topis
> made not only of mineral oil, but linseed and tung, and recommendsregular
> oiling every 4-6 weeks with their product.It seems to me that a mineral
> oil-only is used more often; say, once aweek. I've read a bit about tung.
> I have little experience with oilingwood, I believe it was linseed oil,
> which was most common in the 70's &80's, but what I've done left me
> totally unsatisfied.

I like plain old cheap mineral oil from the drug store. I put a coat on
every couple of days for the first week, then another in a week, and others
when I think about it for a few weeks.

Every once in a while if the board looks like it need a good cleaning, I
scrap it with a metal scraper, then re-oil.