We just acquired a bamboo cutting board. The tag says that bamboo is 16%
harder than maple.

Is this extra hardness a good or bad thing?

For example, is bamboo too hard for knives, and will we need to sharpen them
more often than if we use our other wooden boards?

Thanks for any advice. (For email, remove "zz" from the address.)

I don't know, but I'd like to hear what your experience is.

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Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"CL" > wrote in message
...
> We just acquired a bamboo cutting board. The tag says that bamboo is 16%
> harder than maple.
>
> Is this extra hardness a good or bad thing?
>
> For example, is bamboo too hard for knives, and will we need to sharpen
them
> more often than if we use our other wooden boards?
>
> Thanks for any advice. (For email, remove "zz" from the address.)
>
>

We just got a pretty bamboo cutting board, which may or may not be like what
you had in mind....

It's actually lots of tiny little bamboo stalks packed together, and cut
crosswise (as opposed to longitudinally), so that you're really looking down
into the teeny little stalks all packed in next to each other. There is no
space in between any of the stalks, and it's sanded down to be extremely
smooth. It feels for all the world like a solid piece of wood

It performs very well as a cutting board. I was very afraid to cut strawberries
on it, for fear that it would stain, but it's still pristine. And it seems soft
enough that you could nick it with the tip of a knife, so I don't worry about
it damaging my knives, but yet it still looks brand new despite months of daily
use.

Love mine.
-Jen
Half the people you know are below average. -Steven Wright

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 12:28:18 -0600, "CL" >
wrote:

>We just acquired a bamboo cutting board. The tag says that bamboo is 16%
>harder than maple.
>
>Is this extra hardness a good or bad thing?
>
>For example, is bamboo too hard for knives, and will we need to sharpen them
>more often than if we use our other wooden boards?
>
>Thanks for any advice. (For email, remove "zz" from the address.)
>

I have not used a bamboo cutting board but have used a number of
laminated bamboo materials; most of which were originally intended as
strip flooring. Given that the material (bamboo) is similar, I would
expect the end product to have similar properties.

The only problem with the flooring that I have found is in cutting it
with power tools. The bamboo seems to me to have a higher proportion
of adhesives compared to similar veneered wood products, leading to
more burning if the match of blade and blade speed is wrong.

Bamboo also contains a relatively high proportion of silica, that
might cause some dulling if you sawed on the cutting board with a
knife. Not something that I would think very important.

How was the board finished? What maintenance is suggested?

On 29 Feb 2004 04:50:30 GMT, OSPAM (JLove98905)
wrote:

>We just got a pretty bamboo cutting board, which may or may not be like what
>you had in mind....
>
>It's actually lots of tiny little bamboo stalks packed together, and cut
>crosswise (as opposed to longitudinally), so that you're really looking down
>into the teeny little stalks all packed in next to each other. There is no
>space in between any of the stalks, and it's sanded down to be extremely
>smooth. It feels for all the world like a solid piece of wood
>
{...]

Jen,

Could you post a clue as to the source? (URL, manufacturer, seller?)
I am interested in the material more than this particular use of it.

thanks,

B.Server wrote:
....
> Jen,
>
> Could you post a clue as to the source? (URL, manufacturer, seller?)
> I am interested in the material more than this particular use of it.
>
> thanks,

http://www.totallybamboo.com/tbwebst...fm?category=16

cheer,
srl.

On 2004-02-29, JLove98905 > wrote:
> We just got a pretty bamboo cutting board, which may or may not be like what
> you had in mind....

Bamboo is great in the kitchen. It's bullet proof and never stains. So, I
was expecting no problems when I bought a beautiful bamboo cutting board to
use at a cheese tasting. It was as you discribe, only different colors of
bamboo in a very ornate design. Unfortunately, dispite never immersing the
board (just wiped it), when I pulled it out at the party, I noticed it had
cracked open in 3 places. It cracked in one other place before I could
return it, completely unused.

nb

On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 15:21:22 -0500, Some Random Luser
> wrote:

>B.Server wrote:
>...
>> Jen,
>>
>> Could you post a clue as to the source? (URL, manufacturer, seller?)
>> I am interested in the material more than this particular use of it.
>>
>> thanks,
>
>http://www.totallybamboo.com/tbwebst...fm?category=16
>
>cheer,
>srl.

Many thanks.