When it comes to selecting a cutting board for your kitchen chopping needs, you have many different choices. From plastic boards to bamboo cutting boards or regular wooden cutting boards or even butcher block boards, the options are nearly endless.
But once you narrow down the type of cutting board you would like to use for your cooking needs, you then need to select the BRAND to buy. And just like there are many different types of boards, there are a TON of different brands to choose from.
Luckily there are only a few really huge brand names that really jump out at you, and John Boos Cutting Boards are one of those brands.
John Boos cutting boards have received wide notoriety from a number of popular chefs, they are the board of choice for many chefs including Charlie Trotter, Paul Kahan, Ming Tsai, Susan Spicer at Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans, and Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feninger at Border Grill in Santa Monica, California and many other famous chefs. Also, the popular tv food channel, “THE FOOD NETWORK” features chefs, such as Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse, who prepare meals every day on John Boos cutting boards.
John Boos & Co. has been around since 1887 and is headquartered in Effingham Illinois which is at the southern part of Illinois. They also have facilities in Phillipsburg Pennsylvania and Suring Wisconsin.
But you don’t really care about any of that…what you care about is how well the board will hold up, how easy they are to maintain and use, and how beautiful they are to look at! Boos wins hands down for all of these criteria.
John Boos has so many different options as far as board sizes (including custom sizes) & pricing and also different materials that are available to suit your specific needs that it’s hard to even list them all.
For some people the grain and edge finish are important, for others it isn’t a big deal. There are of course options in maple and cherry; including maple edge grain construction, hard rock maple edge, playing hard rock maple, and others. Personally I like hard maple or rock maple cutting boards but everybody has their own preference and many people seem to like the boos block cream finish that is standard on many models.
One question I often get asked is whether or not boos cutting boards naturally kill bacteria. Some people suggest they do but I’m not one of them. To me you should always seal the surface of your board of choice with mineral oil or mystery oil (not wax or beeswax or lemon) that will keep it looking new so that it will last for life and never dull your knife.
Most of the boards you will find on the market today are reversible, so you don’t have to worry about that. A boos reversible board model is quite easy to find. Some do come with stainless steel feet that keeps the board from slipping all over your counter top, so if you are interested in that sort of thing you will find many different boards to suit your needs.
When it comes to pricing, boos & co. may be a little more expensive than some of your lesser known board companies out there but their quality is unmatched. For my money, a John Boos Cutting Board is the right choice every single time.
Looking for a Boos cutting board? Get yours at Butcher Block Co.
