Chopping boards

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 12:26

I'm after a set of colour-coded polyethylene chopping boards, but so far all the ones I've come across have been absolute rubbish.

They all seem to be either too thin, made from some horrid rock-hard polyethylene, warped, massively large or all of the above.

About 18" x 12" x 0.5" seems to be the ideal size, but I need to know they'll be made from a decent polyethylene that doesn't fall to pieces but isn't rock solid and aren't brittle or easily warped.

Any recommendations, professional chefs and enthusiastic amateurs?

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 13:02

Ah, I think I might know where I've been going wrong. I think I've been looking at the high-density versions of these boards and not the low-density ones.

Would a 'Low Density Chopping Board Set' for around £35 be the one to go for? I'm after boards that have the same density and 'knife feel' of those T&G Anti-Bacterial ones.

randomshenans · 16 May 2011 at 13:22

I'm looking for some as well. I have some wooden ones (bread and a fat wooden block) and some really thin ikea ones but they're really flappy and useless.

boxman2000 · 16 May 2011 at 14:15

I think John Lewis do these.

I bought a single one the other day for chicken and it's great, plus can go in dishwasher!

tuckenator · 16 May 2011 at 14:27

Costco do this type of set for around £20, far cheaper than i've seen anywhere else.

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 14:52

tuckenator said:
Costco do this type of set for around £20, far cheaper than i've seen anywhere else.

If that's the Joseph Joseph set, which I think it is, unfortunately the boards are too small and fiddly for proper cooking.

I'm after something more like the set below, although I'd love something with the design implantation of the JJ offering.

Participant · 16 May 2011 at 15:04

We got these from Lakeland Plastics:

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/10713/Stay-Put-Chopping-Boards

Quite pricey at almost £40 but very solid. There's one review and it's negative, citing the plastic cutting up. But that's not our experience and we have fairly some sharp kitchen knives.

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 15:16

And not a bad size either... Is it the area around the handle and the strip at the bottom of the board that provides the grip? Would save putting a silicon mat underneath my boards when chopping.

Participant · 16 May 2011 at 15:29

Yes, the bits at each end that look a slightly different shade have slightly raised rubbery grippy bits (technical phrase

). They don't slide around. We've dishwashed ours almost every day for what must be at least a year now, and they're in good nick still.

I can't really think of any negatives apart from the price and that there aren't more of them of different colours in the set. I personally prefer chopping on our 'Top Gourmet' series boards as I like them hard (

), but they're still used every day.

We use: green for veg, blue for fish, red for raw meat, yellow for cooked meat.

Disco Boy · 16 May 2011 at 16:47

Joseph Joseph chop2pot.

Stupot_ · 16 May 2011 at 16:49

Do people actually use different boards for different things...?

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 16:50

Robbie G said:
I personally prefer chopping on our 'Top Gourmet' series boards as I like them hard ()

Christ, those things?! I'm not sure I'd let my knives anywhere near them - they seem to be like the next worst thing to toughened glass chopping boards.

Are they actually any good then?

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 16:53

Disco Boy said:
Joseph Joseph chop2pot.

Nice idea but useless in practice. And too small.

Stupot_ said:
Do people actually use different boards for different things...?

Er, yes? Do you not have one board for raw meat/fish and one for everything else at the very least?

Disco Boy · 16 May 2011 at 16:55

glitch said:
Nice idea but useless in practice. And too small.

I have one, my girlfriend has one and my mum has one, we'd all beg to differ on the "useless" front.

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 16:57

Disco Boy said:
I have one, my girlfriend has one and my mum has one, we'd all beg to differ on the "useless" front.

They don't sit flat, they don't fold up properly and stuff gets caught in the grooves.

I say useless, but your mileage might vary.

Participant · 16 May 2011 at 17:03

glitch said:
Christ, those things?! I'm not sure I'd let my knives anywhere near them - they seem to be like the next worst thing to toughened glass chopping boards.

Are they actually any good then?

They're advertised as safe for knives, they're wood fibre so I'm not sure how much worse than actual wood they can possibly be. But then I didn't research it.

They're good in that they stay flat and come in large sizes. They don't seem to move around too much despite having no grips. That may be because of the large surface area in contact with the top though. I like chopping on them because the knife always seems to 'go through right to the bottom' if that makes sense.

glitch · 16 May 2011 at 17:44

Oh, maybe I'm thinking of something else then. I'll have to give them another look when I get the chance.

Glaucus · 16 May 2011 at 18:00

Any reason you want plastic and coloured? Are you going to be producing food for the public? Much prefer wood ones myself.

Raymond Lin · 16 May 2011 at 18:01

I have a wooden board for veg and cooked stuff, a plastic one for raw meat.

Love the wood one, it's like 2inches thick, weights a bit but so solid and nice to cut on. I know it's not moving at all.

tom_e · 16 May 2011 at 18:02

glitch said:
Er, yes? Do you not have one board for raw meat/fish and one for everything else at the very least?

Nope and neither does anyone else I know, I just do my veg or cooked stuff first then my raw stuff then wash it.