A question about maple butcher blocks

Hi all, I received some Japanese knives as a present and they're made from carbon steel so I want to try and take care of them. I've read lots of people rave about maple but when looking at the type of maple used by John Boos and the Michigan Maple Block Co, I noticed they use hard maple which is pretty high (compared to, say, walnut) on the Janka Hardness Scale.
Can anyone give any advice?

Thanks!

 

Maple is fine, and is probably what the majority of wood boards owned by KKFers in the US have. End grain is definitely preferred over edge/ side grain. Here is some info (also another maker of nice boards): http://theboardsmith.com/boardsmith-faqs-2/

 

A good board oil, with beeswax, is essential to sanitation and survival of the board.

 

Maple makes for a great board. Walnut and Cherry are also popular choice and are good woods for cutting boards too.

Oils, conditioners and wax are more for aesthetics and moisture absorption to help prevent warping than anything and far from "essential". I used a board for 20yrs without problems before I ever heard of any benefits of oiling it. Wood is very resistant to bacterial growth on it's own with just normal cleaning with soap and water. Oiling and waxing on a regular basis does keep them looking better and make for easier clean-up of certain product.
My 20yr old board was looking pretty rough when I started to hear about oiling and waxing so I sanded it and oiled it up real nice and it looked new again.

I have a sister that had a nice cutting board until she put it in the dishwasher one to many times and it came out in three pieces. Dishwashers are definitely a no no.

 

My experience is that face grain board are more resistant to poor care, but end grain board are more sensitive because it is made of glued pieces. Dilatation can easily crack the joints.

 

end grain is how i rol (cherry and walnut in this house) sure would not push maple (out of bed as they say)
i oil mine heavy jsut due to max protection and once fully oiled all the way onlny a little is needed now and then (im no pro cheff tho and i bet a hair more maintain is needed in that lifestyle)
im getting into the hard use time for my boards due to canning and freezing garden goods

 

Good luck finding a health inspector that will let you use a wood board in a commercial kitchen...

I have a couple in the wedding registry. Until then I shop at the restaurant supply stores.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

when i was looking into this topic, i came across an article from a professor at UCDavis in calif. he'd done some serious research on the issue. i will search and see if i can't find it to share here.

 

that wasn't so hard, after all... here you go:

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/research/cuttingboard.htm

good luck