Tips for washing a wooden chopping board

Meat and poultry-borne micro-organisms that linger on dirty chopping bards — salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter — can make you sick. But when you properly clean your chopping board, which is a quick, simple task, you can kill 99.9 per cent of the bad stuff and continue eating what you like without fear.

• It's best not to use a dishwasher because the dishwashing process may warp or loosen the glue that holds together laminated wood.
• You're better off using a scrubbing brush to scrub the board by hand with dishwashing liquid in hot water each time you use it. The soap helps lift the meat debris that may harbour the pathogens, and the scrubbing action ruptures the cells of the micro-organisms.
• Done thoroughly, hand scrubbing is as effective as machine washing.

• A good thing to do occasionally is to mix 5 ml (1 tsp) of bleach in 1 litre (1 quart) of water and apply it directly to the chopping surface with a scrubbing brush.
• Do not rinse. Instead, let the board air dry to give the bleach a chance to do its thing.
• If you need the board sooner than that, let it stand for at least one minute, and then pat it dry with a clean paper towel.

• Season it when you first bring it home and regularly thereafter. To season a butcher block, warm a little medical-quality paraffin oil in a double saucepan on the stove. Don't let it get hot — warm will penetrate the wood nicely.
• Using a soft cloth dabbed into the oil, rub in the direction of the grain.
• Let the oil soak in for four to five hours, then wipe off any excess using a soft, dry cloth.
• Repeat the process.
• Seasoning your butcher block once a month sets the stage for a clean, sanitary work surface.

• Don't ever use any household chemical cleaners. They could be harmful and, at the least, the residue will be distasteful on food.
• All you need to keep surfaces sanitary is 7 ml (1/2 tbsp) of chlorine household bleach mixed with 2 litres (2 quarts) of water in a bucket.
• Dip a small scrubbing brush in the chlorine water and scrub in hand-sized circles, taking care not to saturate the wood.
• When wood absorbs water, it swells. Then, when it dries out, the wood cracks, making a convenient trap for everything you don't want — food, grime and germs.
• So brush the butcher block clean and quickly wipe away water with a dish towel.

• Mix just enough salt into lemon juice to make a paste.
• Rub it, with a sponge or cleaning cloth, hard enough onto the wood to free those stuck-on or wedged-in food particles.
• Then rinse out the cloth or sponge and wipe the butcher block clean.
• The result won't be as germ-free as cleaning with bleach, but it's a good alternative.