Butcher Block Rectangle Cutting Board (L) 332

Excellent hardwood board. Beautiful end grain design. I've used it multiple times and it still looks great. Practically a steal compared to other big name boards.

I just received this cutting board yesterday and have oiled it and used it once. It is everything I wanted and more. It's pretty great that ProTeak has discovered a great use for teak scraps so that their reduced cost is passed on to the consumer. I calculated how much it would cost me to build one out of new teak and found that this board, at only $114 was much less than I could build it for. There was one flaw that was patched but otherwise it is pretty much perfect for cutting up vegetables or cooked meats.Anyone with expensive cutlery probably already knows that a good wooden cutting board is necessary to get the most out of those knives and to protect them so that they last a long time. If you are one of those who know just how helpful a fine cutting board is for your cooking process, I highly recommend getting this board. End grain is the one professionals prefer due to the speed and control it affords. This one is heavy and stable due to it's full 2.5 inch thickness, but it has handles cut into the ends to make moving easier. There are no feet on the board so both sides are fully useable, but as most people know, wood cutting boards should not be soaked in water or set on a wet counter for any length of time or they will warp and/or split. Obviously, never let it near a dishwasher. Drying your counter and using a dry mat to keep the board from sliding around will not only make cutting, slicing, chopping, etc, more safe and stable, it will prevent water damage.If you want a cutting board you can put in the dishwasher, and is lightweight and convenient to use, I recommend avoiding wood and sticking with nylon/plastic cutting boards. Plastic boards have their place in the kitchen; I have a large plastic one to cut raw meat and smaller ones that can go in the dishwasher for quick-prep items. But if cutting and chopping vegetables is something you dread with your plastic cutting board, and you don't mind the hassles associated with caring for a wooden board, then get this beauty. I think you'll be impressed.Caveat: if you think the cutting board will look like just the picture, then think again. As with any real wood product, the grain varies between pieces so each product is unique. In addition, there is no effort made by the manufacturer to mirror the grains as they did with the one they show in the picture. To do that requires new pieces cut and matched and the board would cost twice as much. Even so, my board is still a work of art, even with totally random placement of the pieces.

As promised, I am updating this review after treating and using. I stand by my original words 100%. The original review is below, unchanged.Knowing that wood is extremely porous when cross-cut, and never having owned an end-grain board before, I did some research on care and handling. I bought a 12 oz. bottle of mineral oil and treated it every day until more oil was left pooled on the surface than was being absorbed into the wood. Let me tell you, this is THIRSTY wood. I used the whole bottle and I'm pretty sure 10 ounces of that stuff is IN the wood (as opposed to the buffing rag I used.) If you don't treat this, you'll be sorry. I've looked through the negative reviews for this board and others by the same company, and in many cases, its clear either from the wording itself, or by inference ("... I used it the day it arrived...") that the parties experiencing warping did not oil it. Those complaining of cracking have a legitimate complaint due to the poor shipping situations.Color - this board gets a lot darker after oiling. Still beautiful, but not the same color as the picture.I've used it to serve/carve roast lamb and turkey on three occasions so far and it has performed beautifully. Not a hint of warping after cleaning. Just give the board the oil it needs, clean it promptly after use, and DON'T PUT IT IN THE DISHWASHER. You'll be fully satisfied.What would change my 4 star review into a 5 star review? Two things.1- SHIPPING. The total absence of protective material in the box is not really acceptable. It needs some bubble wrap and a tighter fit.2- Including a "Quickstart Guide: How to care for your end-grain cutting board" might be a great move toward side-stepping those negative reviews.The board itself is easily a 5-star product. It's only the things that WEREN'T in the box that disappointed me.-------ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS-------"Beautiful Board on first pass, With shipping deficiencies"I ordered this board with great caution. I NEED a large scale board for carving on major holidays. Doing my research, this looked like the most appropriate product for what I needed but I was worried by the polarizing reviews. The positives are so glowing, and the negatives so damning, that it's almost as if two different products were being shipped. I couldn't find a board more suited to my needs so I decided to take the chance. This is my "First Look" review. It will be updated after treating and again after having used and cleaned it a few times.- The packaging. D- here. It really breaks my heart to see this kind of corner-cutting. The object was simply placed in a cardboard box with no padding. Just a coardboard runner along one end of the board that had become dislodged in transit. Not even a tight fit. (see picture). The box had several impact divots from the road and I could feel the board sliding around inside, I was almost panicky that it would be massively scratched up. Luckily, it came through unscathed, but the level of risk embraced here is unacceptable. WHY would you create such a work of art and then risk destroying with shoddy packaging?- The Product. Absolutely gorgeous. Due to some of the complaints here about warping and cracking, I wanted to get a good look at it the moment it arrived. It is flawless and beautiful. It is sanded so finely you can nearly see your reflection in it (exaggeration- for any who can't tell) and looks to be built to minute specifications. Not the slightest hint of warpage. No gaps in any glue seams. No divots, scratches or scrapes. It is simply beautiful in composition and workmanship.A quick note on the color.... Some reviewers have posted that their board looks markedly darker than the picture used in advertising, and their photographs bear this out. Mine looks pretty much the same as the ads. It doesn't have quite the "golden" glow, but really that is due to studio lighting. My attached photograph is under natural lighting: Next to 4' x 10' window on a cloudy day without any artificial lights.A small but non-trivial number of reviewers have been reporting warpage or cracking after usage. As stated at the beginning, I'll be watching this closely and updating the review after my big "Friendsgiving" feast in a couple weeks.

So this is the most amazing cutting board ever. But it cracked. So now it’s the two most amazing cutting boards ever, and I’ve learned my lesson.When I bought this, I was terrifically excited. Gorgeous egg grain teak, nicely finished, great durability. I used mineral oil fairly religiously, kept in a spray bottle under the sink, same as I use for soapstone counters, just more frequent. Kept it on my countertop all the time because it was so dang massive I didn’t know where else to put it. And that is the beginning of the drama, and of me learning a thing or two.Every few days, maybe once a week, I would find it had begun to warp, raising up in the middle. “Aha!” I would say to myself, “it’s drying out, I need to oil it more!” and so I would, and it would always thirstily soak up whatever I put on it. The drying cycle was much worse in the winter when the air is very dry here in New England — dry noses, skin, etc. my wife made fun of me for the amount of effort I put in, but I loved this cutting board for everything - meat cleaver, onions, herbs, chopping vegetables, it is a real gorgeous centerpiece and hugely functional if you have the counter space.Imagine my dismay when after 2 years, I got lazy and didn’t oil it for a few weeks and... one night I hear a tremendous CRACKing noise, come downstairs, and after searching for an hour finally find the cutting board has cracked. “Crapola!” I say to myself, “after all that effort!”So finally, I do my research. First I cut the thing into two pieces (luckily the crack was parallel to the short side). It wasn’t that I was oiling it too little, it’s that when I wiped it down I was letting it sit in a small amount of water. No wiping the counter afterwards would ever be enough. Any amount of water trapped underneath would leach in, and when it evaporated would cause the bowing. Enough bowing and it would naturally crack. Simple physics.So now I have two smaller boards which make for a lovely cheese serving tray and a gift for my son in law, and I’ve bought a new one. They don’t bow nearly as much, because I found the secret. Keep it on top of a folded kitchen towel, and pick it up to dry out once every few days! Oil it once every week or two. It drinks up so much less oil now that I keep it on a towel. You can’t beat understanding the physics. And if you doing understand the physics, they will beat you every time. It’s not the cutting board’s fault if it cracks, you (& I) are just not maintaining it right. If you want a cutting board to to be maintenance free & impervious, buy something made of petrochemicals or glass. This is wood. Treat it right, I’m confident it will last a lifetime. It broke and I still love it.

Exactly as pictured, this is a high quality butcher block with a gorgeous block pattern. This item is really great for more serious chefs that cook frequently, want something that's going to be easier on their chef's knife, and healthier than plastic. (Nobody wants microplastic in their food.) I haven't had any issues with this cutting board even after a year of ownership. To keep this board from drying out, make sure to apply food-grade mineral oil on occasion. In my opinion, this is a very good price for the size and thickness.