Food Grade Finish

[ILTexAg]

Howdy,
I have just finished putting together a cutting board that has some inlays I turned. It is made out of Mesquite and Pecan. Even though the cutting board isn't a turning project, I turned to this forum because I felt sure that folks who have turned salad bowls and other food dishes would be able to advise on a nice finish for this cutting board. I've got some food grade mineral oil I might try. But what I'd really like is something that will highlight the grain and colorarion of the wood a lttle more and something that will also provide those inlays a little protection against knives and whatnot. Anyone got any advice?
Thanks ILTexAg

 

[MichaelMouse]

Mineral oil is not a food, it's a laxative. It's also not a finish, because it will be washed away with the detergent you use when cleaning your board. Which is good, because bacteria find a good home in mineral oil. Lipid friendly environment.

What's "safe?" Pretty much anything. See http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/21cfrv3_03.html for some information.

What's good? Nothing. Leave it alone and get the surface clean with detergent and water. Make one board for things to be cooked and one for things to be consumed without cooking, and don't mix.

 

[woodwish]

I would put a nice oil finish on it, hang on the wall in kitchen where everyone can admire it, and buy one of those nifty plastic anti-bacterial cutting boards to use. At least that is what I did when I made a nice cutting board a few years ago.

 

[Martin Braun]

If memory serves, they outlawed wooden utility items in commercial establishments and forced everybody to go to plastic. Then later it was found that the plastic allowed microbes to setup their biofilms in the surface, and that the natural defenses in some woods caused wood to be more resistant to this than plastic. I guess that's what led them to develop anti-bacterial plastics. The thing with most plastic, is it always has some plasticizer in it. These chemicals are generally carcinogens, but used in small amounts, and it's assumed they will be either chemically bonded or trapped in the polymer matrix. So the way I look at it, there's always a tradeoff.

I've had good luck with heat treated walnut oil. It seems to seal up the pores pretty well, so food oils, fats, etc. only get so far and can be scrubbed out. We tried not treating the wood with a birch bowl from the Alaskan bowl company, but the cream based salad dressings seemed to leave a residual that would go rancid. So I sanded it down to fresh wood & treated with the walnut oil & let it cure for a month or two. Since then it has been fine. I use it on my other kitchen utility items with success. Here again, there's a potential downside because some people are allergic to walnuts/walnut oil.

 

[ILTexAg]

Thanks

Thanks All,
I Have seen some sites saying that I can use Raw Tung Oil.

http://www.woodfinishsupply.com/butcherblock.html

Any thoguhts?


I have Raw Tung Oil...but from what I'm gathering from y'all it seems like "Finishing," a cutting board is a misnomer. Seems like my best bet, if I'm not going to turn this one into a lazy Susan, is to keep on applying coats of some natural oil and sanding this bad boy down whenever it needs it.

Thanks y'all.
IlTexAg

 

[George Van Beynen]

Michael is right about the mineral oil and I would be very careful about using the plastic cutting boards also, it seems these both provide a good environment for bacteria, plain unfinished wood does not acording to the University Of WI. [font=&quot]http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF11/1121B.html [/font]

 

[John Nicholas]

food Safe Finish

Here is one from UC Davis.

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

Don't give up on the cutting board. Enclose a note with your gift include some Dos and Don'ts for care of your wooden utensil. Talk about finish. I usually pop the grain with a semi-curing oil, knowing that it will be washed off at the first washing. Sometimes I do the washing. The grain stays popped on my daughters and my wifes boards.

Include a suggestion that the cutting board be used with the inlay side down. Saves the inlay. Then display with the inlay side up. Keeps the cuts and slices hidden. A craft guy selling boards here at a craft show recommended that to my wife. I like the idea.

John

 

[John Van Domelen]

I use mineral oil on my cutting boards.

I read the same regarding the plastic - still use a couple of them but they get 'sterilized' in the dishwasher - I run the thing hot, a notch down from 'nuclear holocaust'.

 

[Russ Fairfield]

My observations on salad bowls is that there are three (3) answers to your question about "food grade" finishes.

The first is that any commercial finishing product you can put on a piece of wood is safe to eat after ALL of the solvents have evaporated. It is the solvents that are the problem, not the finish. All finishes are inert in and of themselves, and will either dissolve (shellac) in the digestive track, or pass throught like an intert piece of plastic.

A film finish that can chip off the surface of the wood may be inert, but flakes of lacquer or varnish that can get stuck between our teeth can ruin a good salad.

The second is that the only safe finish is NO FINISH, and that the wood should be left bare. That can raise the question of the toxicity of the wood itself, and there are some wood that are and some species that aren't.

Then there are those people who are so worried about "food safety" that there is no satisfactory answer.

With one exception, the vast majority of people never ask the question. Those that do ask are usually in the third group, and for them, there is no answer.

The one exception? Nobody wants a bowl that smells like paint. Going back to the first answer, if it has an odor, the solvents and thinners haven't evaporated yet. Never use or sell a stinky bowl.

 

[waltben]

But if someone uses it . .

One thing no one's addressed is that all finishes are little more than films over the top of the wood (some penetrate, but never very far in really hard woods). Once you actually cut something on that cutting board or scrape the sides of a salad bowl while tossing, you will most likely cut through that film (or scrape through) eventually. That's what old time butchers with real butcher blocks had problems with - they were actually driving microscopic pieces of meat into the blocks with their cleavers. If the blocks ever got warm for a while they would seriously stink.

Walnut, tung or salad bowl oil for bowls and serving platters seals the pores and allows them to be cleaned and reused. Don't think I'd bet the bank on a sharp knife not getting through any finish though.

 

[Mr. Don]

Salad bowl finish

Well... you might try my family recipe...we turn a bowl or make a cutting board, soak them in a 5 gallon bucket of oil (I prefer 90wt gear oil over 30wt motor oil, gets the wood darker) overnite, then drip drain and sear it with a torch....adds character and color!!!! (not to mention the plumes of black smoke). Then a gooey layer of paste car wax, rubbed in with a burlap sack. ME NUTS???? NAW!!!

 

[Mark Mandell]

Well... you might try my family recipe...we turn a bowl or make a cutting board, soak them in a 5 gallon bucket of oil (I prefer 90wt gear oil over 30wt motor oil, gets the wood darker) overnite, then drip drain and sear it with a torch....adds character and color!!!! (not to mention the plumes of black smoke). Then a gooey layer of paste car wax, rubbed in with a burlap sack. ME NUTS???? NAW!!!

That would be used gear oil, right? The good stuff with the white lead and sawdust already mixed in is getting pretty hard to find.

 

[Martin Braun]

Walnut, tung or salad bowl oil for bowls and serving platters seals the pores and allows them to be cleaned and reused. Don't think I'd bet the bank on a sharp knife not getting through any finish though.

I always thought the same, but on my mesquite bowls when I apply the walnut oil on the inside, in a few minutes I can see it coming through the pores on the outside. This happens with bowls 3/8" thick and better. So depending on the wood, it may go pretty far beneath the surface. For cutting boards, it's probably a different story since the oil migrates much slower against the side grain.

 

[MichaelMouse]

One thing no one's addressed is that all finishes are little more than films over the top of the wood (some penetrate, but never very far in really hard woods). Once you actually cut something on that cutting board or scrape the sides of a salad bowl while tossing, you will most likely cut through that film (or scrape through) eventually. That's what old time butchers with real butcher blocks had problems with - they were actually driving microscopic pieces of meat into the blocks with their cleavers. If the blocks ever got warm for a while they would seriously stink.

Which is why the blocks were salted and scraped. The final "finish" was tallow or lard, which would flow a bit, rather than the threads of actual meat.

As you can see Aggie, this is a woodturners' group, so they come up with something which does not match your situation exactly, because a salad bowl, like the butcher's block of old, is continually re-oiled with the flavor of the day, only a few of which actually cure to a film. It's also continually sterilized (in my case, has a card to go with) by rubbing it out with vinegar. Utensils, hopefully of wood (I also sell them) don't do much more than dent here and there, so a surface finish will still protect from too much oil pickup at its roots.

You'll be cutting through most all the cured portion of any finish, or uncured treatment if you use mineral oil. I'd go with the butcher's wipe and scrape when it gets too fuzzy or hacked looking. Matter of fact, I do!

 

[john lucas]

I use one every day. I put walnut oil on it to give it some color. After a year or so I put some mineral oil on it but for the last 4 or 5 years it's just been used, cleaned and put up to dry. I don't chop on this one but have cut up many a slice of meat on it. I'm still here and seldom get sick so I guess something is working.
I have to agree with Russ. If you have to explain to someone about food safe finishes you've probably already lost a sale because they won't be satisfied. I've started saying simply "yes" without getting into the explanation. That works fine for the people who simply want confirmation and the other group will pry into what you use and not buy anyway.