Warning: cheap endgrain cutting boards from that Etsy shop in Lancaster? Yeah, don't.

I dropped $65 on a "handmade" endgrain cutting board from some shop in Lancaster, PA and it split right down the middle after 3 weeks. The grain was pretty but they clearly didn't seal the end grain properly. I'm back to using my old maple edge grain board from Home Depot that cost me $30. Has anyone had better luck with a specific oil or brand for endgrain boards?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant.richard1mo ago

...and the thing nobody talks about is how much the humidity in your kitchen matters for endgrain boards. I keep mine in the basement when not using it because our kitchen gets steamy as hell from cooking, and even good boards will cup or crack if they're sitting in a damp spot all day. Did you check where you stored it? Because that split pattern you're describing sounds like it dried out too fast on one side while the other side stayed wet. My walnut board from a local guy started doing that until I moved it away from the dishwasher vent...

barbarahill1mo ago

That humidity point is actually really interesting because I never even considered that my cutting board was basically living next to a steam source. The crack was exactly down the middle like someone took a knife to it, so maybe it was drying from one side while staying damp on the other. Do you think moving it to a dry spot would have actually prevented the split if the oil wasn't applied right to begin with? I feel like proper sealing should protect against some humidity swings, but maybe I'm just asking too much from a cheap board.