ask ducksouth

[southernr]

we just bought a house and there is an old vanity that was left after the previous owners remodeled. i was thinking about putting a top on it to keep outside on our covered porch to help prepare food for the grill and keep charcoal and other accessories in. i was thinking about trying to find a wood cutting board to put as the top but not sure how that would hold up outside (staying clean) or where to find one. do ya'll have any suggestions? i don't need anything fancy just something that will hold up to a knife. thanks

[DeltaCotton12]

if you can, i would spend the extra $ and get a stainless steel cutting board. This will be much easier to clean and hold up to the elements better.

[DeltaCotton12]

and probably safer due to woods ability to absorb liquid and retain debris while stainless wont do that..

[waterfowlwidowmaker]

Do a concrete top. Looks good and holds up well.

[southernr]

delta where can i find a stainless steel cutting board?


how do you do the concrete top? and wouldn't that be a little hard on a knife? the vanity is only like 18"x 24" or so.

[rciii]

See if you can find a scrap piece of granite at a dealers. might be able to score a nice piece of rock that would hold up

[MudHog]

A wood block is the best as it's easiest on knife blades. Stainless steel or any hard surface will dull a manual knife or electric knife. Yes, you may think it's "cleaner" to have stainless, but wooden chopping blocks and cutting boards have been around for the longest of time and are some of the best.


Teflon is an excellent choice for cutting boards too.

[farmerc83]

All of the materials mentioned would kill your knives. If you're serious about using it as a cutting surface, I'd find a large composite cutting board and cut it to size. They come in all different colors too. But, if you aren't really goin to use the cutting block for cutting, stainless or concrete would be great.

[MudHog]

All of the materials mentioned would kill your knives. If you're serious about using it as a cutting surface, I'd find a large composite cutting board and cut it to size. They come in all different colors too. But, if you aren't really goin to use the cutting block for cutting, stainless or concrete would be great.

how will wood kill a knife? Composite cutting boards are wood fibers bound in glue with an epoxy coating over the whole thing. This coating can be harder than wood, thus dulling the knife. Plain wood will allow the knife to cut into it, which will prevent the edge from rolling over, or dulling the knife.

[farmerc83]

All of the materials mentioned would kill your knives. If you're serious about using it as a cutting surface, I'd find a large composite cutting board and cut it to size. They come in all different colors too. But, if you aren't really goin to use the cutting block for cutting, stainless or concrete would be great.

how will wood kill a knife? Composite cutting boards are wood fibers bound in glue with an epoxy coating over the whole thing. This coating can be harder than wood, thus dulling the knife. Plain wood will allow the knife to cut into it, which will prevent the edge from rolling over, or dulling the knife.

Of course you are right on the wood, I said all but was only thinking about the stainless and conctrete. Duh...my bad. Wood is better on blades than anything, just may not weather the best.

[deltadukman]

My professional outdoor chef's opinion, I would worry about the countertop first, and then how to attach a removable cutting board. I would not choose wood, harder to keep clean. I would do the concrete thing and then maybe have four studs on the corner to attach a wood or teflon cutting service. But I am thinking mine would be a cleaning table for fish and other things....im not worried about stainless or concrete messing up my filet knives....when will you actually be chopping down with a filet knife? If you need to cut up fruit, go to the kitchen.

[farmerc83]

My professional outdoor chef's opinion....If you need to cut up fruit, go to the kitchen.

I find so many parts of this humorous.

[JaMak84]

Anything harder than the knife blade is going to dull the knife, so you're left with wood or plastic. Of those two, plastic is the most sanitary and wood is the least sanitary of all the options. I know its not the glamorous choice, but plastic is the best material for a cutting board.

[DeltaCotton12]

sharpening a knife isnt the end of the world. we sharpen most knives before we use them for cutting. its just part of the process..

[sondance]

Starboard would work good. It's used in marine applications.