Which wood for a cutting board: oak, walnut or ash?
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In short
There is no single best wood: there is a wood for each use.
- Oak, for the everyday board. Dense, hard and highly resistant to decay, it takes daily cutting in its stride and ages well.
- Walnut, for the board that goes from kitchen to table. It is the softest of the three, so the kindest to your knife edges, and its chocolate colour is natural.
- Heat-treated ash, for aperitifs, cheese and light cutting. Heat has turned it brown right through and made it more stable against moisture.
What really matters in a cutting board wood
Hardness. A board should be hard enough not to mark at the first cut, but not so hard that it dulls the blade. It is measured with the Janka test: the force needed to push a steel ball halfway into the wood. The higher the figure, the harder the wood.
Grain. Some woods have large, visible pores, others a tighter grain. Open pores simply call for careful drying and regular oiling.
Stability. A board constantly goes from dry to wet. The more stable the wood, the less it warps.
Looks. A board often stays out on the worktop or comes to the table: its colour matters as much as its strength.
The comparison
| Oak | American walnut | Heat-treated ash | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janka hardness | 4,980 N | 4,490 N | 6,580 N (European ash, before treatment) |
| Colour | Blond, pronounced grain | Chocolate brown, wavy grain | Deep brown right through |
| Grain | Large, visible pores | Finer grain | Large pores, pronounced grain |
| On knife edges | Firm | The gentlest of the three | Firm |
| Best for | Everyday cutting, large board | Cutting and serving, the board you show off | Aperitifs, cheese, light cutting |
Hardness values: The Wood Database (English oak, black walnut, European ash).
Oak: the everyday board
Oak is the great classic of cutting boards. Dense and hard, it stands up to years of daily cutting. It also resists decay very well, a valuable quality for an object washed every day: it is the wood of wine barrels and, for a long time, of boats.
Two things are worth knowing:
- Its pores are large. Waxed or oiled, oak poses no problem, as long as you let it dry standing up after each wash so that water does not sit on it. The first washes also raise its fibres: the surface becomes slightly rough, then smooths out with use.
- It reacts with iron. Rich in tannins, oak can darken in contact with wet iron. Avoid leaving a carbon-steel blade or a wet iron object to dry on it; your stainless-steel knives are perfectly safe.
Our oak boards:
- the compact 25 × 18 cm board, for small cutting jobs and breakfast;
- the large 40 × 30 cm board, with a juice groove and chamfered edges: the everyday size;
- the thick 45 × 30 × 3 cm board, with two handles carved into the wood, for roasts and big tables.
Walnut: the board you bring to the table
American walnut is a cabinetmaker's wood, prized for its chocolate-brown colour, which comes from the wood itself and not from a stain. Its grain is finer than that of oak or ash, and it is known for its stability and shock resistance.
It is also the softest of the three: 4,490 N, against 4,980 N for oak. That makes it a little kinder to your knife edges. In return, it marks slightly more easily, but its dark tone hides the traces well.
It is the board you set in the middle of the table to carve a duck breast or a roast chicken in front of your guests. Our 31 × 20 cm walnut board has a groove around the edge that catches the juices.
Heat-treated ash: the contemporary brown
In its natural state, ash is a pale, hard, shock-resistant wood: it is used for tool handles and baseball bats.
Heat treatment changes its character. Heated to between 160 and 230 °C under steam for two to four days, ash turns brown right through, absorbs less moisture and becomes more stable. A scratch stays brown, where a stained wood would show the pale wood underneath.
The treatment has a trade-off: it reduces the wood's bending strength, by up to 30% depending on the process. Nothing that matters for cutting cheese, bread or fruit, but heat-treated ash is best kept for light cutting and serving rather than heavy chopping.
Our 25 × 18 cm heat-treated ash board is made for aperitifs and cheese boards; the same wood is used for our 20 × 10 cm serving tray.
What about size?
Wood is not everything. For cooking, go big: a 40 × 30 cm board leaves room to chop on one side and keep what is cut on the other. For serving and quick jobs, a 25 × 18 cm board can be put away with one hand. A juice groove becomes useful as soon as you carve roasts or slice tomatoes or citrus fruit. Finally, a thick board stays steadier under the blade and resists warping better.
The pair that covers almost everything: a large oak board for cooking, a small walnut or ash one for serving.
The same care for all three woods
- Wash by hand in warm soapy water, never in the dishwasher and never soaked.
- Wipe dry straight away, then let it dry standing up, away from hobs and sunlight.
- About once a month, or as soon as the wood looks dull, apply a thin coat of food-grade paraffin oil or wood-care oil for kitchen boards. Avoid cooking oils such as olive or sunflower oil, which turn rancid.
All the details are in our 5 care tips; and if your board warps, see how to straighten a warped board.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use one board for raw meat and another for everything else?
It is recommended. The US Department of Agriculture advises one board for fruit, vegetables and bread, and another for raw meat, poultry and fish, so that food that will not be cooked does not get contaminated.
When should a board be replaced?
When it is scored with deep grooves that are hard to clean. Well looked after, a solid wood board lasts for years, and light sanding followed by oiling removes surface marks.
Why is my oak board rough after the first washes?
Water raises the wood fibres. This is normal: the surface smooths out with use, and oiling helps restore a soft feel.
Is walnut strong enough for cooking?
Yes. It is a little softer than oak, but remains a hard, stable and shock-resistant wood. It simply marks a little more easily, which its colour conceals.
Sources: The Wood Database (English oak, black walnut, European ash); Wikipedia, "Thermally modified wood"; US Department of Agriculture, recommendations relayed by the University of California.
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