The Best Cutting Boards in Canada

There’s a multitude of cutting boards available today wherever you look – who knew that you could even get a glass cutting board, a marble cutting board or even a 3D cutting board? I’m sure there’s a lot of you out there that haven’t changed your cutting board in over 10 years. As weird as it counts, cutting boards have come pretty far since then – there are a lot more variety and various features that they all come with now. 

Still, just because there’s more variety doesn’t mean that it’s apparent what the best cutting board is. For example, the best cutting board material really depends on what you intend to do with your chopping board or how often you use it. It goes without saying that that’s different for everybody! 

Don’t worry though – you’re not alone on your search for the ultimate cutting board. Lucky for you, you won’t have to sift through a mountain of cutting board reviews to find your perfect one. We’ve drawn up a list of the top chopping boards here in this guide so you don’t have to wade through countless web pages. There are boards for all sorts of different preferences in this guide, so you’ll definitely be able to find the best cutting board available in Canada suited to your needs by the end of this guide. 

• Best professional cutting board: Madeira Edge-Grain Teak Jumbo Chop Block 
• Best cheap cutting board: IKEA LEGITIM 13 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ Cutting & Chopping Board  
• Best teak cutting board: Lipper International 7218 Teak Wood End Grain Kitchen Chopping Block 
• Best bamboo cutting board: Totally Bamboo Kauai Cutting Board 
• Best small cutting board: Ironwood Gourmet Bowery End Grain Cheese and Charcuterie Board  
• Best round cutting board: Ironwood Gourmet Round Paddle Board 
• Best polypropylene cutting board: OXO Good Grips Prep Cutting Board 
• Best flexible cutting board: Simply Genius (8 Piece) Extra Thick Cutting Boards for Kitchen Prep 

Here’s what to consider before you select a chopping board or move one off your list onto the chopping block.

• Durability – Whether you’re looking for large cutting boards or small cutting boards, you’re going to want one that lasts – you don’t want to have it last for only one wash cycle or have it come apart in your hands after a few uses. Some cutting boards are more prone to warping after washing (such as plastic mats), so you’ll want to look out for that. Hinged cutting boards are pretty likely to come apart at – you guessed it – the hinges after extended use. Cutting boards made of softer woods may be easier on your knives but they also accumulate damage and grooves more easily than cutting boards made of harder wood.
• Stability – If you don’t want to be folding a wet paper towel underneath your cutting board every time you need to cut something up, you’ll want to find a cutting board that won’t slip and slide while you’re hacking away. If you’re already bad with knives (like me), a cutting board that slips and slides everywhere definitely isn’t going to help you with your knife skills.
• Ease of cleaning – Some people don’t mind putting in a little work when it comes to cleaning their cutting boards. But you should know that not all cutting boards can be thrown into your dishwasher. If you know you’re lazy about washing your kitchenware, you should probably hold off on getting a fancy custom cutting board unless it happens to be dishwasher safe.

• Material – To sum up, a few widely used and preferred cutting board materials are maple, oak, bamboo and cherry woods; or plastic and paper composites, also called an Epicurean board. (Although some materials we suggest avoiding are glass, marble and granite. Those surfaces are hard and can make your knives dull quickly.) Wooden boards made from dense types of woods are durable, long-lasting and gentle on knives. Yet, they require more precise care than plastic boards: you cannot throw them into a dishwasher because high heat and detergent might split the wood. Instead, you can quickly wash it with dish soap, pat it with a towel and let air dry.

To say more about wood boards, they come in two types, edge-grain and end-grain. End-grain cutting boards are made by attaching pieces of wood in a cross-section manner. They are usually a few inches thick, more expensive, yet resilient. One thing to keep in mind about end-grain boards is they are more susceptible to moisture if not properly cared for: if you leave the board wet, the seams can come apart over time which creates tiny chasms that can harbour bacteria. As for edge-grain boards, it is a more common type where wood has been cut with the grain- the top of the board shows long wood fibres. They are more affordable than end-grain boards, yet because the long wood board fibres do not provide much give the boards are tougher on knives.  

Meanwhile, plastic cutting boards are affordable, easy to clean by putting them into a dishwasher machine, yet they are known to have a shorter life span than wooden boards. Besides that, plastic boards tend to keep every single cut (while wooden boards have the ability to ‘heal’ themselves with their fibres bouncing back from a knife’s edge). The last type, Epicurean paper composite made boards are a great substitute for wooden boards. You do not have to oil them; they can be washed in a dishwashing machine and they come at an affordable price. Although paper composite boards might be a bit tough on your knives, they can be a great option if you want a durable, good-looking board without spending much and with no necessity to take extra care of it.   

• Size – You can choose from a variety of forms and sizes when it comes to cutting boards, yet rectangular ones are the most convenient and practical choices. The standard rectangular board size is 12-by-18 inches. However, if you are looking for something larger to have on your counter there are 15-by-20 inches and 24-by-36 inches sizes available too. The typical thickness of kitchen boards is between half an inch to an inch, although some professional boards come in thickness close to two inches. In fact, end grain wooden boards are usually as thick as two inches. Hence, when you pick a board for your kitchen consider the size of your counter space and particular cooking needs. (Many people prefer having a large cutting board on their countertops that they find convenient for chopping a few ingredients at the same time.)  

• Wooden boards will keep their proper shape longer if they are thoroughly washed with dish soap and warm water right after use. Make sure to towel dry the board after washing and leave standing vertically to air dry. Never put a wooden board into a dishwasher for it will be the dramatic end of it.   
• Use a mix of beeswax and food-safe mineral oil to polish wooden boards which will protect against stains and odours and will prevent splitting.  
• Finally, the best way to store wooden boards is to leave them standing vertically on the edge. That will allow air circulation and will prevent warping. However, if you have a large wooden board that you decide to leave laying on the countertop then make sure the surface underneath the board is completely dry.   

There’s an enormous amount of cutting boards out there – comparing them all is more than enough to make your head spin. We’ve spent over 10 hours reviewing the top cutting boards available in Canada and comparing their features. We’ve taken into account verified customer reviews, as well as information from trusted sites and sources such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and food safety experts. The review process for this article was data-backed and fact-checked and also includes personal views.  

For this buying guide, we wanted the boards to be affordable for a wide range of people, so we paid special mind to the budget and tried to keep most boards under $50. We also only took into account cutting boards with a rating of at least four stars or higher.   

What makes a good cutting board depends on what every individual is looking for, so we tried to cater to as many people as possible – we tried to cover a large range of needs such as minimal maintenance, environmental consciousness, durability and aesthetically pleasing appearance. 

What is the best wood for cutting boards?  

When it comes to selecting a cutting board, considering the type of wood it’s made out of is definitely important. A guide by Misen suggests choosing hardwood cutting boards since they’re more dense – thicker boards are less likely to split as well as less likely to absorb moisture and warp. 

However, you don’t necessarily want to pick the hardest wood that you can find. There are drawbacks for wood that’s either too soft or too hard. Wood that’s too soft will be more easily damaged and will accumulate grooves that bacteria can grow in. On the other hand, a cutting board made out of wood that’s too hard will probably dull and possibly even damage your knife with repeated use. 

If you’re wondering how you can tell if a wood is too hard or too soft, it’s actually pretty simple. The Janka hardness test denotes the relative hardness of wood – wood with a hardness rating between 900-1500 is most suitable for cutting boards (examples of appropriate include cherry or maple). In contrast, a larch wood cutting board would only have a hardness of around 830 and may not be the best cutting board due to it probably being more easily damaged. 

What is the best cutting board size?  

That depends on a number of things, such as how much space you have on your countertop for your cutting board as well as what you’ll be using your cutting board for. There’s no sense in having a huge cutting board if all you’re going to do is chop some onions or garlic here and there. According to the Michelin Guide, however, 12 x 18 inches is a reasonable and standard size for a chopping board.  

Should I use a wood or plastic cutting board?  

The answer might not be as clear or as straight forward as you think. According to an article by the NC State University, a plastic cutting board is easier to sanitize than a wooden cutting board. However, plastic cutting boards harbour more grooves than wooden cutting boards do after you use a knife on them. Generally, more grooves mean more places for bacteria to linger and grow. Ben Chapman, food safety research expert from NC State, recommends that you use plastic cutting boards for meat and a wooden cutting board for fruits, vegetables and other foods that you can consume without any preparation. 

How to clean a cutting board? 

The US Department of Agriculture recommends that you clean all types of cutting boards with hot, soapy water, rinse with clear water and either air dry or pat dry with paper towels after each use. Certain types of cutting boards (such as a solid wood cutting board, plastic cutting board or non-porous acrylic cutting board) can be washed in a dishwasher. 

How to avoid harmful bacteria on cutting boards? 

You can sanitize both wooden and plastic cutting boards via adding 1 tablespoon of liquid, chlorine bleach per gallon (3.79 L) of water and covering the surfaces of your board with this solution for several minutes. Afterwards, you should rinse your board thoroughly with clear water and either air dry your cutting board or pat it dry with paper towels. 

As a more preventative measure, the US Department of Agriculture suggests using a bamboo board since they’re harder less porous than hardwood boards. They also resist scarring from knives, meaning that they’ll have fewer grooves for bacteria to accumulate and grow in. 

The US Department of Agriculture also recommends that you replace your cutting boards once they’re very worn or have several grooves that are difficult to clean to help avoid contaminating your food with bacteria that grow in such grooves.  

Acacia vs Teak Cutting Board: Which one is the best? 

It really comes down to your preferences. According to Teak Patio Furniture World, teak has natural oils that protect it from rotting while acacia wood does not. Thus, acacia might need more regular maintenance than teak wood cutting boards. However, acacia wood generally tends to be cheaper than teak wood so the difference in cost might make it worth choosing acacia wood boards over teak wood boards. If you’re looking for a board with a long lifespan requiring minimal maintenance, a teak wood cutting board may be more appropriate. 

John Boos Reversible Cutting Board (Maple with juice groove)

A John Boos cutting board is definitely a bit more of an investment in comparison to a lot of the other cutting boards we’ve listed in this guide. It’s listed for a whopping of more than $100 on Amazon. If you can get past the sticker shock, there’s a number of things to consider about this board that might make it worth the price.  

For one, this is an edge grain cutting board – edge grain cutting boards are typically more durable than end grain cutting boards, but they also happen to dull your knives faster too. It also happens to be reversible – you can flip your board over during prep work and use each side to cut different ingredients.  One side even comes with a juice groove to help keep your countertop clean or for easy collection of meat juices to use in gravy.  

However, this board requires a lot of maintenance in comparison to many of the boards in this guide. The manufacturer recommends applying oil and cream regularly as well as only hand washing the board. In summary, if you hate sharpening knives or if you don’t want to do a lot of maintenance, you might want to choose a different cutting board. 

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Virginia Boys Large Walnut Wood Cutting Board

A Virginia Boys cutting board is pretty up there in price for a 17” x 11” rectangular chopping board. It’s a multi-purpose board – it can be used for food prep as well as being a serving board for charcuterie or sushi. 

Something unique about this board is that it’s been kiln dried before being polished and sanded in order to take excess moisture out – excess moisture in a board makes it more prone to warping or splitting. 

If you’re protective of your knives, you’ll be happy to know that walnut wood boards are relatively soft and easier on your knives than other hardwood boards.  

As with most other pricy boards, some maintenance (oiling or waxing) is needed to keep this board in peak condition. You’ll also need to handwash this board, so if you’re a fan of just throwing things into a dishwasher, this probably isn’t the board for you. 

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Ziruma Large Handmade Teak and Purple Heart Wood Cutting Board Hardwood Chopping Block and Cheese Serving Tray

Cutting boards don’t necessarily need to be brown and boring – this Ziruma handmade teak wood board has a purple heart (otherwise known as amaranth) wood accent running along its centre. You don’t have to sacrifice aesthetics for durability though – amaranth is a very hard and durable wood, with a Janka hardness rating of 2713. And as we’ve mentioned before, teak wood is a great choice for cutting boards due to its natural water-resistant properties. While it’s a bit pricier than the other boards we’ve looked at, the price might be worth it for its unique aesthetic appeal, as well as its ability to be used as a serving tray, cutting board and decorative piece all in one.  

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