How do I clean chopping boards and utensils properly?

Keeping boards, knives and wooden utensils hygienic, and the separation that prevents cross-contamination.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 20 min
Read: 2 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Use separate boards for raw meat and for anything eaten uncooked, wash boards in hot soapy water immediately after use, and dry them standing up. Wooden boards should never be soaked or put in a dishwasher — oil them occasionally instead.

Chopping boards are where cross-contamination happens, and the fix is separation rather than any particular cleaning product. Beyond that, the main difference is between plastic boards, which can be washed hard, and wooden ones, which cannot.

Safety

Never prepare raw meat and ready-to-eat food on the same board without washing it thoroughly in between — this is one of the most common domestic food poisoning routes. Colour-coded boards make the separation automatic. Deep knife scores in a plastic board harbour bacteria; replace badly scored boards.

What you'll need

Separate boards
Washing-up liquid
Coarse salt
Food-safe mineral oil (optional)
Lemon (optional)

Step by step

Use at least two boards: one for raw meat and fish, one for everything else.Colour-coded boards remove the need to remember which is which.
Wash boards immediately after use in hot soapy water.Immediately. Dried-on food is harder to remove and gives bacteria longer.
Dry boards standing on edge rather than flat.Standing lets both faces dry. Flat traps moisture underneath, and wooden boards warp.
Put plastic boards in the dishwasher if they fit.The high temperature is genuinely useful for boards used with raw meat.
Never put a wooden board in the dishwasher or leave it soaking.It swells, cracks and eventually splits. Wash it quickly by hand and dry it immediately.
Refresh a wooden board with coarse salt and half a lemon.Scrub with the cut lemon, rinse, dry. It cleans and deodorises without soaking.
Oil wooden boards occasionally with food-safe mineral oil.It stops them drying out and cracking. Never use cooking oil, which goes rancid.
Replace boards that are deeply scored.Deep knife grooves hold food and bacteria that washing cannot reach.

Tips

Wooden boards are kinder to knife edges than plastic, and glass or stone boards destroy them within a few cuts.
Wash knives by hand and dry them immediately. Dishwasher detergent is abrasive and knives knock against everything else.
A damp cloth under any board stops it sliding, which is the most common cause of kitchen knife injuries.

Common mistakes

Using one board for raw meat and salad — One of the most common domestic food poisoning routes.
Soaking wooden boards or putting them in a dishwasher — They swell, warp and crack, often permanently.
Drying boards flat — Moisture is trapped underneath, which encourages bacteria and warps wood.

Questions people ask

Are wooden or plastic chopping boards more hygienic?

Both are acceptable when cleaned properly. Plastic can be dishwashed at high temperature, which is an advantage for raw meat. Wood is gentler on knives. The separation between raw and ready-to-eat matters far more than the material.

How do I get smells out of a wooden board?

Scrub with coarse salt and half a lemon, rinse and dry immediately. It deodorises without the soaking that damages wood.