4d ago

The Best Food-Safe Finish May Be None At All - Fine Woodworking Article

www.finewoodworking.com

The Best Food-Safe Finish May Be None at All - FineWoodworking

Conventional wisdom regarding finishing cutting boards and other food prep surfaces is to coat them heavily with mineral oil and/or a food safe paste wax to "seal" and/or "condition" them. Seri Robinson asserts otherwise, her research has shown that any finish applied to wood decreases its natural anti-microbial properties.

34 comments

Paywalled.
Here's an archive.

But then the wood cracks and starts to fall apart? Or perhaps this only happens with glued projects?
- There are a lot of questions I have.
  I found a more scholarly article credited to several authors including Robinson which specifically focuses on wood's absorption of microbes depending on the finish applied, testing no finish, mineral oil, and raw linseed oil, and different amounts of applications thereof.
  This study mentions the end grain structure of the four wood species tested. The test samples were "4.5 x 4.5 x 2 cm with the tangential face on the broad side." Dafuq does "tangential" mean in this context? As far as I can tell the science hippy bullshit boils down to "we put bacteria on the wood, and then we looked to see if we could find any bacteria on the wood after 0, 1 and 24 hours."
  Both the study and the article assume relying on wood's "natural anti-microbial properties" and only rinsing with cold water. I've been oiling my cutting boards and briefly washing them with warm water and soap. Who cares if bacteria is still on the surface if I wash the damn thing with Dawn?
  "Cross-contamination is a myth, but if you're gonna cook meat but not veggies cut the veggies first." What?
  Does "tangential" mean plain sawn, quarter sawn or end grain? The FineWoodworking article shows pictures of a simple plank showing plain sawn/cathedral grain. The article says the wood species tested were chosen for their differing end grain structures. But then the article talks about avoiding glued-up boards because the glue is a problem for the wicking action.
  "Conditioning is a myth {...} conflicting grain orientations can also lead to cracking and warping after repeated wet/dry cycles."
  Seri Robinson is a Ph.D. of woodology and I'm just some guy with a table saw, but...I'm not sure the science is done here.
  
  Tangential on the broad face would mean it’s flat sawn (plain sawn). Like how woodworkers care about tangential vs radial shrinkage of wood species.
- The article discusses glue joints. Did you make it through the whole article?
  
  Hey hey watch your blood pressure. I'm sure he didn't mean it.
- Wood is naturally porous, which allows bacteria and microorganisms places to live and grow. It's extremely difficult to clean out porous surfaces which is why coating is preferred.
  I'll be upfront and say I'm no scientist, but working with food for a large portion of my life has shown me that wood utensils and unfinished wood products are less safe due to the bacterial growth issues. The alternative is using plastic... Pick your poison?
  I have used bamboo for a cutting board and although it is neat, I am hesitant to use it due to the bamboo splitting (probably my bad).
  Edit: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/cutting-boards
  Bamboo boards are best according to usda, followed by SOLID wood boards.
  
  Ftfa: Unfinished wood is naturally antimicrobial. In fact, when rinsed and dried properly between uses, it is self-cleaning. Wood finishes only serve to undermine this amazing property of wood.
  
  The alternative is using plastic…
  ugh, no thanks. plastics for food is one of the most vile inventions of humankind. food starts to "sweat", and it gets gross; it starts to smell really fast and bacteria and fungi grow on the food. especially if you put food in the fridge in a plastics box.
  
  Bamboo cutting boards are almost as bad as glass for dulling your knives.

Who found this out? The CIA? Seems clear to me.

So wood absorbs the microbes where they eventually suffocate and die, according to this article. But is there then a buildup of dead microbes (and their waste products)?
- Dehydrate and die is more accurate
  We live in a sea of dead and alive microbes, it's fine. Cooking food kills them and we consume them with every meal
  
  I'm not so much concerned as interested, in this person's proposed model, what happens to this accumulated detritus. Maybe it's just that it's negligible. But it must accumulate
- Microbes are usually totally fine. You are full of them, the world is full of them. Don't panic.
  
  Not panicked at all. Just exploring an element of this person's proposal

TIL thanks
i used food-safe oils in the past such as sunflower oil, especially for outdoor objects. for indoor-objects, i sometimes leave them without oil, but it does get more stains over time.
- Just about everyone including the article above warns against most natural plant oils because they can go rancid.

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