Chopping board DIY
I love a wooden chopping boards and have a nice collection in my kitchen. Olive wood boards, odd shaped old boards, modern boards with a rubber trim and many more but I never made my own board while it's so simple.
All you need is a bit of solid wood and some oil, that's it! It is that easy! Crazy we spend so much money in the shops on wooden chopping boards while you can whip up an original one yourself in a hours time. I used a piece of pine furniture board I had left over after making cupboard doors under my stairs. Pine makes for great chopping boards but you can use any other solid wood you have lying around, don't use plywood, MDF or any other particle board you want some proper timber.
Have a look at my video to see how to make your own.
Easy right? I opted for a bunny shaped chopping board but you can of course make any shape you like. I did toy with the idea of making a little Kermit the Dog shaped board but his silhouette was just to tricky, might give it a go at some point though an let you know how he turned out ;) In general a shape that has an easy recognisable silhouette will make the best board: a rabbit, a pineapple, a fish, a house or if your are stuck for inspiration a simple square or triangle. If you make multiple boards in different sizes you can make a whole zoo or city! Don't make your shape to narrow, a giraffe board would look absolutely amazing but you can hardly cut a tomato on it's neck. An oval or rectangular shaped object will make a nice useful chopping board. You can find the template for my bunny board at the end of this post.
Use a food safe mineral oil to season your board and like I said in the video it's advisable to apply a coat of oil after every 10 times you use the chopping board. If you have used a non meat product on your board you can clean it with salt and lemon juice. If you have used raw meat then give it a good scrub with soap and hot water and make sure you dry your board immediately. If you made the mistake of cutting beetroot on your wooden chopping board (always do this on a plate) and have a massive stain now keep you fingers crossed it hasn't stained to deep and just sand the top of your board down and reapply the two coats of oil.
Would you like to make your own chopping boards and pin this post for future reference? Please feel free to pin the image below. I'll be back next week with a new tutorial, see you then! xx Hester
Click the image to open up the bunny template
'All photo's and video by Hester van Overbeek - The chopping board tutorial first appeared on Hester's handmade home'
