Dear The Kitchen,
How do you clean butcher block tops without drying them out?
I have an Ikea 1" butcher block top on my island. I usually use orange spray, but I'm sick of my main work area drying out a week after I oil it. Is orange spray too harsh? Does just wiping it off with water do the job?
Thanks,
Scazz
Dear Scazz,
Good butcher blocks, if cared for properly, can last lifetimes.
The best way to clean a butcher block is with a moist scrubby sponge. The best way to keep it from drying out is to make sure you never leave the wood wet after using, or scrubbing, and that you oil it regularly.
To clean: scrub with a warm sudsy sponge, then rinse out the sponge and wipe down the wood. Then wipe dry with a dry towel.
To oil: use mineral oil, preferably slightly warm. Apply it with a soft cloth in the direction of the grain. Allow the oil to soak in for a few hours between applications (if you have never done this, or it has been more than a few months, try doing 3-4 applications). Regularly oiling should occur once a month.
If major cracks occur (usually due to an extremely dry environment, or a board that has been left wet repeatedly), fill them in with wood filler, allow to dry, then sand smooth. Go through the multi-application oiling process.
Good luck!
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also, ikea sells oil usually alongside with their butcher blocks. I oil mine every couple months and i also flip it to even it out, i find over months the block starts to warp in one direction - so i flip it so even it out.
oh thanks janelle for the tip! i totally forgot that Ikea sells the oil right next to it- i remember seeing it but passed right by it- gonna go pick some up today!
I like to use the oil from Broadway Panhandler "All Natural Wood and Bamboo Oil," because to get oil from Ikea would entail a trek or their $100 shipping fee (ha). And it smells lemony yummy.
I think the drying it off is the issue. That'll help.
I prefer the Butcher Block Oil sold by Cost Plus/World Market for our Ikea wood countertops (and butcher blocks). It's a soybean oil base, rather than the petroleum base that's so ubiquitous in block oil these days. I keep the rag that I oil with in a zip-sealed baggie, and just pull it out for a routine wipe-down every once in a while. Every few months, it's a good idea to sand out any stains and/or nicks and re-oil the whole surface again, as you did the first time.
Back in the days when I worked at Williams-Sonoma, if I remember correctly, the protocol in advising customers on how to care for their wooden cutting boards was:
1.) Oil daily for the first month.
2.) After the first month, oil weekly for 3-6 months (depending on use)
3.) Continue to oil once every month for the lifetime of the surface with occasional sanding as needed to refinish the surface.
I'm not sure that it is the same for the Ikea counters, but that is how I maintain my Ikea boards and "unfinished" wooden island thing-y in the kitchen.
I use the board oil available at Williams-Sonoma (I had it around).
In terms of cleaning, I suppose it all depends on what you're cutting on your wooden board. Veggies? cooked meats? I use a mild detergent on a scrubby sponge and make sure to towel off to remove excess moisture.
I think I read once that French chefs used to scrub their boards with squeezed out lemon halves and coarse salt.
Kosher salt and mineral oil seems to be a nice monthly way to clean any built up gunk off my old butcher block. If yours is still flat, a bench scraper before and after oiling does the same thing.
sorry, i'm totally lame, but is mineral oil easily available? where can i get it? what section should i look in?
I usually pick up the mineral oil at the drugstore. I think it's with the laxatives.
Yep, mineral oil is a common (and cheap!) laxative that can be found in most any drugstore for a dollar or two. Mineral oil is ideal for oiling butcher block because it is edible, tasteless, odorless, and unlike other common oils, will not turn rancid. Hope this helps!