Some boats have built-in wooden cutting boards, or ones that fit over the stove or sink.
If you still want to use these but avoid cross-contamination problems from cutting meats and other foods on the same surface (or the wood turning black), flexible cutting sheets are a good option.
Flexible sheets take up almost no storage space (always a plus!) and can be cut as needed to fit any wooden board. I find a pair of kitchen shears works far better than any sort of knife to cut it (they’re made to resist knife cuts . . . ).
I have no idea how long a set will typically last as mine always got hijacked on the boat for some other purpose long before they were “worn out.” Every time we needed a divider for something, it seemed, Dave’s eyes would light on my cutting sheets and one would go missing. (If you find this happening on your boat, get a couple sets when you buy them — they’re pretty cheap!)
Some people also use them on Formica or Corian surfaces, but I personally don’t like to — to me, it’s just too hard a surface for my knife blades and I don’t like the feel of it. But placed on a wood board, they’re great.
For use over a wooden board, I like these Norpro cutting sheets:
They come in a set of three with icons on them for different uses — produce, seafood and meat. See the close up of the icons at right.
- You can choose between all-white boards or ones that are different colors — red for meat, blue for seafood and yellow for everything else. I prefer the colored ones as it makes it easier to grab the correct one.
- Since they are flexible, it’s easy to pick them up with chopped food and make a funnel shape to dump the food into a pan without spilling it.
- The only down side is that since they are thin, they don’t have a juice groove to keep meat juices from dripping over the edge onto the surface below.
These make a great add-on if you’re buying something else from Amazon and need a little more to qualify for free shipping:
A food safety note: Even though you’re keeping cross contamination down by using separate boards, it’s a good idea to spray them down with a bleach solution after washing them off. Food poisoning is never fun, but it’s even worse if there is no medical help nearby!
Making Boat Life Better
Barbara Lowell says
I love these; sometimes I cut them in half for small jobs like garlic, I don’t need the whole sheet. Also at Dollar Tree they are 2 for $1 but all white so yea, sometimes I grab the wrong one but I am Vegan so its either savory vegies or fruit, a bit easier. They get hacked up pretty quickly so that’s a nice plus to replace them often. I love all your hints and feel especially good when I have discovered it too!
Cap'n Dave says
I was just going to mention that as well – about being vegan, so really only needing one board, but then I got to thinking…strawberries vs., say, jalapeños? Or celery? Might not be a bad idea to have one for greens/mushrooms/cauliflower, one for peppers/onions/garlic, and one solely for fruit.