5 Creative Cutting Board Uses – In and Out of the Kitchen
In the past I've talked about why wooden cutting boards are best, and 7 things you should never do to your cutting board, and done a review of Proteak (Teakhaus) cutting boards, so when Madeline from Teakhaus by Proteak contacted me about sharing their beautiful cutting boards with you again, I thought, “What could I say that I haven't said already?” I decided to have a little fun with this one and offer some suggestions for cutting board uses other than cutting, since the Teakhaus boards are so beautiful you'll want to show them off. I'm also including some basic cutting board info, to familiarize you with different types of cutting boards.
Note: Proteak recently rebranded their cutting board division into Teakhaus by Proteak. New website, same quality product. This post originally featured a giveaway, which has ended.
Cutting Board Use #1 – Serving Platter
It's great to be able to carve meat right at the table for large gatherings, but carving up a critter on your favorite platter is hard on the knife and the platter. Teakhaus cutting boards are pretty enough for company, and the built in juice canal on many of the boards keep potential messes off the tablecloth. They also make a great fruit and cheese platter for hors d'oeuvres or buffets.
Cutting Board Use #2 – Trivet for Hot Dishes
Smaller cutting boards are great for keeping fresh out of the oven pans from scorching your table or countertop. While I certainly wouldn't stick them in the oven (cutting boards are not roasting planks), or leave them sitting on a burner (my mom “branded” the pig shaped cutting board I made in junior high by leaving it on the electric stove burner), a quality cutting board will hold up to a range of temperatures.
It should be noted that over time, long term exposure to extremes of temperature and humidity will weaken the glue that holds boards together. For instance, do NOT soak your board for an hour in dishwater and then dry it by the stove. That would be bad – very bad. Letting a pan cool on it or cutting half frozen meat – not a problem.
Cutting Board Use #3 – Photo Backdrop
For those of us who dedicate a portion of our time to pretty photos, a quality cutting board can make a great backdrop. Those who have poked around the site have likely seen the Teakhaus cutting boards in a number of my posts. The warm tones and patterns of the wood grain complement most foods without making the photo look too busy.
Cutting Board Use #4 – Art Easel
When I was a little girl, every year I would pine over the big art kit in the Sears catalog. I loved arts and crafts. I never did get that kit (it was pretty spendy and the Christmas budget was small), but over time I created my own kit of supplies and improvised materials. One item I found that worked great for an improvised easel was my mom's biggest cutting board. A couple of oversized clips to hold my paper in place, a kitchen chair to set it on, and I was in business. My boys never had the fun of improvising like I did, since grandma Jane found them a used easel at a garage sale, but I have many fond memories of my homemade “art studio”.
Cutting Board Use #5 – Cake Plate
Back when we had the family catering business (Irene's Custom Cakes and Catering), we had an assortment of boards specifically cut to size that we used and reused for wedding cakes and such. I don't do many fancy decorated cakes since the business has long closed down, but once in a while I do like to dress things up. Round cakes I can fit on a large plate, but I don't have a platter big enough for a 9″x13″ cake. I do have several large cutting boards. 🙂 Cutting boards also make great bases to build gingerbread houses.
To use a cutting board for a cake platter, I prefer to cover it first with a piece of butcher paper – shiny side out. This will provide a blank backdrop for your cake, protect your board, and make it easier to wipe up any wild frosting spills.
What's the Difference Between a Butcher Block and a Cutting Board?
Traditionally, butcher blocks have been used as the name would imply – for butchering. They tend to be large, thick and made using an end grain. Larger boards are heavy enough to stay put pretty well on their own. Smaller boards may have rubber feet to help keep them in place.
What's the difference between “end grain” and “edge grain”?
CuttingBoard.com states in the article “Butcher Blocks vs Cutting Boards, What's the Difference?“:
End grain means that the end of the wood fibers are exposed, whereas edge grain means that the grain is running along the outside. The major difference is that end grain is resistant to cuts and scarring and is even self-healing over time, as the density of the fibers will push back into place.
So those beautiful squares of wood aren't just attractive – they make a butcher block cutting board tougher and more long lasting.
Why Use a Teak Cutting Board?
The article “Teak Cutting Boards – Worth the Hype?” lists the main attributes of teak as:
- Nearly Maintenance Free
- Resistant to Scarring
- Extremely Durable
- Sustainably Harvested, if you buy from the right source
Teakhaus Cutting Boards were also rated as the best cutting boards by Cooks Illustrated (best overall board) and Wirecutter (best wooden board).
Wow. I could spend too much time browsing through all the beautiful things on their site. Thank you for bringing this company to my attention. Practically speaking at present I would choose the 1.5″ rectangular board with juice canals and handles in the 24×18 – I am not very creative with other uses, but I am sure my children would use it to do puzzles on when it is off duty otherwise.
I would love to win this cutting board. My old one is finally biting the dust after 15 years of hard use.
Wow, beautiful! I would use a this large wooden butcher block for a workstation in my kitchen. I do not have a wooden one or so large. And, I like this the best of all. The juice channel is a good Idea, we are meat eaters, but the size is so awesome.
I would love the rectangle butcher block with hand grip. We got new cabinets and I miss my old breadboards that pulled out for cutting. This would look so nice with the new dark cabinets and granite counter tops.
I think it would be beautiful for serving a selection of cheeses.
At first I would bean anybody with a cast iron skillet who even looked like they were going to cut something on it! But I would get over that (haha) and use it for daily cutting of veggies. I might use the other side for kneading bread. Thanks for the great opportunity.
These are so beautiful! I would use (of course) for food prep, but I love the use of it as a platter! Using it as a trivet would be helpful here too, my extra counter space the hubs built for me out of scraps isn’t very heat tolerant!
I love the cutting boards with the groove that prevents the juice from running all over the counter. I would definitely use it to chop and cut things in the kitchen. These are beautiful. They are like a work of art.
The cutting board is beautiful enough to have displayed if I had enough room in my kitchen which I don’t *sigh*, so it would just mostly be used to chop vegetables or, occasionally, as a trivet for a hot pan. Would love the opportunity to have one!
These are gorgeous cutting boards and teak is so durable!! This would replace both my Rubbermaid cutting boards (that aren’t really “boards” at all). They’re so beautiful, I’d leave if out on the counter all the time. I make a lot of salads and that means a lot of chopping. It would be a pleasure to do all my cutting and chopping on one of these boards (I’ve always wanted one).
I would use mine to cut up pieces of deer meat to get them ready to put on the grill and the extra meat would be sealed and put in the freezer until summer cookouts. I would love a great product like yours to cut everything from veggies to cutting meat to the size that would not waste anything.
I’m also using my cutting boards. It seems like I cook a lot and there’s always chopping that is going on, especially when my daughters come to visit. Everyone grabs a cutting board and we’re off!
i would use this beautiful cutting board as a trivet on my dining room table.
I’ll be using my board on the table for a useful cheese tray.
What beautiful boards! Would work great with our cast irons pan!
I would use it for my everyday chopping; onions, garlic, veggies and fruits. My favorite board is the Rectangle Butcher Block with Hand Grip 20 x 15 x 1.5 in. Thanks!
My first use for the cutting board would be for making juice!