TeakhausButcher Block Cutting Board - Medium Wooden Cutting Board - Teak End Grain Wood - Knife Friendly - FSC Certified

So this is the most amazing cutting board ever. But it cracked. So now it’s the two most amazing cutting boards ever, and I’ve learned my lesson.When I bought this, I was terrifically excited. Gorgeous egg grain teak, nicely finished, great durability. I used mineral oil fairly religiously, kept in a spray bottle under the sink, same as I use for soapstone counters, just more frequent. Kept it on my countertop all the time because it was so dang massive I didn’t know where else to put it. And that is the beginning of the drama, and of me learning a thing or two.Every few days, maybe once a week, I would find it had begun to warp, raising up in the middle. “Aha!” I would say to myself, “it’s drying out, I need to oil it more!” and so I would, and it would always thirstily soak up whatever I put on it. The drying cycle was much worse in the winter when the air is very dry here in New England — dry noses, skin, etc. my wife made fun of me for the amount of effort I put in, but I loved this cutting board for everything - meat cleaver, onions, herbs, chopping vegetables, it is a real gorgeous centerpiece and hugely functional if you have the counter space.Imagine my dismay when after 2 years, I got lazy and didn’t oil it for a few weeks and... one night I hear a tremendous CRACKing noise, come downstairs, and after searching for an hour finally find the cutting board has cracked. “Crapola!” I say to myself, “after all that effort!”So finally, I do my research. First I cut the thing into two pieces (luckily the crack was parallel to the short side). It wasn’t that I was oiling it too little, it’s that when I wiped it down I was letting it sit in a small amount of water. No wiping the counter afterwards would ever be enough. Any amount of water trapped underneath would leach in, and when it evaporated would cause the bowing. Enough bowing and it would naturally crack. Simple physics.So now I have two smaller boards which make for a lovely cheese serving tray and a gift for my son in law, and I’ve bought a new one. They don’t bow nearly as much, because I found the secret. Keep it on top of a folded kitchen towel, and pick it up to dry out once every few days! Oil it once every week or two. It drinks up so much less oil now that I keep it on a towel. You can’t beat understanding the physics. And if you doing understand the physics, they will beat you every time. It’s not the cutting board’s fault if it cracks, you (& I) are just not maintaining it right. If you want a cutting board to to be maintenance free & impervious, buy something made of petrochemicals or glass. This is wood. Treat it right, I’m confident it will last a lifetime. It broke and I still love it.

I just received this cutting board yesterday and have oiled it and used it once. It is everything I wanted and more. It's pretty great that ProTeak has discovered a great use for teak scraps so that their reduced cost is passed on to the consumer. I calculated how much it would cost me to build one out of new teak and found that this board, at only $114 was much less than I could build it for. There was one flaw that was patched but otherwise it is pretty much perfect for cutting up vegetables or cooked meats.Anyone with expensive cutlery probably already knows that a good wooden cutting board is necessary to get the most out of those knives and to protect them so that they last a long time. If you are one of those who know just how helpful a fine cutting board is for your cooking process, I highly recommend getting this board. End grain is the one professionals prefer due to the speed and control it affords. This one is heavy and stable due to it's full 2.5 inch thickness, but it has handles cut into the ends to make moving easier. There are no feet on the board so both sides are fully useable, but as most people know, wood cutting boards should not be soaked in water or set on a wet counter for any length of time or they will warp and/or split. Obviously, never let it near a dishwasher. Drying your counter and using a dry mat to keep the board from sliding around will not only make cutting, slicing, chopping, etc, more safe and stable, it will prevent water damage.If you want a cutting board you can put in the dishwasher, and is lightweight and convenient to use, I recommend avoiding wood and sticking with nylon/plastic cutting boards. Plastic boards have their place in the kitchen; I have a large plastic one to cut raw meat and smaller ones that can go in the dishwasher for quick-prep items. But if cutting and chopping vegetables is something you dread with your plastic cutting board, and you don't mind the hassles associated with caring for a wooden board, then get this beauty. I think you'll be impressed.Caveat: if you think the cutting board will look like just the picture, then think again. As with any real wood product, the grain varies between pieces so each product is unique. In addition, there is no effort made by the manufacturer to mirror the grains as they did with the one they show in the picture. To do that requires new pieces cut and matched and the board would cost twice as much. Even so, my board is still a work of art, even with totally random placement of the pieces.

I did a whole lot of research on cutting boards. I wanted a thick, knife friendly board and one that was fairly attractive. Let me tell you, this is the rock star of cutting boards. It's heavy, it's beautiful, it takes a knife blade and doesn't scar. I highly recommend this board. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I would without question oil this before use. They say it comes pre-oiled but I'm guessing just due to the logistics and time it takes to receive it, the oil is mostly absorbed.Beyond that, it looks amazing, it's not so thick that the weight is a major concern, but it's thick enough it's not going be sliding around. You might use a wet towel under it regardless to keep it from slipping. But for an endgrain block of this size, it's a great deal and something that should last a really long time. I've used mine at least 10 or 15 times and I can't find a mark on it.