The Last Cutting Board You’ll Ever Need

I was introduced to hinoki wood cutting boards on a trip to Japan five years ago and I’ve never gone back. Really. I’ve used the same board for (nearly) every cooking task ever since. It’s just that good.

Hinoki wood, a fast-growing, soft variety of Japanese cypress, has everything you want in a cutting board. For starters, it’s alarmingly light—like balsa wood. Forget those back-breaking end-grain boards that you can barely lift, much less wrangle in and out of the sink. Despite that, it’s extremely durable, as the wood practically heals itself from knife strikes.

The wood’s soft texture means that it gives under the blade, giving it a feel during chopping unlike any cutting board I’ve ever used. I love the gentle strike and dull thwack of a knife on hinoki wood and how there’s a bit of grip on the blade as the board yields to—and cushions—the edge.

Beyond the pleasant feel, that softness means knife edges last longer. The softer the cutting surface, the less likely it is to dull your knives. My knives stay sharper nearly four times longer than when cutting on a hard plastic or wood board. Or, worse yet, glass or Corian boards!

And for those worried about bacteria, there are no worries. Wood boards have anti-microbial properties and are perfectly safe for chicken, pork and seafood. Just give it a good scrub with soap and hot water, then on to the next task.

Another upside of hinoki boards is that there’s less force transmitted from the cutting board to your arm and elbow. That’s not an issue when prepping a light lunch, but slice your way through a few pounds of onions or potatoes and the jolt of each blow really adds up.

The texture is a little rougher than you might be used to, but that’s a good thing. The coarseness grips onto the food, so it doesn’t slip and slide around. This translates to more accurate, safer cuts.

Sure, hinoki boards accumulate a bit more wear than an expensive end-grain, but I like to think of my boards like a well-worn pair of jeans, showing the history and memories of the meals I’ve prepared and shared with my friends and family.

After five years of testing hinoki boards—varieties of hinoki, board thickness, size and construction—Milk Street finally made our own. We produced a large board that’s large enough for prepping big batches of produce, and a smaller version for all the incidental tasks. Both are featherweight—easy to move, wash and store.

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Matthew Card

Matthew Card is Milk Street’s Creative Director for Recipes and Products, resident coffee geek, knife collector and equipment junkie. He has 25-plus years of professional cooking, recipe development, food writing and teaching under his belt. When he’s not in the Milk Street kitchen or on the road hunting for new recipes and ideas, Matthew lives with his family in Canberra, Australia, where he does his best to dodge kangaroos on his mountain bike and is learning to love Vegemite.