Finishing Your Butcher Block

I have come across many posts in regards to resurrecting a foul cutting board or split butcher block but none have seemed to really give a standard answer to the basic questions. What do I finish my cutting board or butcher block with. This is easy. The answer is Pure Mineral Oil. The purpose of a cutting board or butcher block is to cut and or prepare food on. If this is what your board is used for then Pure Mineral Oil is what it should be finished with. Is there an alternative to finishing my cutting board or butcher block with Mineral Oil? Here is where we start to lose everyone. The answer is yes. You can use a Walnut Oil as long as it is fresh Walnut Oil and you have ensured it has not gone rancid while sitting on your shelf. Yes you can use Walnut Oil as it is safe to use when it is to be used immediately. These are the only two treatments I would consider when finishing a cutting board or butcher block surface. This is the way it has been done for a hundred years people. I dont care what your dad said or what your uncle said he used back in the day when he built his cutting board or butcher block. You asked, I answered. PURE MINERAL OIL!
On to another frequently asked question. What can I finish my butcher block countertop with. The same rules apply to countertops when they will be used as a cutting surface. PURE Mineral Oil. If your not going to use your butcher block countertop as a cutting surface then you really are free to use just about anything you want. Poly, Acrylic, Wax and blah blah blah. You get the point. If your not going to cut on your countertops but will still be preparing food directly on your countertops then my recommendation will differ. Any FDA Approved for indirect food contact finish will suffice in this case. There is no need to break all this information down to a science as it has already been done over and over again. These are your answers.
So When your going to use it as a cutting surface then you use mineral oil. When your not going to use it to cut on but will still use it to prepare raw foods then an FDA approved finish should be used. When you only want to look at your countertops then you can use whatever you want.

The in-betweens. Through the years a lot of butcher block manufacturers have developed a couple different types of finishes which most of them still incorporate the use of PURE MINERAL OIL wtih the exception of the Durakryl. Lets see, there’s John Boos Mystery Oil, Emmitts Elixir, Watco Butcher Block Oil, The Good Stuff and something called Durakryl 102. All of these have been specially formulated just for use on cutting boards, butcher blocks and countertops. Keep in mind though that some or all of these are manufacturer applications and they are applied using approved methods. Also the type of finish you will get varies between all of them. All of which are to be used at your own risk. As stated above PURE MINERAL OIL has been used for over a hundred years and is the only proven finish for cutting boards and butcher blocks.

The Butcher Block Top