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all this cutting board talk reminded me to sharpen my knives....

@tekobo i don't know if asahi offers a sponge sanding block, but hasegawa has one to smooth out the board after heavy use. but i've never been able to smooth out the surface other than raising up even more plastic "fur" on top. but again, microplastics don't bother me. i'm asian and immune to it from years of eating hot foods out of plastic bags. and because i'm unable to smooth the board out, i am leaning towards wood (endgrain) for my next board. and if it dulls my knives a little faster, so be it. i rather enjoy sharpening anyway.. if i have to buy another synthetic, it would be the the black asahi for plebs, not the pro kind..

There’s no doubt that end grain boards can be extremely beautiful, and definitely have a place in the kitchen and beyond, i have just found that for the vast majority of my kitchen prep, the Hi-Soft, Asahi, Hasegawa boards are my go to. They’re light enough to maneuver, but heavy enough to stay in place. Their surface can be repaired from every day use, keeping them sanitary. They have a soft feel under the blade, reducing fatigue when doing a lot of chopping, and as i said before, are the best I’ve found at preserving your edges. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Olivewood End Grain Carving Board (Arte Legno, Italy) I do love a good end grain cutting board. Shown is my favorite; I used a UK source. The end grain testimonials here happened to coincide with my pulling out this board to bone some chicken thighs that I had cooked sous vide in a Chettinad pepper masala, best chicken curry of my life. My smaller "utility" Hasegawa board is shown for comparison. For any detailed knife work such as mincing, I always reach for one of my Hasegawa boards. I have a great capacity for creative delusion, balanced by high entropy, so I find what I do after I stop thinking to be informative. On the other hand, food is part romance. For anyone who hasn't admired the attentive composure of Japanese chefs working in front of you on a Hasegawa class board, the end grain wood is more romantic. And it rarely makes sense to have one type of tool, though my cast iron, carbon steel, enameled cast iron, and various clay pots are all talking behind my back as I go all in on Hestan NanoBond pans for utility use. Many reviews haven't made the effort to learn best use of this molecular titanium surface, yielding a metal pan that thinks it's ceramic nonstick. If with careful technique I can glide a fried egg across its surface like an air hockey table, and I don't want teflon nonstick pans for health reasons, then any other pan becomes a speciality player. I've had other kinds of laminated boards chip on me; my knives are sharper than they imagined. I don't see a health hazard with my Hasegawa boards. And I bought their sanding block, tried it once, and haven't thought about it since. I will simply buy these boards again when the time comes; they are that important to me.

We spent the weekend at @RokDok's cutting up a rare breed pig. We got half and I spent an hour this morning cutting some up for mincing to make pies. Just look at that marbling! And just look at that space. It was a joy, cutting this up on my new Asahi board. I think this light coloured one will become my raw meat board. I'll be able to see any marks and stains and can keep it extra clean by sanding it down once in a while. Introducing these boards simply replaces the plastic and Epicurean boards that we used to use for food prep. I still have a wooden board for chopping and a range of wooden boards for serving. I hear you, @David Chang, regarding micro plastics but I don't plan to use a serrated knife on this and will be intentional about using a different board if I need to do any heavy chopping. It actually makes me wonder about how much chopping one actually needs to do when you are not butchering an animal and needing to chop through bone. I do the rocking action for cutting things small and chopping, on any surface, must incorporate little bits of the material that you are chopping on. I am enjoying this journey so far. The black boards are due to arrive from Japan next week. All of the boards that I bought are 20mm thick. My husband usually does the procuring of stuff around here and I think he felt a bit left out. He has bought a thinner Asahi board to cut up to make small boards for quick jobs. Lots to look forward to in the lead up to Christmas.

Its a setup !!! I'm being framed 👹

Lost him yesterday, cancer sucks 🤬