Are all cutting boards the same?

Most cutting boards, butcher blocks, or kitchen boards are made from dense-grain hardwoods. What separates a high quality product from the rest is how that hardwood is used in the design.

First, the part of the hardwood which is used on the work surface of your cutting board can vary widely. If you imagine a cut piece of wood, like a plank for example, from our point of view there are three sides to it. The flat side of the plank, which you would normally refer to as the surface, is what you would consider using for a table top. The plank in your imagination has two of these sides. We call this the Surface Face.

Another part of that same plank is the side edge, or Edge Grain. Your plank has two of these as well. Wood grain at the side edge is tighter and harder than the Surface Face. Therefore, a cutting board created where the Edge Grain is exposed as the product's work surface is better than one using all Surface Face.

The Edge Grain of the hardwood will wear longer than Surface Face, as well as remaining tight and free of splits and splinters.

The third part of that same plank, still in your imagination, is the end. We call this the End Grain. When the plank is cut in half, more end grain is exposed. Cut it again, and there is even more end grain to use. End Grain is the tightest and hardest part of the wood. It is virtually free of splinters. As you know, a splinter comes off the wood in the same direction as the grain, so by only exposing End Grain on the cutting board work surface, you won't have to worry about your fingertips anymore.

All of Quality Italia's cutting boards are made entirely of the most true hardwoods, using Edge Grain, and End Grain techniques, for everlasting perfection.