white oak

I wouldn’t do end grain its too porous.

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

Absolutely, it’s a great wood for that. I’ve used white oak in several of my cutting boards as it is tight grained wood.

White oak should be ok as the pores are filled with tyloses vs. red oak where they are hollow. That makes the boards excellent as material for projects exposed to moisture, anything from whiskey barrels to a trailer deck that will never be stored inside.

-- “I never in my life thought I would have to say this, but the proper role of government is not to fund the distribution of crack pipes,” Lauren Boebert

Shhhhhh don’t tell anyone, but yep, it’ll work just fine.

I imagine you have seen a WO endgrain board, they are fairly popular, and do have a distinctive look.

-- Think safe, be safe

It is red oak that has the open pores. White oak is a great choice.

Used it many times and it works fine. 5 years later still good.

-- Ron

FDA specifically requires “tight grain” for woods used in food contact. Oak is NOT, by any measure, “tight grained”. Is why MAPLE is used so extensively in kitchens. Go with something else.

What is the safest wood for a cutting board?
Image result for fda wooden cutting board guidelines
While hard wood makes the best cutting boards – duck those softwoods like pine, fir, and cedar. Also, avoid oak and ash. Although hard, their large, open-grain pores soak up moisture like a sponge.

and another citation:

Which characteristic is required for a wood cutting board?
Image result for fda wooden cutting board guidelines
Wood also has natural anti-septic properties. Hardwoods with tightly grained wood and small pores are best for wooden cutting boards. Good hardness and tight grain help reduce scoring of the cutting surface and absorption of liquid and dirt into the surface.

-- The hump with the stump and the pump!

If white oak is not tight grain why was it used for ship building?

And barrels to hold liquid? It does not rot because it does not have open grain. It is not as fine grain as maple, but just as good. Red oak is being confused with white oak.

Marc, if those came from the innerweb they must be true, everyone knows that. Wondering what pages those are carved out of? The wood phobia handbook?

I’ll actually list a site. The USDA says.

Under microscopic inspection ALL woods have grain, and bacteria can be trapped in wood grain. But using a wooden board for food prep has been in use for several centuries, and none of the serious illnesses that have plagued mankind started with a cutting board/block. White Oak with it’s tyloses offers one of the most closed off end grain patterns out there. All I know is there are a lot of WO cutting boards out there.

I think the gimme there is clean your cooking equipment well, and none of it will make you ill.

-- Think safe, be safe

Shipbuilding is not food service. The tight grain reference is to prevent bacteriological contamination, not porosity.

Barrels cannot be made from red oak as it’ll leak. Red oak can only be used for dry cooperage. White oak IS open grained from a bacterial standpoint. Maple is MICH tighter grained.

Look, argue all you want. I’ve read the guidance (not the clips I just posted, they were what I could find quickly, but I have read the FDA site, but it’s a bugger to find anything on). I think the reference was the USDA “Wood Handbook – Wood an An Engineering Material” (free .PDF on the web – great reference.)

Oak is fine for BREADBOARDS where there is no juice to soak in. But for cutting meats and fruits you need two separate (three if chicken is involved) cutting surfaces.

Use what you will, just don’t invite me to dinner.

-- The hump with the stump and the pump!

Pretty sure the FDA isn’t going to arrest any hobby woodworkers for making cutting boards out of oak. Think they have bigger fish to fry. LMAO, this place cracks me up at the stuff people here invent sometimes

Pretty sure the FDA isn’t going to arrest any hobby woodworkers for making cutting boards out of oak. Think they have bigger fish to fry. LMAO, this place cracks me up at the stuff people here invent sometimes

- SMP

I was thinking the same thing. I have said it before, some people feel that they have to comment regardless of having any knowledge whatsoever of the topic and when they are proven wrong they don’t have the guts to come back and own up to their mistake because they are too busy racking up posting #’s with incorrect info on other subjects.

-- NorthWoodsMan

Pretty sure the FDA isn’t going to arrest any hobby woodworkers for making cutting boards out of oak. Think they have bigger fish to fry. LMAO, this place cracks me up at the stuff people here invent sometimes

- SMP

I was thinking the same thing. I have said it before, some people feel that they have to comment regardless of having any knowledge whatsoever of the topic and when they are proven wrong they don t have the guts to come back and own up to their mistake because they are too busy racking up posting # s with incorrect info on other subjects.

- northwoodsman

aw this can’t be new, its the interwebs baby, the interwebs, they be right even if your’re wrong, ya know lol
Rj in az

-- Living the dream

WO has natural antimicrobial properties. I have seen this referenced in several different places but here is one that I found with a quick search. This one doesn’t appear to differentiate between red and white oak’s antimicrobial properties.

-- Nathan, TX -- Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.