I don't think it in any way would be a deal breaker to get a bread box. We had one growing up, and I wish they were more common.

I think it's a great idea. I've never had a bread box, because I don't like them on the counter. I do, however keep my bread in a drawer, the toaster in another drawer, and have a pullout board. They are all on separate runs, however, so having them all grouped together would be great!

I think they went out of favor because people figured out they don't keep bread any fresher, but that doesn't mean they aren't functional for keeping bread off the counter! A lot of GW posters have pull-out cutting boards that they love.

Can't you just turn half of a drawer into the bread box, so you can still have a wide stack of drawers?

Bread box drawers are becoming more common as more people bake their own bread. We even convert regular drawers to breadbox drawers, with the zinc or copper linings.

However....

1. They don't do any better at keeping bread fresh than an ordinary, unlined drawer.
2. The sliding lid was not for the purpose of keeping bread fresh, but for keeping rodents out of the bread -- a major concern in 19th and early 20th century kitchens. We have that problem under better control these days.
3. They are hard to clean, so make sure your liner is removable for washing in the sink.

As for pull-out cutting boards. You may not remember that...

1. They are usually too small to be an effective cutting surface, so a lot of what you cut ends up on the floor,
2. They tend to wobble and droop,
3. They are VERY HARD to keep clean since they are not easily removable.

Just some thoughts.

I have a 16" wide drawer that I keep all my bread products and snacks in. Love keeping them in a drawer, though I'd recommend a wider drawer than mine.

I've only had the built-in cutting boards in apartments, but I never used them. Too much of an ick factor since they can't be sterilized.

In my last rental there was a huge wooden cutting board insert that I loved for rolling out dough, etc. But it was too big to clean in the 50/50 sink so I dreaded using it.

I have a breadbox on the counter in the bus, but it doesn't fit all the bread I buy - bagels, English muffins, tortillas, etc.

Just food for thought!

In our cellar I have such a cabinet set with the metal bread box and pull-out cutting board. The cabinet/countertop section came from my parents' kitchen of the late 1960s. Nowadays, we use the cabinets for cellar storage (tools), but I remember making many great sandwiches on that pull-out board in my parents' kitchen (post Thanksgiving turkey, tuna, PBJ, lobster rolls, BLTs). The drawer made it easy to find the bread and rolls, kept then handy and squish-free. Freed up counter space.

True, crumbs have to be swept up or the bin vacuumed clean, but this wasn't difficult. We went through a lot of bread, so it was always fresh. In my current kitchen, space is still at a premium and the bread is atop the fridge or on the counter; sometimes in the fridge.

One of the reasons we decided to reuse our old cabinets, with the addition of some new ones, instead of getting all new is because I didn't want to lose my pull-out cutting boards. They easily pull out for cleaning, and don't wobble or droop even though they're 45 years old. My biggest one is 30" and in my prep area. I use it all the time. The only time I get annoyed with it is if I've forgotten to get out a knife or gadget stored in the drawers right below it. I don't understand why they have fallen out of favor. Also, since they are a bit lower than counter-height, I enjoy the better leverage I get when doing a lot of chopping on them.

I would not like the kind of pull-out cutting board that actually takes up drawer space. Mine are in slots in the upper-part of the cabinet above the drawers.

funkycamper

How do you keep the boards from pulling all of the way out in use? Do they have some kind of catch?

I've had the pull out cutting boards - won't have them again. They tend to droop when pulled out, and are hard to clean. Crumbs kept getting shoved back in and falling down behind drawers.

However, if I could get a cutting board that slid back and forth on top of the bread drawer, I may use it. All the crumbs would stay in the bread drawer. Something to look into...

How about just designing the drawer so that the bread board can be pulled out and put on the counter? I would treat it like a tray pan on its side so that you can pull it out from the cabinet. You could put a handle on it to pull it with. If you will use the bread box, why not have one? I don't think pullout boards are a good idea based on previous experience.

Good Luck!

I had pullout cutting boards. You learned how far you could pull them out before you had trouble, they did not have a catch on them. They worked wonderfully well. They never wobbled. I was sorry to see them go. The new pullout cutting boards seem to take up a lot more vertical space as they have some kind of a mechanism and I don't see the point, I liked the convenience of the other older model. I also liked that when the cutting board had had it, I could go to the local hardwood lumberyard and just have a new board cut to size.

This was what I was trying to explain earlier:

Poggenpohl bread box

The top of the unit can double as a bread board.

Another option from Bulthaup. This top also doubles as a bread board.

These are just to give you ideas on what your options could be.

Good luck!

Hey, Starcraft. Like Practigal said, you learn easily how far to pull them out. I just measured and mine are just shy of 23" long so they slide back almost to the back of the cabinet. I measured how far I generally pull them out and it looks like it's usually about 17-18" of cutting board showing when I have a lot to chop, For some other tasks, I might only pull it out 8-10" or so. Once you start getting past 18" showing, it does start to droop a bit but not much. But, of course, the farther out, the more it would droop.

I mispoke earlier about the width. While it's in a 30" wide cabinet, the board itself is only about 20" wide. No matter, 20"x18" is still a nice sized area to cut on.

If we're doing holiday baking and decorating cookies and other tasks that require a lot more counter space than I have in my kitchen, I take it and the two smaller slide-out cutting boards out and lay them on my table. The two smaller ones are 11" and 15" wide. Together this gives me a 46x23" wide area on my dining table protected by the boards for working on which gives my table top nice protection. I've also been known to slide them out and put them on my counters to protect them. Or on the counter with the edge hanging over my sink.

When we do a big turkey, since Tom should rest for 30 minutes before carving, I put towels over my W/D (laundry is in the room next to kitchen) and then put the cutting boards on top. And let Tom rest there wearing a foil jacket. Then DH can carve the turkey there without being in the middle of the busy kitchen while last minute items are being heated and put into serving containers.

They're very versatile. I love them. And I especially love that they're handy without taking up any storage space. Of the four homes we've owned, I've only had one kitchen without them and I really missed having them. I would never choose to be without them again.

I do have other cutting boards. Like one with grooves for juicy meats. And a couple other smaller ones. I sometimes use those and sometimes the slide-out cutting boards. It really just depends on what I'm doing.

Homepro, your links just take me to the homepage of the site you're linking, not to the product pages.

My pullout cutting board gets used every single day. It is 20 inches wide. The drawer right under it needs to pull out and then the board pulls out and rests on the inner structure of the drawer. I rarely get anything in the drawer (crumbs etc.). It pulls out to about 18 inches so is a good size cutting board. I cut home made bread, but also veggies and anything that needs cutting. It is my most used cutting board. In over 20 years of use it has never made anyone sick from using it. I wipe and wash it down diligently, just out of habit. It doesn't even look terribly warn. And it can be flipped to use the other side. I like that it is several inches lower than the counter so to me is a better working height for some things since I am 5'4" tall.

I've gone back and forth, back and forth on the cutting board, because of drawer access. Then I found one that will work on the end of the bake area I have planned. And, will fit above the drawers. I won't have a cabinet finish on the end and I want it removable. Here it is.

pullout_bread_board_ideas_02.jpg (1280×960) · More Info

First the bread box in a drawer: This is something I definitely plan to include in my new kitchen. I'd particularly like a spot to store homemade bread and rolls. I don't have one right now, though I have a spot between the wall and microwave where I hide bread. My husband seems genetically unable to return bread to that spot, so I don't know why I think he'd return bread to a bread drawer.

I find the idea of a pull-out cutting board considerably less interesting. I'm trying to design things to be easy to clean, and this type of cutting board doesn't seem to fit the bill.

funkycamper

The reason I asked is that we are looking for a mechanism that prevents the board from being pulled all the way out in normal use, but allows removal for cleaning. I thought you might have one in your kitchen.

In former days, they were common, but I don't know of any maker today.

Our pull out cutting board has a mechanism that prevents it from pulling out.

This is as far as it will come out- you can see the little clips in the back and the side sliding mechanism.

There are latches on the back that have to be specially unhooked if you want it to be removed for cleaning, so it can lift out but it doesn't just come out.

WE also have a bread built-in holder in a drawer but I don't think it actually keeps the bread any fresher.

Starcraft, mine are simply constructed like this: a U was cut into the top part of the cabinet just slightly bigger than the thickness and width of the cutting board. Two metal U brackets were placed in there, along each side, with the open end of the U facing sideways so the cutting board just slides in that. The U bracket starts about a half-inch from the front of the cabinet so you can't see it. The only thing over the inserted cutting board is the counter.

The cutting board sticks out a bit from the cabinet face but not as far out as the counter overhang. A groove is in the cutting board about a quarter-inch in from the front. Actually, there is one of these on each side so you can flip it over and use either side of the cutting board. You just reach under the overhang, put your finger in the groove, and the cutting board slides out very easily. No mechanisms and nothing to break.

Because of the length of the cutting board, I don't know why you would even need something to keep it from being pulled all the way out in normal use. It's pretty dang easy to tell how far you can pull it without it starting to droop or become unstable. And if you do pull it all the way out, it takes about a second to slide it back in. I have never accidentally pulled it out too far and I've never seen anybody else do it either. Not even my kids when they were young and just starting to help in the kitchen.

Hope that helps a bit. I could take pictures but there really isn't much to see.

ETA: The U bracket is really more like a long channel. I'm never sure what to call these things. Kinda like this without the extra little grooves along the back "wall".

Alexandria Moulding 5/8 in. x 5/8 in. x 96 in. Metal Mira Lustre U-Channel Mould · More Info

Sorry about the bad links. The updates links are below:

Poggenpohl Bread Box

Bulthaup Bread Container

I'm thinking of a bread drawer similar to the one Beagles posted above. I'm not overly concerned about it keeping bread fresh longer; I just want it stored somewhere other than on the counter top.

If you're just cutting bread on it, I don't have big concerns about hygiene. Bread crumbs just wipe away and aren't actually making a mess on the board. The problem, of course, is that eventually someone -- probably a man -- will decide to cut meat on the board, and then you have to figure out how to clean an over-sized cutting board.

However, wooden cutting boards aren't a forever thing. After years of use, they will show deep cuts and will warp.

I love our current pullout bread board, and it also gets used every day. I do use it for veggie prep as well, but do garlic and onions (and meat) on one that goes in the dishwasher. It really doesn't have to be washed very often, just if I get something sticky and doughy on it.

I like it so much I put two in the new kitchen. The big one is in a 36 inch cabinet in the baking zone. They pull all the way out if you want, you can set them on the counter.

I have some pullouts with the metal slides on the side as part of a nightstand. I don't know how to get those out. They are used to make the table top bigger so there's a place to set a coffee cup down without twisting. I love those, too, but in a kitchen, I want to at least be able to remove them.

Back to the original question: For me, the Poggenpohl solution seems overly specialized for the function it performs. It would have to do something a lot better than the alternatives before it would tempt me.

Interesting thread! Now I wonder if I'm doing something wrong storing my bread in the refrigerator! I'll have extra drawers in my new kitchen in which I could store bread but too late in the design process for a cutting board.

Hi all! Interesting thread! Great question! I will definitely have a pull out cutting board when I do my kitchen remodel. I LOVE the one another commenter showed us with the cutting board coming out from the end of the counter! I'm not sure I could do that given my somewhat "stuck" layout, but I'm building an island and wondering if I could do it there? I don't know, will have to investigate. My last apartment, which was in a pretty new complex, had a pull out cutting board that I used almost daily. I also grew up with them, and my parents used it all the time too.

I think the reason they fell out of favour for a while was because claims were made, and believed, that plastic cutting boards were more hygienic. However, several scientific, peer reviewed studies have now proven the wood cutting boards are actually more hygienic than plastic or stone. They are now making a comeback in a big way.

I must respectfully disagree with the comments that suggested the pull out boards are difficult to operate or remove for cleaning. How do you not pull them out all the way? Because you are smarter than a fifth grader. They are simple to remove, wash, dry, and put away. They last forever, if properly cared for, and I can't think of a better, less expensive way to create more food prep space! My pull out cutting board(s) will be butcher block. Keep them clean and oil as necessary, and they're a food safe surface that is also beautiful.

I don't have a great answer to your question. It sounds like what you have now is taking up too much valuable counter space. It doesn't sound like keeping bread fresh for an extended period of time is an issue for you. I don't know what your parameters are in terms of budget and feasibility, but I think almost whatever option you choose to solve the bread issue, a pull out cutting board would be a great thing to have in your busy family kitchen!

Of course, that is only my personal opinion. You should do whatever is best for your situation. :-)

It seems like the OP may have abandoned the thread, but I just wanted to chime in that the thread has been very helpful for me. Like the OP I bake all my own bread. Once cooled the bread goes into a ziploc bag which should go into a designated bread pullout, but frequently stays on the counter on a cutting board.

The use of the plastic bag and the cutting board w/loaf on the counter is getting old. This thread has motivated me to find a bread box with cutting board lid that will fit on the designated pullout and will hopefully 'fix' the issue.

Thanks to all!!

I'm still here! :)

Freshness is not an issue because we finish every loaf by the third day after baking. The cutting board we use for the bread stays next to the bread box and just gets crumbs wiped off. I wash it every few weeks; not often at all.

I think we'd be able to just keep the bread in a bin in a drawer.