I use a couple of Epicurean boards. I love them for their size and non-slip corners and that they come in various colors to disappear on the counter. I use mine for all my prep. I use a lot of garlic and onions. I eat raw onions in some dish or another every day. I rinse my boards, sometimes use a little Dawn if they're really messy. I just sniffed my board and it doesn't smell of anything.

I use woodboards for fruits and vegetables which I can wash. I save a plastic cutting board for meats only.

We use wood or bamboo cutting boards for fruits, veggies, cheeses, or cooked meats (summer sausage/salami, carving brisket), plastic are for reserved for raw meats

I have a wood board that I use for onions, garlic, and anything that mixes well with onions and garlic flavors.

I use a hard plastic (melamine?) board that doesn't absorb flavors for fruits and raw meats. Not at the same time of course. It's easy to keep clean. I have a glass board too but haven't been using it much, and a large bamboo board that I also rarely use.

When I need to do very large amounts of chopping and slicing, I use my Cuisinart.

I also chop in my Cuisinart - small amounts in my mini Cuisinart. Both go in the dishwasher.

https://www.rowandsons.co.uk/blog/myth-fact-antibacterial-properties-wood/

The tests results indicate that the surface of a wooden board will actually stop dangerous bacteria from multiplying and the germs simply die out after a period of about three minutes. Following the experiment, the scientists at the University of Wisconsin found that 99.9% of the bacteria placed on the wooden chopping boards had died out completely within minutes whereas some of the cheaper plastic boards had very little effect in terms of killing dangerous microbes.

I have multiple boards of the hard plastic and flexible plastic variety. All things get chopped/cut on the same boards, but as carolb said, not at the same time. I don't keep a designated meat board or onion board. They all get washed, sometimes by hand sometimes in the dishwasher. If I notice a strong onion odor they for sure go in the dishwasher and that takes care of it.

Zalco the house I grew up in had a large section of countertop that was a built in maple cutting board. Everything went on that board - horror of horrors indeed! - and no one thought twice about it. Obviously it could not be brought to the sink for washing but using soapy sponges and rinsing seemed to do the trick.

I have a glass cutting board I love. Hand wash or dishwasher safe.

Thanks for the information. I have quite a few wood boards but was hesitating to use them because of bacteria.

I have a very strong sense of smell, so I keep a separate Epicurean cutting board marked "BLAND FOOD ONLY." I use this for fruit, especially melons which pick up allium family smells so easily.

I cook a lot, so that way all of my other boards are free to use onions and garlic but I still have my special reserve board!

Only wood cutting boards.

Annie, that study is interesting because it says oak and pine were anti-bacterial, but I have always read that both are more porous woods and maple is preferable for cutting boards because it is not and will not trap food particles or bacteria like oak will. Who knows. I use wood, but not sure what kind. All mine are really old and mostly hand-me-downs.

I use a wood cutting board from Misen.

I only use wooden boards. I've not noticed residual flavors/smells from onion and garlic, but I have noticed residual heat after I chop chilies on them, even the dried chilies de arbol. It's even more intense if I chop fresh Habanero chilies.

With garlic, I often mash it in a marble mortar and pestle with some coarse salt, especially if I am making a salad dressing or marinade.

I too use wooden cutting boards. Also glass ones every so often. I put everything in the dishwasher and I never noticed a residual odor or sting from hot chili peppers.

I use wood. Hot water and a scrubbing (no soaking of course) seem to work fine. OTOH, as far as garlic --- I am convert to the kind in a tube. Otherwise my hands smell for hours and drive me crazy.

Mtn, the last time you mentioned the tubed garlic I ordered some (plus tubed anchovies paste, gotta love Amazon's suggestions.) What a relief to no longer smell garlic on my hands in the middle of the night! Grazie!

I don't know where it's been all my life! I honestly see no difference. Mine is in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I've only tried the garlic but I'm tempted.

I'll have to look for the tubed garlic. I always keep Cento tomato paste on hand for those times when you only need a tablespoon or two.

I use the minced garlic that comes in a small jar. Store in the fridge once opened. My mother would never do anything but fresh, but I hate dealing with garlic, so spooning out what I need from a jar works for me!

Plastic cutting board are so bad for knives. I only use them when cutting raw meat so I can put it in the dishwasher. I collect cutting boards, but my favorite is a rainforest hardwood I got in Costa Rica. The second runner up is a handcrafted hard maple. I just use lemon juice once in a while to reduce odors.

I've been buying Gourmet Garden for decades. I mainly buy the lemongrass and cilantro. I've been buying garlic and ginger in jars at the Japanese market for a long time also, and they are perfectly acceptable for use in soups, which I make frequently. I also have ginger in the freezer, but it's much easier to use it from the jar. The tube would not last me very long.

I've bought Amore tomato paste in a tube before, but now I use tomato powder. It does tend to clump, but I keep several desiccant packets in the jar, and that helps. It's much more economical than the tomato paste in a tube and to me it tastes better. In fact, I prefer tomato powder to canned tomato paste - the powder has a sweeter flavor. It helps if you store it in glass jars instead of the plastic ones that it comes in, and I also vacuum seal the glass jars.

"What a relief to no longer smell garlic on my hands in the middle of the night!"

Should you find yourself using fresh garlic sometime, just rub your hands on some stainless steel and it will take away the scent. For a few years there was a fad of little stainless things you rubbed in your hands to do the trick, but I found if I just rubbed my hands on my stainless kitchen sink it worked great. I don't know if a stainless spoon might have the same effect or not.

Try the granulated garlic at Costco.. I think it is 1/4 tsp to one clove fresh. Uses California garlic, and very good. This is NOT like garlic salt.

sushi, I also use the granulated garlic from time to time when I'm in a hurry, especially for soups or something that cooks for a while.

MTn., I've never tried the garlic in a tube, but use the ginger, which is quite good. I should really try the cilantro, since it goes bad so quickly.

Lars, Thanks for the suggestion about using a mortar and pestle for the garlic. I often use a garlic "rocker," but it needs a solid surface under it. I really do prefer fresh. I've never seen ginger in a jar. Will have to look for it when I'm able to get to a Japanese market.

Thank you for the tip Oly.

works for fishy hands, too.

Very good article as I wasn't sure what an end grain board was so found this.

I have a variety of plastic and wood boards and all wood gets frequent oiling and all plastic goes in the dishwasher which uses boiling water. Serious Eats Cutting Board reviews

After simplifying our lives i have reduced my cutting boards to the thin plastic ones..lightweight ...all sizes...conveniently stored under counter... close to the sink... in upright open slotted sections...then i use a Clorox spray cleaner for stains or any other concerns...no longer desire to lug heavy boards or worry about germs...