A butcher’s block was used originally in the butcher’s shop. It was designed especially for cutting meat. The block is made of wood pieces which have been bonded with glue together. The wood most commonly used for butcher block is sugar maple. The best butcher block is invariably made from hard woods.
Butcher’s blocks can be made with the wood grain perpendicular to the top of the block (end grain) or with the grain of the wood parallel to the top of the block (edge grain). Both methods make a durable butcher block, although end grain is to be preferred.
End grain butchers block is the preferable style of butcher’s block as it helps to keep cleavers sharper. With most end grain butcher’s block being over four inches in thickness, eng grain butcher’s blocks are very tough and durable. Even repeated blows by large meat cleavers do not harm these blocks. On occasion, the surface may need to be re-planed and re oiled, but this does not remove any appreciable amount of the total thickness of the block. This invariably makes the best chopping board.
Edge grain blocks are made of rails of woos that may be full length or jointed in construction. While these blocks are also durable, they are less durable than blocks constructed with the end grain exposed.
The butcher block was only invented about one hundred thirty years ago. Until then, butcher’s used tree rounds to cut meat on. A large section of tree trunk was mounted on legs. These sections had the problem of often splitting or cracking. The cracks proved to be unsanitary, as they provided breading grounds fro bacterial The welded construction of a butcher block makes cracking less likely. Maple was chosen because it is the correct hardness to be long lasting, but soft enough to prevent dulling of cutting tools.
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