Every cook has seen these checkerboard-like cutting boards and is a little thirsty for them. Sure, they’re beautiful, but they’re also functional. Using smaller end-grain wood pieces makes your butcher block harder to cut (which matters not only for aesthetics but also for bacteria), and easier on your favorite knives. But since end-grain boards must be made from multiple pieces of wood, they are usually quite expensive. And that’s why they’re the perfect gift for the chef in your life — a functional indulgence they might not have given themselves, but they’ll be grateful for every day they use it.
A Boardsmith walnut end-grain is the board I’ve been using and cherishing for the past year. Walnut wood, like most maples and fruit woods, is in the sweet spot of hardness that is difficult to cut but easy to move with a knife. It’s got a nice dark, uh, walnut color. Its weight reduces the possibility of it moving around. And every time I cook it makes me feel a little better — as if chopping celery was a kind of luxury I’d been denied before. The cook in your life probably feels the same way. Note that maple is also a great cutting-board wood, and costs $50 less than walnut at Boardsmith’s. —Matthew Korfage
Other great cutting boards: If you don’t have room for a big old butcher-block board, Steelport has a great solution. The SteelPort SteelCore ($280) is a rare thing: a truly innovative cutting board. It’s a still-heavy but very slim board made of end-grain walnut on one side for prepping vegetables and everyday prep, a composite cutting board on the other for raw meat, and steel beam inside for both weight and warp resistance – all in a slim enough package that it’s easy to stash. I’ve probably never found a more useful board, and it’s still worth a look.
On the budget side, this reversible edge-grain block from Boos is also great (if not as great as the end-cut board), and it only costs $87.
