Dave Benson, one of the founders and the CEO of Epicurean Cutting Boards Inc., has been coming on strong with knife friendly and ecologically friendly cutting surfaces in the last few years. His cutting boards are now sold worldwide in over 4,000 stores, but the lineage of this kitchen product comes not from chefs or restaurateurs but from skate boarders. Greg Benson, Dave Benson and Tony Ciardelli, the founders of Epicurean Cutting Boards Inc., based out of Duluth, Minnesota started off by producing innovative skateboard ramps and parks throughout the US under the name TrueRide, but as of 2007, they have been focusing on Epicurean cutting boards and their outdoor furniture under the Loll brand, which has been featured in Dwell magazine.
Loll Design Chair
Dave Benson and gang started off making skate parks out of composite wood and after having scraps left over (as the story goes), they offered squares of the ‘leftover’ board surface to family and friends as cutting boards. And the rest is history I guess. Now they are one of the major cutting board makers in the country, and they are in every major kitchen store to include Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, Bed Bath & Beyond and more.
So here is my take on their boards: I absolutely love them, and when I have a knife in hand and look through all of my cutting boards, 7 times out of 10 I go for an Epicurean. They are light, easy to clean, friendly on your knives and good for the environment.
Recently, I did a post on cutting boards and listed some criticisms of the boards that have been raised on Amazon.com and the various cooking forums. Some have complained about an odd smell from the sealant or resin, yet others complained that they scarred too easily, and some said that the slate boards left ‘dark bits’ in the food.
A review of the company’s website gave the following responses to these issues:
About the scarring they say: “Yes, it is normal for your knives to score your surface. Because our surfaces are knife-friendly (unlike glass or stone), it means they are soft enough that they will not bend the edges of your knives, but knives will score the surface.”
I must admit that the critics that mentioned the scoring of the surface are a bit odd to me. I have used light-colored boards and you can’t see the scoring as much with light as with dark boards, and yes, softer boards will score more than harder woods, but harder woods are also harder on knives — especially if you use expensive Japanese knives. And just today I used a brand new board from their line of recycled cutting surfaces, and I found that there was actually something very satisfying about scoring it. Just as you need to season a cast iron skillet, you need to cut up a cutting board.
About the smell they say: “Our cutting surfaces can have a ‘newly manufactured’ odor when they are used for the first time. We recommend washing your Epicurean® cutting surfaces in the dishwasher or with hot soapy water. The odor will dissipate after approximately 3-4 washings.”
I have to say that I have almost never smelled any foul odor when using these cutting boards. I am sure there is some smell at first, but I have never noticed it.
About wood particles coming off in food they say: “Over time, you may find that tiny particles from your cutting surface are appearing on food being prepared. This can occur due to the nature of the product and is more noticeable with our slate surface color. Your Epicurean® cutting surface is certified by the National Sanitary Foundation to be non-toxic and will not cause harm if particles are ingested. You may use a fine grit sandpaper to smooth and resurface your board, giving it a new and smooth finish. This will decrease the likelihood of particles appearing in your food and give you a fresh, smooth surface for your food preparation.”
Once again, I have never noticed this happening, but I have always used lighter colored boards. The new recycled boards are described (in color) as toasted nutmeg, and they are definitely darker, so I will let you know if ‘nutmeg-colored’ debris comes off in my food.
There was another criticism that seemed to come up fairly often on Amazon.com and that was that the boards slipped around a lot while cutting. This is true if you use the boards without the grippers or any other ad hoc item such as a wet paper towel to prevent slipping, but as the company has been focusing on their cutting boards in the last couple of years, there are many more options for those worried about boards slipping. There are light colored boards, professional boards, gripper boards, grooved boards, recycled boards and many other designs too.
In terms of cutting boards, I think this company is as good as it gets. Yes, they are from Minnesota, and I am too but I just learned that they were based out of Duluth last week. I used their boards long before I migrated up north. I am also not part of the company nor do I get any compensation from them. I just like their boards. Happy cutting.
You can buy Epicurean boards at Amazon
