Plastic and wood have different characteristics, so you have to handle them differently.
Plastic cutting boards can be placed in the dishwasher, where they can be sanitized by washing at high temperatures. But wood cutting boards would quickly be ruined by a dishwasher, and not everyone owns a dishwasher. If you’re washing a cutting board by hand, you should:
- Rinse the debris off the cutting board (being careful not to splatter contaminated water all over the place);
- Scrub the cutting board with soap and water (to get out anything in the scratches or grooves on the board’s surface); and
- Sanitize the cutting board (you should use different sanitizers for wood cutting boards than for plastic ones).
For plastic cutting boards, you should use a chlorine-based sanitizer, such as a solution of bleach and water (one tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water – has a shelf life of a week or two). But for wood cutting boards, you should use a quaternary ammonium sanitizer, such as a solution of Mr. Clean and water (follow the dilution instructions on the label).
“This is because chlorine binds very easily to organic materials, like the wood in a cutting board, which neutralizes its antibacterial properties,” Chapman says. “Quaternary ammonium is more effective at killing bacteria on wood or other organic surfaces.”
It’s worth noting that you should also sanitize your kitchen sponge/rag/brush after you’ve used it to scrub the chicken-juice off your cutting board – or else you run the risk of contaminating the next thing you wash (which is the exact opposite of what you’re trying to do).
The last step in cleaning your cutting board is an important one – dry it.
“Make sure you put the cutting board somewhere that air circulates, so that it can dry completely,” Chapman says. Bacteria need moisture to grow, and you don’t want to give them a welcoming environment.