End Grain VS Long Grain
End Grain cutting boards considered to be a premium product, but all have it's cons and prons
Bullet Points
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End Grain keeps your knife sharper longer.
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End grain is resistant to cuts and scarring and is even self-healing over time.
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End Grain it easier to clean and more sanitary.
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Long Grain board can be thing, it is easier and faster to make, as a result it is cost less to produce.
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Long Grain cutting boards are usually more attractive but thay are better suited as serving trays.
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Long Grain is a very durable boards but with time, eventually, you will start to chop off some woodchips from it and they will end up in your food.
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Don't buy plastic, and don't cut on glass or ceramic. Same reason - plastic or ceramic chips is the last thing you need on your plate.
End Grain is wherever you can see the tree rings. The other sides, that's Long Grain.
The most common example of End Grain is a cutting board or butcher block. Pieces are glued together with the cut end facing up, usually in a checkerboard pattern. End grain is used for a reason! Think about a bundle of straws, but imagine the straws microscopically thin and hard. Now imagine someone splitting logs for a fireplace. We bring the axe down where we can see the rings and the wood splits. This is splitting the straws into bundled sections, its easier to push the straws apart, instead of cutting them into smaller straws. This applies to your knife as well. As you cut through your vegetables on an endgrain cutting board, the thin knife edge finds its way in between the bundled straws and slightly pushes them apart. This is great, because it keeps your knife sharper over time and it also produces much fewer scratches on your beautiful cutting board. So, you're actually cutting between the wood fibers, keeping the board sharper longer and making it easier to clean and thus more sanitary.
A Long Grain or (edge grain or face grain) cutting board scratches easily. The image on the bottom left is a blown up version of a Face Grain cutting board. The knife comes down across the grain structure of the wood. You could cut with the tubes, but ultimately, the structure between the tubes will be separated, and pieces of the board may splinter out. The knives will ultimately scratch and damage the tubular structure and it will dull your knife faster. Long Grain cutting boards are usually more attractive and are better suited as serving trays.
Just a reminder, keep you wood cutting boards out of the dishwasher. If they are looking dry and worn out, you can coat them with butcher block conditioner. Cover them with as much as the board will soak in, then wipe of excess. Do this a few times a year. Olive oil and others may spoil over time and shouldn't be used as a treatment.
If you cook most nights, and your knife is your best friend. Maybe you have kitchen gadgets, maybe you don't, but you know that your knife is going to do everything you need it to, and any gadgetry is just a cherry on top. Few will have a Long Grain board, and many will have an End Grain cutting board. You probably will have multiples of each, but your End Grain is your go-to, must-have for making dinner.