Does a glass cutting board dull your knife?
Yes. Glass, marble and slate boards don't give under the blade, so each cut rolls the thin edge over and the knife soon crushes instead of slicing. Prep on a wood or soft plastic board instead, and keep glass or stone for serving. If the board clinks when the knife lands, it is too hard for chopping.
How to do it
- Check your board with the clink testLower the knife edge lightly onto the board. A sharp clink or click usually means glass, stone or ceramic, which is too hard for daily chopping.
- Move daily prep to a wood or soft plastic boardA hardwood board such as maple or walnut, or a soft polyethylene board, gives slightly under the edge, so the edge stays straight much longer.
- Keep the glass or stone board for servingUse it for cheese, charcuterie or as a trivet, where you are not cutting down to the surface.
- Hone the edge to straighten what has already rolledA few light strokes on a honing rod usually realign a rolled edge. If the knife still squashes a tomato or snags paper afterward, it needs sharpening.
Questions that come up
Is a bamboo board a good alternative to glass?
Bamboo is much kinder to an edge than glass, but it is harder than maple or walnut and held together with glue, so it dulls knives somewhat faster than a good wood board. It works fine for most home cooks. If you own a very hard or pricey Japanese knife, maple, walnut or soft plastic is the safer choice.
Isn't glass more hygienic than wood or plastic?
Glass is easy to sanitize, but wood and plastic are safe when cleaned properly. Wash with hot soapy water after raw meat, dry the board fully, and replace plastic boards once deep grooves form, since those are hard to clean. Many cooks keep a plastic board for raw meat and a wood one for everything else.
My knife is already dull from a glass board. Is it ruined?
Usually not. Most of the damage is a rolled edge, which a honing rod can often straighten in a few strokes. If the knife still crushes a tomato or snags paper after honing, the edge has worn down and needs a proper sharpening, on a whetstone at home or at a sharpening service. Small chips take more work but are usually fixable.
Full transcript
Dull knife? Chop on wood, not glass. Glass and stone don't give, so each cut rolls the edge over. Prep on wood or soft plastic instead, and keep glass for serving. Two identical knives, 100 chops each. Only the wood one still slices clean.