John Boos Chop-N-Slice

I received the Maple Chop & Slice 1 1/2" board for Xmas '09, and despite all the hype, I am disappointed with it. It began to split within a few weeks and now has several splits. As a home chef, I use the board daily, it is not allowed to remain 'wet' (such as with fruit juices), is wiped clean after each project and is wiped clean and dried, not immersed. It was conditioned before use and regularly since. Therefore, the three stars. Otherwise, the size and weight is great. If I had to buy one (which I probably will sooner than later) again, I would opt for an end cut and thicker board.

BTW, anyone know if there is a warranty on their products? I emailed BooS customer service but never received a reply.

The John Boos Chop-N-Slice cutting board is a very good board that exceeded my expectations. Over the holidays, my in-laws were staying with us and did most of the cooking. I was worried that my brand new board would not survive the abuse because of the way they cleaned and used it. Normally, I would clean the board with a wet soapy towel and immediately rinse and dry. My in-laws on-the-other-hand would wash it in the sink with copious amounts of running hot water and lots of soap and let it air on the dish rack. The cutting board held well despite this repetitive cleaning, and I didn't notice any warping or splitting which I noticed on my previous wooden cutting boards. I did see some splintering on the corners which is expected since this board's edges are not rounded.

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This is a decent cutting surface to be used as a back up or if you cook with others and want a second surface or have very tight kitchen space. It is fairly small, but since I have a large end grain board, it is sized right as a small backup board for me. I will use one side for small cutting jobs and the other surface as a cheese and cracker/appetizer board for get togethers.

I have a few issues with the board at the price. The edges have no radius on them and are uncomfortably sharp. They need to be sanded round before use in my view. This should be done with an 1/8" or 1/4" machined radius on all corners during manufacture.

Secondly the board came with a plane mark stripe (done when planing the surface in manufacture) across the entire width of one cutting surface. The stripe is brown which leads me to believe it was burnt into the surface by the cutting blades as the board stopped moving through the planer for some reason.

Finally, the the other side had two noticeable compression dents right out of the box. Rock Maple is not easy to dent. This board was not packed well and the board was loose in the box with no padding on the interior of the box on the bottom surface. Sure enough, there were two impact perforation dents on the bottom of the box that convince me improper packing & shipping resulted in the compression dents.

That said, at this price a plane mark across an entire surface width, and the sharp edges add to my mark down of two stars. It is functional, but at the price with shipping, these finish issues are not acceptable in my book.

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I looked quite a long time for a cutting board to use on my kitchen island and finally decided on the Boos 20" x 15" x 1.5". It arrived extremely well packaged and in perfect condition.

The actual thickness was 1.25", but this didn't detract from its usability. I chose this size because I wanted something substantial enough for usual cutting chores, but also something that would still fit (mostly) into the sink for washing/rinsing. This fit the bill perfectly.

It first appeared that it would slide around the counter a bit while being used, but I actually haven't found it to be a problem (and I use it a lot now).

Quality is very good and on par with what one would expect from a John Boos product. Care is typical and I also highly recommend using the Mystery Oil initially and regularly to keep your board in top shape. I believe reports of splitting or drying are directly related to a lack of care.

I'd buy this again highly recommended.

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I'm a big fan of Boos traditional butcher blocks, but this clearly does not live up to the standards of Boos. I picked this up for my short stint in a small apartment where my butcher block was not practical. I oiled regularly, but the board developed a rough texture and begin to warp after a few weeks. I was useful for what it was, but will not make the trip back home and will find itself in a landfill.

Do yourself and stick with the thicker, end grain butcher blocks.