I discovered this wood fiber style of cutting board about 5 years ago. I started with an 11.5" x 9" Epicurean board and was blown away with how great the material is. If you haven't used a wood fiber board yet, you're missing out. They're not beautiful like some $$$$ wood boards out there, but they don't look cheap and for everyday cooking, wood fiber boards work very well. It's a sustainable material, non-porous, very easy to clean, dishwasher safe, lightweight enough to move around but sturdy and not flimsy, easy on your knives, durable, and dries quickly.
I wanted a larger board, and searching on Amazon found the Sage brand. I opted for Sage over Epicurean mainly because Sage is based in Seattle and uses wood fiber from a supplier who sources it from the Seattle area. I try to take that kind of thing into consideration when making a purchase. I wasn't able to find out where Epicurean gets their raw material from, but they're based in Minnesota. Nothing wrong with that, just not close to me like Seattle is. Also, this was an opportunity to compare two brands of a similar product.
I purchased this Natural color Sage board in June 2011, so I've been using it for a little over 18 months. I hardly ever write reviews, but I like this product so much and it's so woefully under-reviewed on here that I wanted to share my experience.
This board is great. It's easy to clean. A quick wipe down with a damp paper towel is usually all the cleaning that's needed. Food residue doesn't grab onto the surface like I've experienced with (admittedly cheap) wood boards. It dries quickly. Even after a full scrub in the sink, the board dries completely within about 15 minutes. Outstanding. After a quick wipe down with a damp paper towel, the board dries in just a couple minutes.
Not much to say about the performance other than that it works well. My knife moves quickly over the surface. Wood fiber boards show knife marks, and after much use you'll pretty clearly see where you do your chopping on the board. The knife marks don't mar the surface to any noticeable depth though, and so it doesn't affect performance or cleaning the way knife marks do on a plastic board.
I saw another reviewer mention that when they peeled the sticker off their board, it was a lighter color underneath the sticker. I did not experience that. My Natural color board was uniform. The color was initially fairly light, but has now darkened into a warmer tan.
The board has little hard rubbery feet on one side. I pretty much only use the top side, but the feet are small enough that you could flip the board and use the bottom without any issue.
My only criticism is that the board I received was not flat enough to sit on the counter without rocking slightly. It's not severe, and for a board this big and for as little money as you pay for it, I don't think it's that big of a deal. I use a couple squares of drawer liner under the board to keep it from rocking and from sliding around. Works great, and frankly even if the board was perfectly flat, I would use the drawer liner anyway, just to keep it as stable as possible.
Finally, a word about the Sage board compared to the Epicurean board I have: As far as I can tell, there is little-to-no difference in the functionality of the boards. They both exhibit excellent, similar characteristics in terms of durability, cleaning, and performance. I see the knife mark wear area more clearly on the Epicurean board, but that may be due to the fact that 1) it's a darker reddish-brown tan color than the Sage board, and 2) my Epicurean board is about twice as old. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase either brand again.
Highly recommended!
These boards are amazing. I use mine for everything.
They stay secure while chopping and while crushing with my rolling pin! I am so accustomed to putting a wet kitchen rag under my board to keep it still only to have it slip. This one is so nice. No matter how wet the counter top is the board stays put.
I roll sugar cookies on it which makes clean up a breeze. The texture works like my pastry cloth for sugar cookies and biscuits. When I'm done I just carry it to the trash and sweep the excess flour away.
I also have a smaller size which I use for bread and brie cheese. It is the perfect serving piece. This piece I also use for a trivet on the table under my hot dishes.
This really is a perfect board for every kitchen.
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Got this board to use when I got my fancy new chef's knife and wanted to protect the knife. The board is perfect size and shape for use on my kitchen island and I use it daily.
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The first day, this board was great it's large, flat, great cutting surface, and the non-skid feet worked perfectly. By day 3 the feet weren't touching the marble surface any more and the board was just spinning on its centerpoint. It looks like the board absorbed water on its underside, ballooned and distorted.
I'm sending it back.
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I had done some research on good cutting boards and was excited to try this. When it came and I removed the large sticker on the front of it, the area under the sticker was lighter than the rest of the board. If it had been on the back I would have kept it but I just couldn't live with the two toned effect. I'd like to have the board but just didn't want to take the chance for the same thing happening with a replacement.
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I have been using the Wiltshire Eclipse Santoku knife for about 3 years now as my #1 kitchen knife. I have bought similar versions of santoku designs as well as other knife styles and I faithfully come back to this one. This knife is a great size, design & balance. Three things this knife has to its credit are: 1.Unmatched versatility from parsley to pumpkin 2. Perfectly weighted. 3. Awesome handle design is very comfortable which allows hours of prep without fatigue. The fact that this knife has a retail value of only $15.99 at Kmart is anyones guess. All-round great knife.
