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Can I use olive oil for this?

laceyvail 6A, WV

16 years ago

Yesterday I made my every three week trip (45 minute drive) to a large supermarket and bought a bamboo cutting board. Not until I got home did I see the very tiny warning to oil it daily for a week with some kind of bamboo oil before using. I'm not going back for three more weeks, and to tell the truth, I didn't see any oil in the display. Can I oil it with olive oil?

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Comments (9)

cloudy_christine
16 years ago
It's better to use mineral oil, because olive oil (and other food oils) can turn rancid. Mineral oil is available in most supermarkets.
lindac
16 years ago
Cocoanut oil is also good as it doesn't readily turn rancid.
Linda C
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doucanoe
16 years ago
I saw a bit by Alton Brown recently on cutting board care and he uses walnut oil.

Linda
User
16 years ago
I use mineral oil on all my boards including the bamboo one. It is readily available in most drugstores and is very reasonably priced.

I wouldn't use Olive Oil.
Cloud Swift
16 years ago
Walnut oil is a very good finish because it cures so it provides a long term finish - many others evaporate off. My husband sometimes uses it to finish bowls. Linseed and tung oil are also curing oils. I think mineral oil isn't. Curing goes faster when the object is exposed to light.

But some people prefer not to use walnut oil because of concern about whether food prepared on the surface could be a problem for a person with a nut allergy.
annie1992
16 years ago
I agree that olive oil could go rancid although in a pinch I've used plain old vegetable oil. In addition, olive oil really does have a distinctive taste which I might not want in everything.

I use (as Dad has used before me for 5 or 6 decades) food grade linseed oil. I get it at the local big box home improvement place and it's pretty cheap, I think less than $4 for quite a good sized container.

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azzalea
16 years ago
I stick with food grade mineral oil (available in the laxative section of your drug store or supermarket). It won't go rancid, won't flavor your food, won't adversely affect anyone with a nut allergy and is perfectly safe to be used around food.

It's the oils that are based from living things (plants/animals) that are more likely to go ranced. The mineral oil is more stable for long term use.

When I make my spoons, I like to oil them, let it soak in well, wipe off, let them dry some. Sand with really find sand paper, clean well. And repeat the process several times. You get a really nice, smooth finish that way.
laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for your advice. I'm going in to my small town near me today, and I'll try to find mineral oil there. If I can't, the board will have to wait until I make that 45 minute drive again.
cat_mom
16 years ago
Williams-Sonoma and BB&B both sell Tree Spirit brand mineral oil for use with hardwood bowls and boards. At BB&B you can use a coupon for the purchase!

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