I have two butcher blocks, one on each side of the range. They are end grain and we chop on them all the time.

NO!

I had a butcherblock counter. I would cut a sandwich on it, but I NEVER chopped on it w/ a sharp knife.

I do not like the look of rough countertop, and the main prep area was also the main focal area of the kitchen.

I think of my kitchen as a workroom, yes. But I want it to look well-maintained, and scarred butcherblock does not say 'well maintained."

Especially not on a countertop. It would be OK--up to a certain point--on a cutting board, but even then, if it started to get too scarred, I'd want to ditch it and get a fresh one.

I also did other stuff than food prep on that stretch--I rolled out pie crusts or biscuits, I did crafts sometimes, I set up the coffee pot up for visiting company to get their morning cup, etc. I didn't want it to look raggedy.

It has just never been that hard for me to get out a cutting board.

I also would assume, if I chopped directly on my countertop, that I'd have to replace the counter if I ever put it on the market.

You may not have the same setup in your kitchen.

But I know that no matter what shape *my* kitchen had, no matter where I did what, I would not want the permanent, nonremovable part of my work surface to get chewed up or scarred.

It would make me feel bad.

I read this title quickly as "Do you chop wood on your counter top?" I had some very odd mental images of people wailing away with a chainsaw. (I think that voids the warranty.)

No - I prefer the way it looks now rather than what my cutting boards look like. But I'm kind of anal - if you want to chop on it and like the look you should - lots of people do. A friend of mine does and has had her DH sand it down when she wanted to "renew" the surface.

I should probably ammend my original, overly enthusiastic statement: If I saw that my chopping was in any way adversely affecting my beautiful blocks I am quite certain that I would use the little mats over them. On the other hand, I could sand....

I don't have a wood countertop.. but if I will I will definitely chop on it!! and if later I don't like the look ... i will sand again!!
I like the idea to use things and don't buy and don't used!!! life is one!! enjoy!!
it's like when people ask me about the stainless steel countertop.. I alwasy said ... I wish to bring people in Italy and see my italian butcher shop.. the countertop in SS is soo old and sooo bit-up that is wonderfull!!

I thought we would, but we haven't. We got the oiled finish on purpose, so that we could chop on it, but it's so pretty... I think wood countertops look really cool when they're old well-used, but I don't know if we're brave enough to take the first chop on it!

Yes, absolutely. The reason I got the island surface I did (Boos maple butcherblock) was so I could cut directly on it.

If the scratches get too deep or I for some reason want to, I can always sand out the scratch and reoil and it's as good as new.

I don't cut meat on it, BTW.

There have been threads on this topic - you could do a search and likely come up with more than a few!

I wanted what I think is the best of both worlds: My prep counter will be marble, dropped 3 inches from the normal counter height. On top of that will be a 3 cm. thick free-standing butcher block cutting board with a handle for lifting. I want it to be the largest size that I'll be able to lift off the counter when I want to use the marble for pastry work. DH is making it out of the butcher-block island countertop we salvaged from the old kitchen. And if it gets really scruffy from cutting, he can take it back down to his work bench and re-sand it.

I had edge grain rock maple BB in my last kitchen & I chose it again for my new kitchen, the main reason being the functionality of cutting on it. I use cutting boards for meat, but basically, I think they're a PITA & one more thing to clean.

I oil my counters 1-2 times a year & I don't find that they look overly scarred or beat up; a serrated knife will chew up BB & I avoid those. I suspect that dark species of wood like walnut would tend to look faded & dry more than a light wood, but I'm guessing. IMO old cutting boards look particularily bad because of water damage caused by submerging or soaking them or putting them in the DW - all things that shouldn't be a problem with a counter top that's reasonably cared for.

Of course, if you want a countertop that looks like fine furniture with an unblemished finish & exquisite grain, cutting on it would not be the way to go.

Thanks for the input everyone. :)

I chop vegetables on my edge grain maple island/peninsula daily.
All vegetable and fruit preaparation starts out on that island, as well as all my baking,
including kneading bread dough on it regularly.
The island looks like we use it.
And we love it.
Before we remodeled we had a similar maple work table for 25 years which also saw hard use.