I used to in our other house b/c it had been cut on by previous owners. It did not look good at all and we had to sand and re-finish it before selling the house (sorry, no pix). DH was not at all happy about it, LOL.

I am thinking of putting a BB for this remodel and I am NOT going to cut on it. HTH

I had them in the old kitchen and liked them because you could refinish and I liked their softness and warmth. But I didn't cut on them. I found it was easier to use cutting boards so you could move what you were chopping to the pot on the stove, or the scraps to the garbage or the sink.

I figured I'd have a hard time finding people who cut on butcher block counters.

To me the whole point of having a butcher block counter would be cutting on them...one giant cutting board. I do understand wanting them to look nice though and I guess that's my issue as well.

In my current set up I have the x-large cutting board on my island, with my range and sink behind me along the counter. I always have to transfer food to the stove or dishes to the sink. In the new house I'd still have the range behind me but I'd put a prep sink in the island to make prepping and cleaning easier. I'd prefer this over a separate cutting board because even with the very large one I have now, things are always rolling off the edge.

So I know a butcher block island would function well for me, but I still worry about how it will look. I want a working kitchen, but I want it to be pretty. Will an obviously used butcher block counter look yucky or will it just look like it belongs to my well used (but lovely) kitchen?

In this dream kitchen I'd have a banquette off to the side, a few barstools at the large island, and the kitchen would be separated from the dining space (and great room beyond) with buffet/hutch partition made from cabinets. So I don't think the island counter would be all that obvious from the dining space, but I'd not know.

There's a difference between a wood counter and a butcher block counter. You're correct that most wood counters here (including my black walnut island top) are not butcher blocks meant for cutting on directly.

I'm linking below the quintessential butcher block thread. Petestein cuts directly on his gorgeous counter. I know there are at least a couple of others here that cut on their butcher blocks, but I'm blanking on names.

I prep on a large black walnut board living on my black walnut island with undermounted prep sink. I could post pic. My range top is behind me on the perimeter. I use small glass prep bowls for storing and transferring chopped ingredients behind me to range top, but sometimes transfer with knife and hand to pot. I don't have much trouble with roll offs. My ideal set up would have a prep sink and range top on the same run with about 4-5' between the two to facilitate easier cutting and transferring.

Cooking in my kitchen is a dream now. I wouldn't trade my large cutting board on my wood counter and the ability to wash the board in the sink for the worry that a wood top I cut on is going to look crummy.

Another option for you is to inset a large butcher block section into the island made of another material. Alabamamommy did this to great effect. I'll try to find pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butcher block island

I have butcherblock inset in my counter right next to my cooktop. I have cut on it for over a year now. I oil it periodically with mineral oil. It has cut marks. I don't care, it's a working kitchen. If it gets bad some day, I can sand it a little and reoil it. I love the convenience.

Here's a recent thread that includes a couple of pictures as well as a discussion of germs. I don't worry a lot about germs. I try to use basic safety procedures, like washing things. We don't get sick often.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butcher Block built into counter

Breezy and Momo, thanks for posting that link. It didnt come up when I searched and it is full of so much helpful information!.

It does bring up one question for me, and that is regarding "stinky foods". I generally cut up both an onion and garlic on my current cutting board with every dinner prep and as a result I have to break out a separate cutting board for fruits or anything that isn't savory. I do wash the large cutting board every evening with dish soap and scrubber, but the strong odor/flavors linger. So I'm not sure how I would handle that on a butcher block (or whatever wood surface) countertop. Maybe I'd have one designated area for odiferous things. My goal would be to minimize the use of any separate cutting boards, hopefully on needed them for meat.

I do. And BTW, I love that walnut counter in the thread breezy linked. Warning - mine doesn't look nearly as good as that one. It's not so much the knife marks that look bad on mine (those are almost invisible, especially from afar), but the stains. I figure I could sand it out someday if I wanted, but I'm to the point where I don't give a flying flip about anything in this house anymore, so YMMV.

My perimeter counters are BB finished with waterlox. Those I don't cut on.

This is an unfinished, unoiled, un-anything piece of birch or beech BB that we threw down as a temporary island counter about 6 yrs ago. It's not pretty, but I love it because it's my kitchen workhorse. And I can abuse the heck out of it and not feel one iota of guilt.

Do I cut on it? Yep, everyday.

It makes me feel relaxed in the kitchen, because I don't have to worry (too much of that elsewhere in my life), and I can pretty much put my knife down anywhere I'm standing, whether it's on the left side of island, right side, across from the fridge, etc. Although I do usually end up cutting in the same general area all the time (the corner nearest the stove and sink). Maybe in my Someday House I'll have just a piece of the counter be BB (~ 2ft x 3ft), and the rest can be "pretty."

If I'm cutting lots of little bits (onions, garlic, etc) that I need to sweep into a pot on the stove, I use one of the little plastic roll-up cutting boards, but not for protection - only because it makes transport easier.

Ginny and Olive, you were both posting at the same time I was. Ginny, I agree with you about germs - we don't worry too much about germs, and we're not sick often.

Olive, I probably shouldn't admit it in public, but I cut raw chicken, beef, pork fat, fish - just about everything - right on the BB. I do clean/wipe between the meats and any veggies (usually do the veggies first, then the meats last). I also cut onions and garlic directly on the BB (I'm not consistent with that little plastic board, and I agree it's a pain to have to keep moving multiple cutting boards around). I don't have any problems with lingering smells.

At the end of the day, I spray the whole top with Mrs. Meyer's lemon or lavender cleaning spray, let it soak in, and then wipe it up. I tried using bleach once, but bleach leaves funny green stains on the wood.

Proof of chicken. Now I'll probably be arrested for having raw chicken and veggies on the same (porous) counter at the same time. Oh well. I haven't died of food poisoning yet. :-)

Great pics, Jen!! I think I'm too much of an anally in-the-box person to cut all over a counter. :) I like,having separate spaces to put my compost bucket, pasta box, container of breadcrumbs, etc so they don't touch any raw food at all lest get icky. Yes, I'm also OCD.

As to onion and garlic smells in a cutting board, I make a baking soda slurry on my walnut board and leave it to sit in the sink for a little time. Then rinse. Smells gone.

Yes, thanks for the photos Jen- they are great! And I think if I had a large enough space, like an entire island, I would go ahead and cut meat on it as well. You are quite brave for admiting it in public, lol!

I will have to try the baking soda slurry or mrs Meyers spray, cause there is nothing worse than having your freshly cut slice of watermelon taste like onion, let me tell you.

Like Jen, I cut everything on my maple, oiled butcher block counter. My entire island is BB and one corner is where I do most prep work. In my previous kitchen just that corner was BB and over the years (30) I sanded it down two or three times. I prep a lot of fruit and berries for jam and jelly some of which stain the counter so after a session of dealing with fruit or jam I do bleach it. It did take me a few days after the island was installed to make the first cut, it looked so beautiful and pristine but it is a working kitchen so I finally chopped something and then I was over it. Love my butcher block.
Linda

This topic has always mystified me.

I don't get the trade off from cutting directly on one's butcher block counter. How hard is it to just pull out the cutting board? Why incur the wear and tear on a permanent surface when a fractional amount of effort would produce a sacrificial surface (i.e the cutting board)?

As to the "purpose" of butcher block: it's cool looking!

We have a Boos Hard Rock Maple island counter, with the oiled finish.

We have had it for about 10 years. We cut right on it, and it is fantastic. It's like having a 7 foot long cutting board!

We, too, have a Boos Maple board for one section of our island (36" x 30") that we cut on. Before we added a lower addition to the island with a granite top, that was where I made bread as well. (Still do for some items.) Transfer from onions and garlic is minimal if we wipe up after cutting. Stains from blueberries, coffee, hot chocolate (like the ring in the food porn picture below) last longer. Just call it patina!

We've had it for 15 years. We used to scrape and oil it religiously every month. Now it's more like every three months. IRL, it looks just like the pictures jenswrens posted.

Scraping and oiling (mineral oil) does a magical job of renewing the surface.

To Clarion's point: for me, it's all about height. We purposely lowered the butcher block island to 34"; very comfortable for prepping. Adding a chopping board would negate that benefit. Plus we have the entire space for chopping if need be.

My comments on the cutting were posted by Ginny, for the most part.
Be aware that the 2 companies I know offer BB in 2 different finishes, as well as unfinished. The acrylic finish is for show as I see it and a surface you would NOT cut on. It gives the BB a satin look and is very nice and cleanable. The oil finish is for a working top that you can cut on and put knife marks in without worry because they can be sanded out and re-oiled. That would be my choice for you.
A word of caution on the sink. No matter which finish you use it goes unsaid that you have to be diligent about wiping up after yourself after using the sink. Standing water will make it look pretty ratty over time if you don't keep up with it.
Good luck. I've sold a few whole BB kitchens in my time and wish I had one myself.

Growing up, my mom had a built in cutting board. I don't remember squares, so it must have been long runs of wood.

I sure am glad I grew up before the media invented germs.

We cut everything on it and just cleaned it with Windex. That's all. I don't recall her ever oiling it, never salting it, never, God knows, sanding it. Just Windex. Then the towel was hung over the base cabinet door for the next use.

We baked on it, made sandwiches for lunch on it, cut cold-cuts on it, chicken, stew meat, dough, I do mean everything. Probably my own fingers at times, since I cut myself a lot. I do recall opening a can and slicing both thumb and index finger trying to get the lid off. On that counter...

I just made my own 24" and 14' wood counter tops (10-12' pieces of maple). Can't call them butcher blocks because I don't want to rile the purists. I haven't done anything about sealing them yet, because I want to color them. My trouble is maple splotches and I want to do it right. Anyway, by the stove, I'll probably cut on it. Where it goes into the dining area? Probably not.

Jenswrens- Great pictures!

My mom and grandmother used our butcher block countertop for everything, too. Soap and water to clean up. When people did most of the dishes in the kitchen sink, I think washing off all the countertops, two or three times a day, was just part of the process. I can't imagine them choosing a countertop that was pretty, but not functional.