Cutting board sizing and grain
Quick answer
Board size by blade length, and what each grain construction does to a knife edge. There are 12 tables in this set, each one worked through for a specific combination rather than described in general terms.
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 5 inch knife
A 5 inch knife wants a board of at least 9 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A boar...
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 6 inch knife
A 6 inch knife wants a board of at least 10 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A boa...
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 7 inch knife
A 7 inch knife wants a board of at least 11 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A boa...
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 8 inch knife
A 8 inch knife wants a board of at least 12 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A boa...
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 9 inch knife
A 9 inch knife wants a board of at least 13 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A boa...
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 10 inch knife
A 10 inch knife wants a board of at least 14 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A bo...
- Knives
Cutting board size for a 12 inch knife
A 12 inch knife wants a board of at least 16 inches on its long side, and an 18 by 12 inch board is the size most home cooks settle on. A bo...
- Knives
End grain cutting boards
End grain boards score 5 out of 5 for kindness to a knife edge. The knife edge passes between the wood fibres rather than across them, and t...
- Knives
Edge grain cutting boards
Edge grain boards score 4 out of 5 for kindness to a knife edge. Long strips laminated side by side. Most of the benefit of end grain for mu...
- Knives
Face grain cutting boards
Face grain boards score 3 out of 5 for kindness to a knife edge. A flat board with the wide face up. Fine to use, more prone to showing knif...
- Knives
Plastic cutting boards
Plastic boards score 3 out of 5 for kindness to a knife edge. The practical choice for raw meat, because it can be sanitised properly. Retir...
- Knives
Glass, stone or ceramic cutting boards
Glass, stone or ceramic boards score 1 out of 5 for kindness to a knife edge. Do not cut on these. They dull an edge within a few strokes an...
Common questions
Where do these figures come from?
Every number on these pages is calculated from the same material properties and published manufacturer specifications that the calculators use, so the two can never disagree. Each page is labelled as resting on either a published standard or a kitchen convention, and where no defensible figure exists the page says so rather than inventing one.
Why are there so many of these pages?
Because the useful answer is almost always specific. A page that tells you what size pan four seared portions need is far more useful than a page about pan sizing in general, and there are genuinely that many combinations worth working through. Each one carries its own worked table rather than a generic one.
Are the prices on these pages current?
Product prices come from live retailer data at build time and they move constantly, which is why every product card carries that warning rather than presenting a figure as fixed. The calculated figures, meaning areas, capacities, temperatures and hardness, do not change.