Whether you work in a high street butchery or behind a supermarket shop counter, your butchers block is an essential day-to-day tool. Different butchers favour different types - polytopped butchers blocks and stands are known for their ability to take a lot of punishment and tend to be the preferred option for a lot of butchers these days, but wooden butchers blocks and boards are still a favourite of butchers up and down the country.

You can find both amongst our range here at Butchers Equipment Warehouse. Whichever you choose though, care and maintenance needs to be a key priority if you want to get the best value out of your butchers block. Here are a couple of the best ways to do that.

Caring for your butchers block on a day-to-day basis

In a fast-paced commercial environment, wooden butchers blocks and boards tend to build up a lot of debris over a relatively short period of time, which makes daily care an absolute necessity - not just for efficiency and economical purposes, but hygiene too.

You’ll need to have a block brush or scraper handy to remove scraps of meat, or other type of debris which may have become glued-on to your block for whatever reason. Then, just wipe it away with a clean cloth. That’s really all there is to it! We know that it can be tempting to wash or soak your block as you might do with lots of other pieces of kitchenware, but we’d strongly advise against it. This cause serious and sometimes irreversible damage to your block.

Sometimes, the presence of wet foods can cause it to become swollen. If that happens, don’t worry. Just scatter a liberal amount of dry salt across the surface, and leave it overnight. Then, scrape off the salt in the morning.

Weekly care

Ideally, you’ll want to avoid the overuse of one side of your butchers block, even if it’s a polytopped butchers block. Sustained activity on one side for long periods can start causing premature wear, and ultimately shorten its useful lifespan. To avoid this, it’s best to turn your block over once a week, which halves the wear and tear it has to go through, equating to double the operational lifespan.

Another good thing to do on a regular basis is occasionally wipe the surface with light vegetable oil. What that does is rejuvenate the end grain, helping it to look good and function smoothly.

Butcher-chopping-meat

Don’t forget to spin your block monthly

We don’t mean the full 360°, although we’re sure that might be fun to watch. No, we just mean rotate your block 180°, while keeping the same side facing the ceiling. This essentially serves the same function as flipping like we’ve outlined above - it prevents the unnecessary build up of incisions on one side, which should lengthen the lifespan of even the toughest butchers blocks and tables.

If a wooden butchers block develops cracks, then don’t forget to ensure that you’re using the correct butcher block filler to tackle the issue. Then, you can sand down the block and re-oil it, minimising any trace of the damage.

And if you need a replacement, that’s what we’re here for. Here at Butchers Equipment Warehouse, we are your one-stop shop for anything you could need for preparing your products for your customers, and our stock includes a broad choice of butchers blocks and stands, as well as their wooden counterparts. Feel free to browse them right here on our site - and if you need any advice or you’re looking for anything in particular, don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01254 427761.