A harmless coating is essential for cutting boards as a tiny part of the coat will reach our bodies with food. Can beeswax be used on a cutting board? Is it safe for human health? This article will explain everything about using beeswax on cutting boards.
Can beeswax be used on cutting boards?
Pure beeswax is one of the best products to use on cutting boards, considering its nonharmful attributes, and it shines the wood while keeping the natural look. It also cures a dry, damaged cutting board and the effect last longer for its high-carbon paraffin.
Cutting boards are something that we use every day in our kitchen. There are glass and plastic cutting boards which are a lot more long-lasting than wood, but wooden stuff creates a classic sense of beauty that many people loves.
But do you know washing and caring for wooden cutting boards are different than plastic or glass ones? The wooden cutting board needs a coating to protect the wood from constant moisture exposure.
But naturally, you can’t use everything on your cutting boards. You need to be mindful while applying coating on cutting boards.
The layer must not have any harmful chemicals for health and be eatable as your food will always contact the cutting board, and small parts of the cutting board will reach your body.
Beeswax fulfills all the requirements for coating wooden chopping boards. Bees produce beeswax and are entirely eatable and digestible if no other chemicals are added to the beeswax.
Beeswax is the wax part of honeycomb, and people around the world commonly eat honeycomb collected from beehives. So as you can see, beeswax is completely eatable, and you don’t have to worry about health issues after using it on your wooden chopping board.
But how good does it works as a coat over wood? Beeswax works as good as commercial and synthetic wood coats.
Beeswax preserve and protect the wood like most other wood coat. But beeswax does not interrupt the natural look of wood. The wood can shine with its natural beauty by using beeswax as a coat. The beeswax coat also feels pretty nice and smooth to touch, not just the look.
Beeswax is sold, so once it gets into the wooden pores, it last longer even after regular uses. After beeswax enters the wood pores, the wax gets solid and does not allow water to get into the wood.
Beeswax also cures dry and sun-damaged pice of wood very effectively. As it is harmless and completely natural, you can be free of worries about the harmful chemicals in your food.
Beeswax is not a new invention, people are using it to cure and preserve wood for centuries, but as beeswax was not much abundant, people had to make alternatives.
Now it’s not as popular as other wood coats so you can get it at a very cheap rate due to low demand. Check out if you can use beeswax on those materials.
Beeswax on bamboo cutting board:
Beeswax can be used on all types of wooden cutting boards, including bamboo ones.
Beeswax on wood cutting board:
Beeswax is one of the best natural items on wood cutting boards. It protects the cutting boards from moisture and preserves the wood’s health for a long time.
Is beeswax safe for food?
Beeswax is safe for food, and you can even eat it directly without any issues. Beeswax is made of honey by bees, and it does not have any harmful effects on human health.
It naturally protects bacteria, and fungus, so after using a beeswax coat on wooden chopping boards, no bacteria or fungus will be able to infest your chopping board. If microorganisms colonize your chopping board, that can cause different health complications.
Beeswax seals the tiny pores of the wood and doesn’t let the molds, fungus or bacteria decompose your wooden cutting boards making your food safe to consume.
Is beeswax good for cutting boards?
Beeswax is the best item for curing and preserving cutting boards considering the harmlessness and longevity.
There are some other natural oils, such as coconut oils and mineral oils, that you can use on cutting boards, but they dry up quickly, and you will have to use the oil frequently.
But beeswax does not dry up as it becomes solid inside the wood. A solid thing needs to be liquid first to be vaporized. That’s why beeswax lasts on wood for a longer time.
Beeswax is not only suitable for cutting boards. It also works great for any wooden furniture. But for its harmless attributes, it’s more used on wooden plates, cups, toys etc.
Pros and cons of using beeswax on cutting boards:
Beeswax is excellent for preservative wood and enhances wood’s natural beauty. It’s completely natural and does not have any side effects on human health. Let’s list down the pros and cons of beeswax on cutting boards.
Pros
Makes wood shiny:
Beeswax provides the wood with a shiny finish and keeps the natural look of wood. Many commercial wood coating products fail to preserve the natural looks of wood.
Once you apply beeswax to your cutting board, the board’s finish will look similar for a long time. As beeswax is hydrophobic, you can easily wash your cutting board without harming the wood.
It’s natural:
In the modern age, it’s tough to go all-natural. Synthetic items usually have some types of harmful effects on health, and the production also does significant damage to our environment.
But pure beeswax is natural, and it is similar to or better than many artificial wood coating products.
It’s harmless:
All the natural things are not harmless, and all the artificial stuff does not have harmful effects.
But nowadays, a big part of the population likes the natural things in their daily lives. That is pretty appreciable as the production of artificial things has adverse effects on our environment.
However, when it comes to cutting board coating, the product must be food grade and harmless. Beeswax fulfills that requirement without any doubt.
It’s cheap:
Beeswax is cheaper than manufactured wood coating products. You can get 1 lb of beeswax for under 10$, and you can use that much beeswax for many years to coat your cutting board.
However, biologically beeswax does not come in cheap. 6-8 litter of honey is needed to produce one pound of beeswax. And for that, bees need to collect nectar for about 30 million flowers!
Cons
Hard to remove:
Once you apply beeswax on your cutting board, there is no way to remove it. However, you will have to remove it most of the time.
Turns yellow:
Beeswax turns yellow after a long time, and if you do not use it regularly, the beeswax layer will not be damaged, so that you can apply it again.
Not heat resistant:
Beeswax is heat sensitive and will start to melt if the temperature is above 70 degrees celsius.
Can I use any beeswax on cutting board?
All the natural beeswax is food grade and safe to use on cutting boards. Make sure to buy pure beeswax that has no added chemicals in them. Applying beeswax on your cutting board is also easy. You can also use some natural oil with beeswax to apply it easily.
Take four parts of coconut oil and one part of beeswax. Add beeswax to hot oil and start to apply it to your cutting board. Cover all the cutting boards with beeswax and let the board stand for 6 hours. Then remove the excess beeswax and dry the board for another six hours.
What kind of beeswax is used for cutting boards?
You can use any natural beeswax for the cutting board. Get good quality raw beeswax from trusted sellers. If you just keep your cutting board away from fire, the board will look as good as new for a long time. Check out if you can use those beeswax on your cutting board.
White beeswax:
White beeswax is the best for using light-colored wooden cutting boards.
Yellow beeswax:
Yellow beeswax also does excellent in protecting and shining your cutting boards. It is more suitable for darker wood but works on all.
Raw beeswax:
All types of beeswax can be used for cutting boards, including raw beeswax, as long as it does not contains any added chemicals.
Final thoughts
Cutting boards need a food-grade coating, and beeswax works perfectly as a cutting board coat. It keeps the board looking new and shiny while maintaining the natural beauty of the wood. It is harmless and water and microbes resistant but can not resist heat like other coating options.