What is END GRAIN anyway?

End grain cutting boards are generally made with little blocks of wood glued together with the grain running vertically. Imagine looking at the end of a log… that is the end grain. Cutting board artisans cut the blocks and glue them all together. Many times, end grain cutting boards will have multiple colors or colored strips (like pictured above) which is mostly just for aesthetics.

First, the end grain cutting boards are better for your knives. Think of the vertical fibers of the wood like a paint brush. If you drag a knife through the end of the bristles of a paint brush the knife slips easily between the fibers. It isn’t like edge grain boards destroy your knives. The difference is somewhat nominal but there is the difference.

Also, because the knife slips between the fibers of the wood instead of cutting the fibers the end grain cutting boards are more durable and don’t get the same slash marks you might see in an edge grain board. There will still be some knife marks but the fibers do a good job of “self-healing” and bouncing back to their original shape.

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