Cutting Board that can Take The HEAT?

Wood seems to be OK with the health inspectors around here (that's the
setup of one of our BBQ caterers), but on the other hand, why take a
chance on the hassle? If the guy wants to cater, he will have to keep
the equipment spotless if not for the health department, for his
customers.

If his rig is large enough to pull behind a truck he will probably be
cleaning with a pressure washer anyway and heavy cleaners and methods
certainly won't have an effect on the poly. I agree with EP, go with
poly. Cheap, easy to clean to perfection, and readily available.

Robert

Jay Pique wrote:
> I'm going to make a cutting board/work surface to surround a wood-fired
> smoker - the kind you pull behind a truck. There is an existing steel
> support system that is made to support a work surface, and I'm
> wondering what the best option would be. The surface won't necessarily
> be in direct contact with the metal smoker itself, but it will sit
> within a fraction of an inch of it. He's going to be catering with it,
> so health code issues will be in play. Thanks for any ideas.

Not sure of the relatvie toxicity of the wood, but Bongossi (also known
as azobe) will certainly stand up to the heat - at least initially. It
was used for the Pier 17 decking at the South Street Seaport in
Manhattan where fire code issues were strict. The stuff doesn't
support combustion. You take away the flame and it won't burn anymore.
It's a good teak substitute and tremendously strong.

Any wood subjected to prolonged heat loses some of its heat resistant
properties and will ignite at lower temperatures. That's one of the
reasons for the 2" spacing from chimneys required by code.

I'd look at fabricating a metal bracket to space the cutting board
further from the heat source and use the traditional cutting board
wood.

R

Leon wrote:
> "Jay Pique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I'm going to make a cutting board/work surface to surround a wood-fired
> > smoker - the kind you pull behind a truck. There is an existing steel
> > support system that is made to support a work surface, and I'm
> > wondering what the best option would be. The surface won't necessarily
> > be in direct contact with the metal smoker itself, but it will sit
> > within a fraction of an inch of it. He's going to be catering with it,
> > so health code issues will be in play. Thanks for any ideas.
> >
> > JP
> >
>
> Ipe has a fire rating and holds up outside with no need to protect.

That's along the lines of what I was thinking, although I'm making
removable for transport. I went down and took a look at the set-up and
what I might try to do is put some sort of nonflammable gasket material
between the hot metal drum and the wood itself. I'd like not to have a
large gap that things can fall or get wedged into. Any Gasket Gurus
out there?!

JP

[email protected] wrote:
> Wood seems to be OK with the health inspectors around here (that's the
> setup of one of our BBQ caterers),

I think you need to insulate the space between the wood and the
hot surface with some sort of ceramic or ceramic wool. Maybe some
of the stuff they use to make homemade furnaces over in
rec.crafts.metalworking would work.

>
> If his rig is large enough to pull behind a truck he will probably be
> cleaning with a pressure washer anyway and heavy cleaners and methods
> certainly won't have an effect on the poly. I agree with EP, go with
> poly. Cheap, easy to clean to perfection, and readily available.
>

Actually, it is hard to clean poluethylene cuting boards. The bugs
hide out in the knife cuts and come back out later.

Maybe the bugs hide out in the knife cuts in wood too, but tests
have shown that they don't come back out later.

--

FF

[email protected] wrote:

<<Actually, it is hard to clean poluethylene cuting boards. The bugs
hide out in the knife cuts and come back out later.

Maybe the bugs hide out in the knife cuts in wood too, but tests
have shown that they don't come back out later. >>

I am a bit of an amatuer chef, as are many here. Well, at least I
enjoy cooking...

Anyway, all you say it true. Wood has been shown to be superior in non
retainage of bacterial growth after cleaning when compared to poly.
However, that is for home use.

Note that I did explain my point of view would be cleaning up the rig
with a pressure washer. Mine puts out about 2800 psi, and with the
right cleaner I am thinking the cleaning is a non-issue. I was
thinking more along the lines of UV resistance and ease of cleaning in
the field. I know the restaurants I go to that carve in view of the
customer all use poly; but then again they clean with a bleach solution
and put the boards in their nasty hot commercial dishwashing equipment.
I have never seen anything made from wood stand up to that for long.

Robert

In article <[email protected]>,
Jay Pique <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Leon wrote:
>> "Jay Pique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > I'm going to make a cutting board/work surface to surround a wood-fired
>> > smoker - the kind you pull behind a truck. There is an existing steel
>> > support system that is made to support a work surface, and I'm
>> > wondering what the best option would be. The surface won't necessarily
>> > be in direct contact with the metal smoker itself, but it will sit
>> > within a fraction of an inch of it. He's going to be catering with it,
>> > so health code issues will be in play. Thanks for any ideas.
>> >
>> > JP
>> >
>>
>> Ipe has a fire rating and holds up outside with no need to protect.
>
>That's along the lines of what I was thinking, although I'm making
>removable for transport. I went down and took a look at the set-up and
>what I might try to do is put some sort of nonflammable gasket material
>between the hot metal drum and the wood itself. I'd like not to have a
>large gap that things can fall or get wedged into. Any Gasket Gurus
>out there?!

The final authority is whatever 'department of health', or similar
inspectors that your customer will have to deal with. That is 'whomever'
has jurisdiction over such things _where_ the catered event is held;
as well as wherever he operates out of.

Many jurisdictions allow _only_ "NSF certified" -- that's the "National
Sanitation Foundation" -- food prep and/or food storage equipment. Permanent
surfaces almost have to be stainless steel. Some cook surfaces can be cast
iron. And, some jurisdictions may have an exception for real (end-grain)
butcher block. Anything else has to go through the 'sterilizer'. which
uses nasty chemicals (high-potency lye primarily), and high water temp (185F)
in the cleaning cycle.



If I were you, I'd go to a commercial restaurant supply, see what they have
in NSF certified cutting boards, and use _that_ as my stock for making the
shelf out of.

"Jay Pique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to make a cutting board/work surface to surround a wood-fired
> smoker - the kind you pull behind a truck. There is an existing steel
> support system that is made to support a work surface, and I'm
> wondering what the best option would be. The surface won't necessarily
> be in direct contact with the metal smoker itself, but it will sit
> within a fraction of an inch of it. He's going to be catering with it,
> so health code issues will be in play. Thanks for any ideas.
>
> JP
>

Health inspector won't want wood. Fraction of an inch = Problem. Two
inches? No problem. My smoker has a shelf with a piece of poly cutting
board. Two inches from the smoker (275 degrees maximum) it has held up for
8 or 10 years now. Most plastics deform or melt in the 200 degree range but
with a little distance, it will be OK.

"Jay Pique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> Ipe has a fire rating and holds up outside with no need to protect.
>
> That's along the lines of what I was thinking, although I'm making
> removable for transport. I went down and took a look at the set-up and
> what I might try to do is put some sort of nonflammable gasket material
> between the hot metal drum and the wood itself. I'd like not to have a
> large gap that things can fall or get wedged into. Any Gasket Gurus
> out there?!
>
> JP


I have worked with Ipe for the past several years and put thin scraps in the
fire place. Ipe will burn, so will concrete, however I find that the scraps
burn while exposed to fire after a period time and will usually quickly quit
burning when removed from the fire. I built a cutting surface from Ipe for
a friend that has a large non portable smoker cooker 3 or 4 years ago and
it has held up well.

Gasket? Check a replacement gasket for a Self Cleaning Oven.

"Jay Pique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to make a cutting board/work surface to surround a wood-fired
> smoker - the kind you pull behind a truck. There is an existing steel
> support system that is made to support a work surface, and I'm
> wondering what the best option would be. The surface won't necessarily
> be in direct contact with the metal smoker itself, but it will sit
> within a fraction of an inch of it. He's going to be catering with it,
> so health code issues will be in play. Thanks for any ideas.
>
> JP
>

Ipe has a fire rating and holds up outside with no need to protect.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Note that I did explain my point of view would be cleaning up the rig
> with a pressure washer. Mine puts out about 2800 psi, and with the
> right cleaner I am thinking the cleaning is a non-issue. I was
> thinking more along the lines of UV resistance and ease of cleaning in
> the field. I know the restaurants I go to that carve in view of the
> customer all use poly; but then again they clean with a bleach solution
> and put the boards in their nasty hot commercial dishwashing equipment.
> I have never seen anything made from wood stand up to that for long.

I does not matter what you or I think or what common sense says. If you have
a DOH inspector, he has the last word and it is usually poly.