Gray Three-Piece Reversible Cutting Board Set

Three boards in three sizes, for the reason that one board is never the right size. The large one takes a chicken; the medium one takes an onion and a knife without either falling off the edge; the small one takes a lime and goes in the dishwasher without displacing anything. This is the grey set, and it is the cheapest of the six.

Each board is moulded from food-grade polypropylene, which is the material that sits between wood and glass and avoids the flaws of both. Wood absorbs, splits along the grain and cannot go in a dishwasher. Glass destroys a knife edge within weeks. Polypropylene takes a blade without blunting it, does not soak up juices, and washes at machine temperature.

Both faces are usable, and the boards are reversible for a practical reason rather than a marketing one: it lets you keep one side for raw ingredients and the other for cooked or ready-to-eat food without owning twice as many boards. A juice groove runs around the perimeter of each face, which is what stops the liquid from a carved roast or a sliced tomato running off the edge onto the worktop.

The handle cut-outs are textured, so a wet board does not rotate under the knife or slide off the counter edge when you tilt it to scrape. That, more than the material, is what makes a plastic board safe to use quickly. When you are done, all three go on the dishwasher rack; polypropylene does not warp at wash temperature the way a thin board will.

The short version

• Three graduated sizes: large for carving, medium for prep, small for garnish
• Food-grade polypropylene: takes a blade without blunting it
• Reversible faces let you separate raw and ready-to-eat on one board
• Juice groove on each face contains liquid from meat and juicy fruit
• Textured handle cut-outs stop the board rotating; dishwasher safe

Who it suits

Specification