Red Three-Piece Reversible Cutting Board Set

Commercial kitchens colour-code their boards, and the code is not arbitrary. Red is raw meat. The point is that nobody has to remember which board was used for what: the colour carries the instruction, so a board that touched raw chicken never ends up under a salad. This set puts that system into a home kitchen for the price of one board set.

Using colour rather than memory is the only cross-contamination control that survives a busy evening. You can intend to wash a board between raw and cooked and still not do it when three things need attention at once. A red board is self-explanatory to everyone in the house, including whoever is helping and has never heard of the system.

The boards themselves are the standard build: three graduated sizes in food-grade polypropylene, reversible so both faces work, with a juice groove running around each face. The groove earns its place here more than anywhere, because raw meat releases liquid and that liquid is exactly what you do not want running onto a worktop.

Textured handle cut-outs keep the board still while you work and give you something to hold when it is wet. One thing to check before you buy: this is the one board set in the range whose listing asks for hand washing only, where the grey, black and navy sets are given as dishwasher safe. For a board you intend to use for raw meat that is worth knowing in advance — it means washing up at the sink rather than leaving it to a machine cycle.

The short version

• Red is the professional colour code for raw meat and poultry
• Colour-coding works when memory and good intentions do not
• Juice groove on each face contains the liquid raw meat releases
• Three graduated sizes in knife-friendly food-grade polypropylene
• Hand wash only — the one set in the range not listed for the dishwasher

Who it suits

Specification