My husband was able to cut a piece of wood from a live oak that was removed from our property. He cut a piece, the perfect shape for a cutting board. Now I needed to find a non toxic protective finish. In my mind, something to feed the wood.
We have been on a mission to bring the healthiest ingredients into our lives.
Most of the board butters, cutting board oils, conditioning finishes for cutting boards all seemed to include mineral oil in their recipe. No bueno! That's a petroleum based product and considered toxic. So what about a lovely, olive oil, sunflower oil, walnut oil? Why not? Right? Good idea!!!Noooooo. Because these types of oils can go rancid on the board and create a stinky situation. No bueno.
My brain was not done. Do you get like this? My brain is now searching it's database for info, a better way. It's there and we'll find it.
A few years back, I made beeswax wraps and in my research I was able to find out some pretty amazing things about beeswax.Beeswax is naturally antibacterial, antifungal, edible, waterproof, eco friendly and never goes bad. That's why beeswax wraps never harbor bacteria. I still have my beeswax wraps from two years ago although they do need a refresh. That means a fresh coat of beeswax mix for wraps.
My brain also remembered hearing something about coconut oil having a high smoke point and long shelf life. Maybe these two ingredients can go together to make a board butter? A little research and I found that..the high levels of lauric acid, a potent antimicrobial agent, help to extend coconut oil’s shelf life. Found at https://homediningkitchen.com/what-is-the-shelf-life-of-coconut-oil/ I mean come on, there has to be a recipe for this for cutting boards.
It took some perseverance to find this simple recipe using these 2 perfect ingredients. Thank you to Green and Frugal over at Youtube for your simple short video.
So now I want to share this recipe with you too.
Board Butter Recipe
2 Tbsp Beeswax
6 Tbsp Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Melt in a double boiler situation.
(I actually used the glass jar I was using to store the extra butter and placed it in a small pan of water. Make sure your jar is heat resistant, such as a small mason jelly jar.)
Once the ingredients melt together remove from the heat and set aside to cool. About an hour later I placed the glass jar of board butter into the refrigerator . Once it's cooled and very solid you can remove it from the frig.
Take about a teaspoon worth of the board butter and with your hands and just melt it all over the board. It's going to feel hard when you first take it out of the little glass jar but with the heat of your hand it will melt into the board. Let it set in for 5-10 minutes.
Now, take a soft cloth, an old tee shirt is best, and remove all the butter that you can.Wipe all the excess off. Find a clean spot on your cloth and buff the top. You will begin to see it shine.
Use cool water for cleaning you board. Hot water will reactivate the beeswax and the coconut oil. However, not to worry the beeswax is anti bacterial.
Plus, you can always recondition the board with your DIY stash of board butter.
Enjoy.
With love and gratitude
Michele
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