Welcome to cooking equipment Guide
Camp Cooking Equipment Outdoor Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.
The Advantages Of Bamboo Cutting Boards
from:Bamboo cutting boards are becoming quite popular. But how to they stack up compared to traditional hardwood boards, or plastic ones?
Well, lets start with the plant itself.
-Bamboo is highly sustainable. Some varieties can grow up to two feet per day, and ready diameters of 120 foot around. Bamboo is a grass, which means that it propagates itself by sending out new shoots underground. This means that it does not need to be replanted.
-The varieties of bamboo used to make cutting boards are generally not from the habitats of the giant panda. Chalk up one more for environmental strengths.
-Bamboo is 16% harder than hard maple, a wood commonly used to make cutting boards.
-Due to it's hardness, bamboo is less porous than hardwoods. It soaks up less water, and thus it soaks up less bacteria.
-Bamboo cutting boards are made up of small pieces of bamboo glued together. This means that quality construction is important, as is choosing a board made from formaldehyde free glue. Formaldehyde is -nasty- stuff. Luckily, anything that has the 'non-toxic' label will not have formaldehydes.
Not too bad.
Sounds pretty good so far. But how do bamboo cutting boards perform?
In my experience, pretty darn well.
As with any wooden cutting board, you have to be careful not to soak it in water for too long, otherwise it will swell (though it doesn't swell as easily as most hardwoods). The hardness of bamboo means that it will wear well (and is hard to scar with a knife) while at the same time being soft enough not to damage or blunt your knife, unlike glass and some polymer boards.
While bamboo doesn't clean up as easily as a plastic board (which can be thrown in the dishwasher) they do look a lot better. Furthermore, bamboo still beats out plastics in terms of how well it wears. Because plastic is so soft, it is easy to scar it with a knife. These scars can hold food, and germs.
Bamboo's porosity (is that even I word? it is now!) means that they hold very little moisture. Living in a humid environment, I've had problems with hardwood boards growing bacteria and mold (ew!). However I've not yet had any trouble with bamboo.
Care is easy. Mineral oil can be used on bamboo to help retain waterproofing, luster, and looks. While on the cleaning side of things, bamboo is as easy to take care of as hardwood.
Bede Fahey is a College student from Central PA, who is involved in the promotion of 'green' activities and behaviors through various blogs and websites. He is passionate about cooking.
Camp Cooking Equipment Outdoor News
Some great gift ideas for outdoor enthusiasts - Seattle Times
Looking for outdoor-related gifts? Here are some to look at: (back row, from left) Funky Colored Flames, Tie Boss Brand rope safety equipment, the Jet Boil portable cooking system, and the Black and Decker Bright Bar; (front row, from left) the ...
Read more...Bogus Basin: A new backcountry yurt and more parking - Tacoma News Tribune
BOISE, Idaho -- The biggest news this season at Bogus Basin Recreation Area in Boise, Idaho is a new yurt along its Nordic trail system. In fact, the yurt, open for the first time this winter, is booked solid on weekends through the end of April ...
Read more...Everest's siren calls through cold, fatigue, fear, discomfort - Boston Globe
MOUNT EVEREST BASE CAMP, Nepal - At 29,072 feet, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, invoking awe, respect, even fear. For some it is an obsession exorcised only by reaching the summit. Others satisfy themselves by making Everest Base ...
Read more...Cook next meal in a Dutch oven and chow down - Jackson Sun
That sounds more exciting than calling him a Dutch oven expert, even though that tag more accurately identifies his mastery of a very specific type of cast-iron cookware. Dutch ovens are thick-walled cooking pots with tight-fitting lids. They are ...
Read more...The race that is a forerunner to today's 'extreme' endurance events - Daily Telegraph
It was founded in 1968 and is still widely respected as the forerunner of the many "extreme" endurance events that proliferate today. The event is always held at the chilly end of October in a deliberately sparse and mountainous area usually in ...
Read more...