This 1950s Vintage Feature in My Kitchen Might Be Dated, But It’s Actually Brilliant (I Wish I Knew Sooner!)
I moved into my apartment about three and a half years ago, and when I was touring it, there were plenty of fabulous features that ultimately made me say yes (hello, huge bay window in the living room and gleaming black wood floors!). But there was one surprising feature in the kitchen that made me do a double take.
What was it, you may ask? Two built-in cutting boards! It’s not surprising that my kitchen has this vintage feature, since my apartment building dates back to the ‘50s and my landlord has been careful to preserve a lot of its history and character within the units. Frankly, it’s also not surprising that I love these wooden cutting boards since I have a pretty large obsession with butcher block countertops.
It turns out that the built-in cutting board, also known as a pull-out board, doesn’t have its origins as a cutting board at all. These wooden boards were originally known as bread boards, and they existed to do exactly what you may think: Quickly pull them out and knead dough or slice bread on them.
In fact, Collins Dictionary defines a bread board as “a flat piece of wood used for cutting bread on.” Cut and dry! Over time, though, as more and more people stopped baking their own bread, the use for these boards evolved, and people began treating them as cutting boards.
I have to admit that as much as I love having this vintage feature in my kitchen, I don’t use either one that often. I want them to remain pristine, and constantly sliding them out and hitting them with sharp knives can cause a lot of scarring and warping. Plus, if I’m being honest, cleaning a wooden cutting board can be kind of a pain. I have occasionally cut some vegetables on one of them, but for the most part, I leave them be (and leave them clean).
How to Clean Your Built-In “Bread Board”
If you happen to have a built-in cutting board (aka a pull-out board or bread board) in your kitchen and you’re wondering how to clean it so you can actually use it, you’re in luck. Here are two different ways to make that wooden board sparkle:
1: Use lemon and salt.
With a half lemon, coarse salt, a bench scraper, warm water, and a sponge, you can take that wooden cutting board from drab to fab. Simply sprinkle the cutting board with salt, scour it with the lemon, let it sit for 5 minutes, scrape off the liquid, and rinse. Voilà! Not to mention, the lemon will make it smell super fresh. (FYI: You can also do this with baking soda and lemon with similar results!)
2: Wash it with dish soap.
It may seem obvious, but yes, you can wash your wooden cutting board with dish soap. Just apply a little soapy water, dry it off with a towel after you scrub and rinse it, and let the pull-out board sit out overnight to fully dry.
Now I’m off to take my own advice and clean my pull-out board! I’m so glad I figured out what this bizarre feature is actually designed for, and I only wish had known sooner — whether I use it to chop bread, veggies, or something else.
Do you have any “weird” vintage features in your kitchen? Let us know in the comments below!
