Boos Cutting Board did it again!

I purchased this board once before from Cooking Enthusiast. One year later it had split and CE graciously replaced it, after I shipped it back to them. The new board is now one year old and had split once again. CE will not pay shipping for me to mail the board back, but will replace it with another board, the same one or give me a credit I can use later. I'm thinking I will take the credit and buy a board at a local kitchen shop where I might have better luck with quality. I inquired about the first board and what Boos had to say about it splitting, and was told they do not get that feedback. Too bad, because as a consumer I like to know these things. I also asked if they know of anyone else having trouble with the same board and she said no. I told her that many times, people do not complain after using the item for one year. I feel this board should last longer than one year especially with the care I give my boards. I do not put them in water, nor run under the faucet. They are cleaned with a damp cloth, and oiled as soon as I get them. No other board has ever split on me, but then I have never purchaed a Boos board before. Comments?

I'm sorry... what's "Boos" ?

I'm sorry... what's "Boos" ?

Boos makes a line of professional and home use cutting boards.

http://www.florenceadams.com/john-boos- ... gwod_VdZmg

Looks to me like the wood wasn't properly dried (cured) prior to assembling the piece, the natural changes in dimension due to change in humidity weren't accounted for, and the changes in dimension of each individual piece in relationship to its neighbors was also not accounted for. If I were you I wouldn't purchase another from the same supplier.

Eek. Do I really need a designer block of wood to cut on?

Eek. Do I really need a designer block of wood to cut on?

Just from looking at them, Boos blocks appeared to be of quite high quality. They're thicker than a lot of cutting boards and look like the kind of thing that would last a lifetime.

Given Karen's experience, though, I have to wonder.

Jeff - It looks to me as though what Karen got was a designer board. I've had a plain, inexpensive hard maple butcher block style cutting board for probably 10 years. I wash it along with the rest of the dishes, it gets naturally oiled with use, and hasn't cracked. I'm satisfied with it.

[Jenise]

As someone who recently shopped the world for a built-in cutting board, I can verify that Boos is the best name in cutting boards in the U.S., from off the shelf pieces to custom orders, and they offer a wide range of thicknesses and woods (I lust for walnut). Any Boos board you buy should last a lifetime and only look more loved with use. The website Karen refers us to shows the range. HOWEVER, the board in Karen's picture is banded, where almost all the boards on the site are not. Rather than being merely decorative, in light of Karen's problem it seems possible if not likely that the banding is structural, a girder of sorts, and failing. Perhaps the fail is more likely in a hot dry climate like Redding? I dunno, but were I Karen, I wouldn't hesitate to get another Boos but I would not re-order this style.

Eek. Do I really need a designer block of wood to cut on?

I did not buy with the intention of a "designer" board. I bought because I liked the thickness, (3 inches was to high for me) the shape fit my needs, and the stainless band was the thing that caught my eye candy because I have stainless power outlet covers in my kitchen. After two failures with this style, I am going to our local kitchen shop, an upscale, well stocked store that carries Boos and other brands. I may look for bamboo this time. The staff there are well trained and always give me the scoop about products I inquire about. I really liked this one because one side was the standard flat cutting surface and the reverse was for cutting meat, and had a juice moat. Plus the oval shape takes up less room than a square but still has enough room for lots of chopping surface.

I've never seen this happen even to my no-name boards and so I'll throw out my own half-baked theory: this board may have a design problem. Other than the shape, the only thing that makes this board unusual is the metal band. A normal, band-less board expands and contracts with environmental changes more or less uniformaly. Maybe the band is causing the problem somehow by preventing normal expansion/contraction, putting stress on the board and causing the cracking. The fact this has happened not once but twice makes me very suspicious. If I were Karen, I'd no problem with another Boos board but I don't think I'd give this model another chance. That would invite a "fool me thrice" situation

[Jenise]

If I were Karen, I'd no problem with another Boos board but I don't think I'd give this model another chance. That would invite a "fool me thrice" situation

We agree.

Say, two more asparagus are up: I'm now 7 for 9.

I gotta say that I am not persuaded by any of this. I have one nice teak board (with a blood well) but my everyday boards are just no-name 1" slabs (maple?). As long as the board is flat I say to heck with metal bands, fancy mortised patterns, rare woods, etc.

I will enter a litle plug here for bamboo boards. When my go-to chopping block split a few years back I got a few of these at Home Goods, and they have been fantastic. So far, no warping or splitting. On the larger one, I added four large rubber stick-on "feet" that help cut down on noise and sliding.

Say, two more asparagus are up: I'm now 7 for 9.

Not bad, especially considering you thought you had problems. I seem to have ended up at 8/9 (why did we both have 9?). I exhumed #9 and covered it with less soil. I think it's probably dead, though - might be my fault for burying it too far too early.

Say, two more asparagus are up: I'm now 7 for 9.

Not bad, especially considering you thought you had problems. I seem to have ended up at 8/9 (why did we both have 9?). I exhumed #9 and covered it with less soil. I think it's probably dead, though - might be my fault for burying too far too early.

Huh?

Say, two more asparagus are up: I'm now 7 for 9.

Not bad, especially considering you thought you had problems. I seem to have ended up at 8/9 (why did we both have 9?). I exhumed #9 and covered it with less soil. I think it's probably dead, though - might be my fault for burying too far too early.

Huh?

Thread drift, Bill - cross-contamination from an earlier thread about the vagaries of growing asparagus. Or I confused you by omitting a word. Either way, my apologies.

[Jenise]

Say, two more asparagus are up: I'm now 7 for 9.

Not bad, especially considering you thought you had problems. I seem to have ended up at 8/9 (why did we both have 9?). I exhumed #9 and covered it with less soil. I think it's probably dead, though - might be my fault for burying it too far too early.

I think I'll be lucky if I get another one to come up. My bin is decidedly sunnier at one end, and overall those came up first. One that hasn't come up would be the one in the most optimum position of all as first of the sunnies, and the other is one of the ones I dug up to find out what's going on. Could have killed it.