Best Cutting Board? I Tested Epicurean, OXO, Boos, Teakhaus & More

Which cutting board is the best? To find out, I tested nine of the highest-rated cutting boards on the market, including OXO, Epicurean, John Boos, Teakhaus, Hasegawa, Made In, Sonder LA, and two from Dalstrong.

The lineup includes boards made from plastic, rubber, composite materials, and natural woods like maple, walnut, and teak. 

I ran each board through a series of controlled tests to measure how quickly they dull knives, sound levels while chopping and rocking, resistance to odors and stains, and how much they slip during use.

In this article, I’ll explain each board’s pros and cons in detail, including exact measurements, performance scores, and how those numbers impact real-world use. I’ll go in order from least to most expensive to help you decide which cutting board is worth your money.

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Use the links below to navigate the guide:

• Comparison Chart
• Testing Methods
• OXO
• Epicurean
• Teakhaus
• John Boos
• Made In
• Hasegawa
• Dalstrong Teak
• Sonder LA
• Dalstrong Colossal Lionswood
• Bottom Line: Which Cutting Board Is the Best?

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Comparison Chart

Swipe or scroll to see the entire chart.

Brand	OXO Good Grips	Epicurean Gourmet	Teakhaus Professional	John Boos R-Board	Made In	Hasegawa (FSR)	Dalstrong Teak	Sonder LA Alfred	Dalstrong Lionswood
Price/in²	$0.11	$0.38	$0.26	$0.42	$0.60	$0.51	$0.42	$0.72	$0.71
Origin	China	USA	Vietnam	USA	USA	Japan	China	USA	China
Length (in)	21.0	14.5	24.0	20.0	18.0	19.7	22.0	17.0	24.3
Width (in)	14.5	11.3	18.0	15.0	12.0	13.8	15.0	13.0	17.3
Height (in)	0.3	0.4	1.5	1.5	1.5	0.8	1.0	1.5	2.6
Weight (lb)	3.0	2.2	15.0	10.9	8.0	4.6	8.9	7.0	28.7
Material	Polypropylene	Richlite	Teak wood	Northern Hard Rock Maple	Maple	Soft elastomer, broadleaf tree, polyethylene	Teak wood	American Black Walnut	Teak wood
Janka Hardness	N/A	N/A	1,100	1,450	1,450	N/A	1,100	1,010	1,100
Grain	N/A	N/A	Edge	Edge	Edge	N/A	Edge	End	End
Dishwasher	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Top Reason to Buy	Best knife edge retention	Lightweight and dishwasher-safe	Value for size	Quiet operation	Double-sided design	Quietest board	Non-slip feet	Attractive with compartments	Extremely stable
Top Reason to NOT Buy	Sheds microplastics	Extremely slippery	Can slip with no feet	Dulls knives	Warps and cracks	Not ideal for rocking	Very loud	Limited prep space	Too heavy, cracks
Where to Buy	Amazon	Amazon	Amazon	Amazon	MadeInCookware.com	MTCKitchen.com	Amazon	SonderLA.com	Amazon

Testing Methods

To measure how quickly each board dulls knives, I used nine identical blades and recorded their sharpness out of the box using a standardized test.

I then used a weighted magnet to apply consistent pressure and performed 300 rocking strokes and 300 straight chops per board. 

After that, I re-tested the sharpness to calculate how much the edge degraded. A higher difference indicates more dulling and a more abrasive cutting surface.

To evaluate noise, I used a decibel meter to measure the average sound level of 20 rocking motions and 20 chops on each board.

To test how well each board resists odors and stains, I chopped and mashed garlic, beets, and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce directly on the surface, let it sit for 20 minutes, then washed the board once with soap and water.

Over the course of several months, I also tracked durability issues—looking for signs of warping, cracking, or surface wear—as well as how slippery each board felt in daily use and how the knife felt during cutting.

OXO

The OXO Good Grips Plastic Cutting Board is the least expensive board I tested. It’s recommended by America’s Test Kitchen, Serious Eats, and The New York Times—and for good reason.

It’s reversible, features a juice groove on one side, and has rubber feet on both sides that prevent slipping better than any other board in this lineup. At 21″ x 14.5″, it provides a generous surface area while remaining lightweight at 3 pounds.

Despite the common belief that plastic boards dull knives quickly, the OXO board ranked first in my knife dulling test. Using a BESS Certified Sharpness Tester—which measures the grams of force required to cut a calibrated wire—the knife started at 407 and ended at 425 after 600 strokes. That’s a sharpness loss of just 18, the smallest of any board I tested.

It also showed no staining or odor retention after chopping and mashing garlic, beets, and chipotle peppers. And since it’s dishwasher safe, cleanup is easy even if some residue remains.

All that said, there are some downsides. It ranked 7th out of 9 in chopping noise, averaging 72.6 decibels.

But the most significant issue is that it sheds plastic dust during extended chopping. That dust ends up on your knife, on the board, and in your food. 

The health effects of ingesting microplastics aren’t fully known, but studies on human cells and mice show potentially harmful impacts. In my opinion, that alone is a strong reason to consider safer alternatives.

Epicurean Gourmet Series

The Epicurean Gourmet Series board is made from Richlite—a paper-based composite created by compressing recycled paper and food-safe resin into a dense, durable material. It has a smooth, almost plastic-like feel but is noticeably lighter and thinner than wood.

This board is just 0.4 inches thick and weighs only 2.2 pounds. It’s dishwasher-safe and held up well in my staining and odor tests. After sitting with garlic, beets, and chipotle residue for 20 minutes, it showed no visible stains or lingering smells.

However, its performance in other areas was mixed. It ranked 6th out of 9 in my knife dulling test, with the blade going from 355 to 440 on the sharpness scale—a drop of 85 points. 

It was also one of the loudest boards I tested, producing an average of 74.4 decibels during chopping (8th place) and 62.2 decibels during rocking cuts (9th place).

The biggest issue is grip. This board slides around more than any other. It has no feet, and its smooth surface and light weight make it unstable on most countertops unless you place a damp towel or non-slip mat underneath.

Teakhaus Professional

The Teakhaus Professional Cutting Board is made from natural teak wood and has been named the best wood cutting board by America’s Test Kitchen every year since 2013. At just $0.26 per square inch, it’s one of the best values in this guide.

This board measures 24 by 18 inches and is a full 1.5 inches thick. It weighs 15 pounds, making it one of the heaviest and most substantial boards I tested. The thick construction and large surface make it ideal for prepping multiple ingredients at once. 

I really like the simple design with finger grips on the sides that make it easy to pick up. It has nicely rounded corners that won’t poke you and no juice grooves on either side.

Juice grooves can be helpful when carving meat, but they also reduce the usable surface area and tend to trap food when you’re scraping ingredients off the board. The groove-free surface here gives you maximum space to work. If you juice grooves, Teakhaus sells the same model with them.

Performance was excellent across the board. It ranked 2nd in my knife dulling test, with the blade going from 315 to 351, a loss of just 36 points. It also ranked 2nd for chopping noise at 65.3 decibels and 7th for rocking noise at 55.4 decibels. The board didn’t stain from beets or chipotle, but it retained a slight garlic smell after one wash.

That said, it’s not without flaws. The board doesn’t have rubber feet, so it can slide slightly during use—though its weight helps keep it relatively stable. And like all wood boards, it needs regular maintenance with mineral oil to prevent drying and cracking.

John Boos R-Board Series

The John Boos R-Board has a simple, functional design similar to the Teakhaus, but it’s made from Northern Hard Rock Maple. Maple has a lighter, creamier tone than teak and is significantly harder—1,450 on the Janka scale compared to teak’s 1,100. That added hardness should, in theory, make it more resistant to surface damage over time.

This board is 20 by 15 inches, 1.5 inches thick, and weighs 10.9 pounds. It has no juice groove or branding on the surface, giving it a clean, professional look.

It performed well in my noise tests—ranking 3rd during chopping at 67.6 decibels and 2nd during rocking at 53.2 decibels—making it one of the quietest boards overall.

But in terms of knife dulling, it performed the worst. The blade went from 454 to 628, a loss of 174 points—the largest drop in the entire test. This confirms what you might expect from a harder wood: it’s more durable, but also harsher on your knives.

It also struggled with cleanup. The board retained visible stains from beets and chipotle and held onto garlic odor even after a wash.

And despite its size and weight, it slides around more than expected due to the lack of rubber feet or non-slip grip on the bottom.

Made In

The Made In cutting board is crafted from the same Northern Hard Rock Maple as the John Boos board but is smaller, lighter, and slightly more expensive. It measures 18 by 12 inches, is 1.5 inches thick, and weighs 8 pounds. At $0.60 per square inch, it’s the most expensive maple board in this test on a per-area basis.

It’s double-sided, with a deep juice groove on one side and a flat surface on the other, giving you some versatility depending on what you’re prepping.

Performance was average across the board. It ranked 4th in knife dulling, with the blade going from 394 to 444—a 50-point loss. In the sound tests, it ranked 4th for chopping at 69.3 decibels and 5th for rocking cuts at 54.3 decibels.

Stains from beets were still visible after the first wash, and the garlic odor took a few washes to go away entirely.

The biggest issue was durability. Despite regular oiling and careful drying after every wash, the board still developed a slight warp and a surface crack over time. 

The sharp corners also make it less comfortable to handle, especially compared to the rounded edges of the Boos and Teakhaus boards. 

When you factor in the higher cost and smaller cutting surface, it’s a tougher sell unless you’re specifically looking for a board made in the U.S. with a juice groove.

Hasegawa FSR Series

The Hasegawa Pro-Soft FSR Series board is unlike anything else I tested. It’s made in Japan and features a layered construction with a rigid wood core, a soft elastomer (rubber) cutting surface, and a harder polyethylene frame along the sides for durability. This unique design is popular in professional Japanese kitchens, especially for preserving the edges of delicate, high-end knives.

When you touch the surface, it feels springy and grippy, with a faint zipping sound as you run your hand across it. That soft texture cushions the blade, which helps explain its outstanding test results.

It ranked 1st in both noise categories—averaging just 59.4 decibels while chopping and 48.3 decibels while rocking—making it the quietest board by far.

It also came in 3rd in the knife dulling test, with the blade going from 251 to 292, a loss of only 41 points. That makes it one of the gentlest surfaces on knife edges.

Despite the soft texture, it was more stable than most of the wood boards I tested. It doesn’t have rubber feet, but the surface naturally grips the counter better than smooth or glossy boards. That same texture also keeps ingredients from sliding around while you cut.

In terms of cleanup, the board resisted stains from beets and chipotle completely and only held onto a faint garlic odor—less than any of the wood boards. It also didn’t show deep knife marks like the plastic OXO board. And unlike wood, it’s dishwasher-safe.

There are two downsides worth noting. First, the board is designed for slicing, not chopping. Its soft surface absorbs impact, which makes fast chopping and rocking cuts feel awkward. You may need to adjust your technique. Second, the textured surface traps food debris more easily and is rough on sponges. Cleaning takes more effort, and the fine texture can shred softer scrubbers.

Dalstrong Teak Cutting Board

The Dalstrong Teak Cutting Board has a wide cutting surface (22 by 15 inches) but is thinner than most premium wood boards at just 1 inch thick. It weighs 8.9 pounds and has large hand grooves on the sides, so it’s easy to lift and move around.

Rubber feet on the bottom keep it stable and prevent sliding. At the bottom, there are measurement markings that can help if you want to make more precise cuts. The teak surface didn’t stain at all from beets or chipotle during testing.

Performance-wise, it didn’t do great. It was the loudest board by far in the chopping test at 80.8 decibels and the second loudest in the rocking test at 56.0 decibels. It also ranked 7th in knife dulling—sharpness dropped from 318 to 409, a loss of 91 points.

One thing that stands out to me—though not in a good way—is the heavy branding. There’s a large lion logo stamped in the middle and two logo pins in the corners. It’s a personal preference, but I find it a bit tacky.

Sonder LA Alfred

The Sonder LA Alfred board is made from American black walnut and has a beautiful dark checkered pattern that stands out. It’s double-sided with rubber feet on both sides, a juice groove on one side, and compartments on the other for serving or staging ingredients.

This is the first end grain board I’ve shown you—everything else so far has been edge grain. With end grain construction, the wood fibers are aligned vertically, while edge grain boards have fibers aligned horizontally. Many people believe end grain is easier on your knives because the blade slips between the fibers instead of slicing across them. So in theory, using an end grain board like this should keep your knives sharper for longer.

But despite the end grain design and the fact that walnut is softer than maple and teak, the knife dulling results were average. It ranked 5th out of 9, with the blade going from 373 to 448—a loss of 75 points. Maybe with more time or different knives you’d see more benefit, but it didn’t make a significant difference in my testing. Noise levels were also middle of the pack—71.0 decibels when chopping (5th place) and 54.5 when rocking (6th place).

It didn’t stain from beets or chipotle, but some garlic odor remained after washing. And while the compartments are helpful in some cases, they also take up valuable prep space.

Dalstrong Colossal Lionswood

Dalstrong Colossal Lionswood is the most expensive board I tested—and it absolutely lives up to the “colossal” name. It measures over 24 inches long, 17 inches wide, and a massive 2.6 inches thick. It weighs 28.7 pounds, nearly twice as heavy as the next heaviest board.

This teak board looks impressive with its thick end grain pattern, and in terms of stability, nothing comes close. The rubber feet and extreme weight keep it completely planted on the counter, even during heavy chopping.

Like the smaller Dalstrong board, it didn’t stain from beets or chipotle and only retained a slight garlic odor after one wash.

But despite the end grain construction and same teak wood, it performed poorly in my knife dulling test. The blade went from 242 to 408—a 166-point drop—ranking 8th out of 9 boards.

The biggest issue, though, is usability. It’s simply too heavy for everyday use. Lifting, washing, or moving it to clean the counter becomes a chore. You also need a lot of counter space to use it and a large cabinet or shelf to store it.

Long-term durability was also a concern. After extended testing, I saw multiple cracks forming across the surface. One of the metal handles even started to protrude on one side, likely from stress caused by the board’s weight and size.

And like the other Dalstrong board, it’s heavily branded—with “Dalstrong” in large letters across the front and a huge lion logo in the center.

Bottom Line: Which Cutting Board Is the Best?

Now that you’ve seen the pros and cons of each cutting board, which ones are actually worth buying—and which should you avoid?

If you’re only getting one board, Teakhaus is the clear winner. It has a huge cutting surface, is ranked near the top in sharpness retention and noise control, and costs significantly less per square inch than other premium wood options. Teak is also ideal for cutting boards: it resists wear, doesn’t absorb moisture easily, and has a soft, forgiving feel under the knife.

If you want something lighter, thinner, and easier to store, Epicurean (or other Richlite composite boards) are a great second board to complement a heavy wood one. They’re dishwasher-safe and low-maintenance. They do tend to slide, but placing a damp towel underneath solves the problem.

The Hasegawa board is uniquely gentle on knives and incredibly quiet. If you own high-end Japanese knives and do a lot of precision slicing, it’s a solid choice. But for most home cooks, it’s less practical due to its high price and limited versatility—it doesn’t handle rocking or heavy chopping well.

At the bottom of my list are the Dalstrong Lionswood and the OXO board. Lionswood is visually impressive, but it’s too large and heavy to be practical and showed durability issues during long-term testing. The OXO board performed well in sharpness retention and grip, but the plastic dust it sheds during extended chopping is a serious concern.

Learn more about the winners: Teakhaus on Amazon, Hasegawa on Hasegawa.com, and Epicurean on Amazon.