I have a marble cheese cutting board - just a cheapie thing I picked up at the local discount store. All has been well with colby, edam, and cheddar. The other day we cut some feta on it, and when I went to clean it half an hour later, it appeared that the cheese had actually etched the marble surface. Is this a known phenomenon? What gives?
My wife reminds me that the cheese had ginger and lemongrass in it, FWIW.
capn
Feta is a fairly acid, salty cheese. According to this, it has a pH of about 4.7 before salting. The salt will just make it more corrosive, and marble (calcium carbonate) is attacked by acids.
In contrast, Cheddar and Swiss are much less acid, with pH’s of 5.9 and 5.7 to 6.6 respectively. That makes them less corrosive, although prolonged contact with anything having a pH of less than ~6.5 can corrode marble.
Wow, thanks Squink. I had no idea. I would’ve thought stone would be a bit more tolerant of pH than that. Back to glass or wood cutting boards, I s’pose. Or harder cheeses!
capn