Only a few species of wood (e.g. teak) have measurable amounts of oil; woods typically used for cutting boards (e.g. maple) basically have none at all. The word “essential” is thus hard to put a meaning on in this context.
Mineral oil (easily obtained at a drugstore, as rowrrbazzle notes) is a good treatment. The only problem with using too much is that the excess will leak away for a while. You could hasten this by warming the cutting board and placing it on paper towels.
Walnut oil can also be used; it tends to harden just a bit, and so can result in a somewhat longer-lasting treatment. Tung oil will harden even more, but there doesn’t seem to be universal agreement that this is a desirable finish for kitchen items.
Huh. Never knew that Los Angeles required the periods. Always figured it was akin to DC, where they’re superfluous. Ignornace fought.
And I’ll be damned, but the oil absolutely leaked through my board after leaving it overnight (well, overday, I’m working the third shift this weekend). I put a full cup of mineral oil on the board at 7:30 AM, and at 7:00PM, the paper towel underneath it wasn’t soaking, but was definitely transluscent in several places.
I would have thought it much more likely that the oil would simply creep across the surface of the board by capilliary action and get underneath that way. Whenever I have oiled my boards (phnarr) that appears to have been the mechanism by which the oil gets all over the place.
Slight hijack — I have no idea what it means to “condition” a cutting board. Why would someone want a greasy board instead of a clean one? I’m sure there’s probably a Conditioning Cutting Boards For Dummies out there somewhere, and I’d appreciate a link to it. Thanks!
Seconded. Why would you grease your board? I regularly scrub my wooden boards with soapy water, which would take off any oils anyway. I don’t see the point.
Wood that dries out excessively will not only tend to split, but also absorbs a lot of liquids like juice, blood, etc.
A bit of oil soaked into the wood will keep it in good shape, and also stop it staining so badly.
I just got a new cutting board also, and was wondering if this is the same stuff that you get (at a higher price) in the store that sells the cutting board. Is it?