In the house I grew up in, in the house of my teens to mid-20s, in my apartment in L.A., the kitchens had cutting boards that slid out from below the countertop. They were made of wood, and had a semi-circular groove on one end. Pull it out most of the way, and it stayed put so you could use it, wipe it, and slide it back in. Or you could just take it out and use it on the counter. But I’ve never seen anyone do that.
My current house, which I moved into in 2003, does not have this feature. I never thought about them until I was just reminded. Are pull-out cutting boards still a ‘thing’? I mean, I’m sure plenty of people have them. But I don’t recall ever seeing one on counters made this century.
ETA: In looking for an image of a pull-out cutting board, it seems they are indeed still being sold as an add-on component to the modern ‘modular’ cabinetry. (I hope that description doesn’t confuse anyone. I know what I mean. )
My parents current house has a few of them, built in the 70’s. The house they had before that did as well, probably built around the same time, maybe a bit earlier.
As for pulling it all the way out, you could use it on the counter, but they’re pretty big and heavy and kinda clunky to move around. What it’s nice for is putting over the sink when you have a lot of people over and/or you need more work space.
ETA, both of these houses have Formica countertops and nothing special cabinets, linoleum floors etc. I couldn’t tell you if they’re Home Depot or custom built (or the equivalent for the era), nice kitchens, but it’s not that these were part of 50,000 kitchen remodels. So maybe they were standard at the time but not now.
Also, don’t forget, with how far food sanitation has come, people don’t want to use a cutting board over and over and over that is difficult or impossible to wash.
My parents had a house built in 1981 that had this feature. I think it was kind of standard practice at the time by the builder, because my parents never used it. the idea of it didn’t really make sense to me, since you generally want to replace a cutting board once in a while, and to replace this one would mean having a new board custom-made for that slot.
My house was built in 1950. At some point in the 70s (based on the choice of cabinets; we have the classic 70s white-laminate-with-wood-edges cabinets like these) an addition was built to expand the kitchen, and in the corner next to the sink, top drawer is the dedicated knife drawer, featuring a slide-out cutting board. We’ve never actually used it, though. I have a stack of flexible plastic cutting boards that I prefer, because they can be rolled up for easy transport and transfer of cut items into a pot, pan, or other receptacle.
My mom uses the ones in her house every day, a lot. While they are chewed up a bit, they don’t look like they need to be replaced. Ignoring, since a lot of people do, any sanitation issues, it’s not that there’s chunks coming out of them or deep cuts or grooves in them.
Also, don’t forget, they can be rotated and flipped so you have 4 spots to work on. Also, if your kitchen is big enough to have two and they’re the same size you can rotate them with each other.
Back to the sanitation thing, whenever I see my mom using that, I wonder what it would take to fit a regular plastic one in the slot. But it would be sooo ugly and it would have to be sooo big/heavy/thick to properly fill in the spot so it wouldn’t wobble.
It probably wouldn’t be that expensive, if you could find one big enough.
Yep, still around. In Spain it’s a common offering from high-end modular kitchens, available from IKEA, and my own kitchen has one which isn’t designed to be used in place but does get pulled out from under the shelves and fits perfectly in the corner formed by the V-shaped double sink. You can take them out easily enough that the sanitation bit isn’t a problem, and they’re standard sizes so you can get a replacement from any firm making standard cabinets. Joey P, there have been studies that indicate plastic and wood boards are equally sanitary. IIRC, wooden ones are harder to make look clean but the same properties which make the apparent grub stay put while scrubbing make it stay put during regular use. Since it’s not coming out it’s not affecting the food being cut.
It’s not like replacing them would be rocket surgery. It’s a plank of wood. And since they can be removed, sanitary issues are totally up to the owners’ discretion.
I like them. It’s nice having a cutting board locked in place and free hanging for swiping stuff you just cut into a bowl or pot. I figure they fell out of common installation just because it doesn’t matter enough to most buyers to justify the extra cutting in the cabinet front.
Also, people are into storage these days, and those cutting boards eat into the stage. I’ve seen them mostly in older homes, not in newer homes which typically have larger kitchens and plenty of counter space.
I should mention that there is always a certain demographic that wants an “old style” kitchen, even if it is brand new and will purposely put in features like this to give it that vintage look. People with money spend oodles and oodles of it on their kitchens. And master baths. And, at least here in CA, on their outdoor kitchens and outdoor living areas.
I think the reason why plastic boards are considered more sanitary than wooden boards is that you can put them in the dishwasher. May not make them really any cleaner, but you don’t have to worry that maybe you didn’t get all the raw chicken crud out of it.
I have a maple wooden butcher block, and it’s been my primary “cutting board” for more than 30 years. I cut everything on it. I rely on this research, as well as my own empirical experience: Wood Cutting Board Safety
I do scrub it well with hot soapy water and allow it to dry thoroughly between uses, and I cut meat and vegetables on different parts of the surface, doing vegetables first. Other than a monthly application of mineral oil, that’s all the care it gets.
So far as I know, I’ve never made anyone sick, and I’ve never gotten sick. People have cut on wood for hundreds of years. The natural antibacterial qualities of wood are documented to my personal satisfaction.
When I remodeled the kitchen in my last home, I removed a couple of those sliding wooden cutting boards to make room for a bigger stove. I used them a lot before I got the butcher block. They work very well, and yes, you can cut up a chicken on them if they’re well made. (I prefer poultry shears, but I cut up more than one chicken on them using a chef’s knife with no problem.)
I kept those boards, even though I no longer have a handy place to slide them into. They are terrific if I need an additional cutting work surface in my kitchen or for camping. Mostly I use them to secure my hand-cranked pasta machine and a work surface for the pasta as I flour it and roll it out.
I personally won’t have a plastic cutting board in my kitchen.
When I remodeled my current kitchen, I didn’t install any – but that’s because I have the butcher block. If the kitchen didn’t accommodate a butcher block, I’d reinstall such boards in a heartbeat.
My house, built in 1960, has them. Well, has one and has a slot for another. The previous owners retiled the kitchen and updated the appliances, and replaced one of the two cutting boards but never got around to the second one before selling the house. I’d like to have a second one made but it’s way down on my list of house priorities, so I just live with the empty slot.
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