Slightly OT: Renovating a Butcher's Block

[jocelyn plummer]

Who?

oh you know, Penners, the two who say 'how clean is your house?' --- must have shares in marigolds.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

must have shares in marigolds.

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* Other listings magazines are also available.

As to the OP - I would simply wash liberally with some extremely hot/boiling water. Germs disapprove of this. Indeed, sterlisation by this method might catch on. 8)

I certainly wouldn't be using anti-bacerial cleaner on food preparation surfaces. After Mrs FW (AKA The CHICKEN MURDERER) accidentally dispatched with 6 of my bestest week old chicks with an inadvertent spray of the stuff on the kitchen bench, we read the label. It is full of horrible chemicals and comes with dire warnings not to spray on things like baby's drinking utensils and food preparation surfaces. Go read the label - it is evil stuff - and to my mind it panders to the generation who are scared that Domestos kills only 99% of germs (although according to the advret it does kill them dead. Which I guess is reassuring, as I wouldn't like a non-dead killing.

Boiling water kills the full 100%.

Just use boiling water. And then regular wipe-downs with nice piece of steak.

 

[Penners]

It is full of horrible chemicals and comes with dire warnings not to spray on things like baby's drinking utensils and food preparation surfaces.

But, in fairness to Mrs FW, the instructions apparently don't warn against spraying it on chickens.

 

[Moo]

This whole thread brings to mind the late Arthur Spratt, a butcher in Harleston who inherited the shop (and the smallholding where they reared their beasts, and the abattoir behind the shop) from his father.
The butcher's block in the shop had, over the two generations, been sculpted into interesting curves.
Knowing Arthur, I very much doubt whether it ever met a chemical, but his family supplied the town with excellent meat for many decades and all his customers remained in excellent health.

 

[Penners]

Quite so. But I suggest that Arthur undoubtedly knew very well that the one thing you don't do with such a block is use it for both raw and cooked meats.

 

[Moo]

Of course not. In his shop he had neither cooked meats nor ready-to-cook joints. Just huge carcases that he would cut up to order.

 

[Penners]

How wonderfully neolithic!

"Hack me off a big chunk of that dead cow, would you Arthur?"

 

[Moo]

Well, not quite neolithic, but certainly reminiscent of Corporal Jones. He even had a proper bicycle with an enormous basket on the front, ridden by a lad who could have been 'the boy Raymond'.
I cherish memories of visits to his (by then quite little) farm with our children where they saw a sow give birth*, and we scratched the nose of a big black and white beast in a barn. Months later, when I popped into the shop to get something for Sunday lunch and spotted half a huge carcase on the block, Arthur said proudly "Yes, it's a fine beast; Aberdeen Angus/Hereford cross. It's the one you were scratching in the barn." That's when I really had to decide whether or not I was going to become a vegetarian.

* When I asked our son whether the sow made any noises during the event he answered solemnly "She was very quiet, and very brave".

 

[lou]

Following up with an utterly useless photograph of the newly refurbished butchers block and with thanks to Michael for the very useful link about what is OK to use on wooden surfaces used for food prep. The link was American and the recommended oil was 'mineral' which translates in the UK to paraffin oil! I was unable to locate this at the hardware store but was directed helpfully towards Liberon Tung Oil, which I have now used to very good effect. The block looks lovely, though admittedly this is not necessarily apparent from my smartphone pic...

Also attaching some pics of current 'progress' and the remains we found of a stone arched window that must have been a real feature of the house at one time but was rudely ripped apart to support a door entrance.

 

[Moo]

That block is a real treasure - I can see why you want to do something special with it!

 

[Penners]

I think you've rather overdone the hole in the wall for the TV aerial lead.