Anonymous wrote:

Restaurants aren't allowed to use wooden chopping boards or utensils because they harbor bacteria. Just a thought.

Weren't there some lab tests a few years back that showed that wood harbors fewer bacteria than plastic?

Yes, I think you're right. The wood "heals" and the plastic doesn't, so there are more crevices.

That said, I think granite or other solid surface would harbor even less. And you do wash wood cutting boards with very hot water and soap -- I don't know if you'd do that for a countertop as easily.

OP: Your kitchen sounds gorgeous. When you say "country" here, we think of something else. Hard to explain, but kitschy and not fashionable.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Why? Is "country" ever so passe and gauche?

So here it is, laugh if you like: terra cotta floor (porcelain, real is too fragile), cream cabinets with some kind of chocolate glaze, copper sink, dark wood countertop. The "country" is mostly in the terra cotta and copper, also a bit in the wood counter. Some kind of fleur de lys accent tiles on backsplash maybe.

This is my first house, and I SO want it to look like my family's country house in France - with terra cotta and wood counters. DH thinks I'm crazy...

OP, I think your kitchen would be beautiful. I love that look and I have seen it in a lot of kitchen renovation magazines so apparently it is still stylish. I had wood counters at my old house and, while they did stain and scratch pretty easily, it was not at all difficult to sand out the stains and scratches and coat them with Tung oil which is non-toxic. They looked absolutely perfect when we sold our house. Also, don't believe people who tell you that wood is unhygienic. Wood has its own ant-microbial properties and is more hygienic than plastic.

Anonymous wrote:

Restaurants aren't allowed to use wooden chopping boards or utensils because they harbor bacteria. Just a thought.

Weren't there some lab tests a few years back that showed that wood harbors fewer bacteria than plastic?

Yes, they discovered that wood has some sort of natural "antibiotic" properties, and were actually harbored much less bacteria than plactic (the bacteria gets stuck in the cuts in the board).

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all your opinions!

Yes, I had read that research - I'm a microbiologist (work with bacteria), so this is right up my alley.
Anyway, I was not planning to cut directly on the counter, but just wanted to warm and soften my kitchen (and avoid granite).

Just have to convince DH now...

I love your vision, OP, and that it is sentimental for you! I for one am so sick of seeing the same old, same old, granite/stainless/natural wood kitchen and think yours sounds lovely!

Anonymous wrote:

Restaurants aren't allowed to use wooden chopping boards or utensils because they harbor bacteria. Just a thought.

Weren't there some lab tests a few years back that showed that wood harbors fewer bacteria than plastic?

Yes. Wood actually is more hygenic than plastic under home kitchen conditions, as long as you wash it with soap and hot water.

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm

OP here. Thank you for all your opinions!

Yes, I had read that research - I'm a microbiologist (work with bacteria), so this is right up my alley.
Anyway, I was not planning to cut directly on the counter, but just wanted to warm and soften my kitchen (and avoid granite).

Just have to convince DH now...

Hi OP,

Love the idea of the butcher block for your kitchen. We have it in ours and get compliments - it really warms up the space and I think in this area everyone has granite that kind of looks the same after a while. I myself hate granite but always feel alone.

My husband puts butcher block oil on it once a month, but I think you could do it less. We have lived here for 5 years and there are no noticeable stains. I think stains may be less of an issue than you would think, since the wood over time darkens a bit and wood has many different tones in it, in any case.

We don't chop things on it (use a cutting board) so bacteria isn't really an issue. But I have heard that too, what the PP mentions, that wood is actually healthier than plastic in terms of bacteria.

Restaurants aren't allowed to use wooden chopping boards or utensils because they harbor bacteria. Just a thought.

Weren't there some lab tests a few years back that showed that wood harbors fewer bacteria than plastic?

We have a moveable kitchen island w/ a butcher block top. We use it for cutting/slicing veggies, fruits, but not any raw meats. We oil it with food grade mineral oil (I think) every month or so. I like how it looks a little worn with the knife marks in it. I wouldn't get it for an entire kitchen countetops, it does stain (noticed it w/ cutting strawberries). They eventually fade out a little bit.

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up in France, we had wood countertops - I remember their warmth and patina with nostalgia.
Now for our new home, DH only wants granite or similar, which I think is too cold and hard, and do not go with the country look I envision for my kitchen (yes, I have kitchen visions ). We have two young children, and plan on living in the house 5-10 years.

Which do you prefer and why?

Restaurants aren't allowed to use wooden chopping boards or utensils because they harbor bacteria. Just a thought.

My DH and I have butcher-block which we purchase from Lumber Liquidators very inexpensively, (less than a $1000). We like the look and figure when we go to sell the house we can have whatever the must have counter of the day is installed. That way we get the look we want and we don't have to worry about resale. We treated ours with food grade mineral oil and bees wax, for the first 2 month it was in we had to oil and wax in every couple of weeks. Since then, its been about once a year. I like the look of the worn wood, so I cut directly on the surface and I don't mind the small stains. I've had a few bigger stains, but they have come out easily when I rubbed mineral oil into them. Also, doing this no stain surface is nice, if you need to you can sand out an imperfection and then just re-oil that area.,

OP, I think your vision sounds wonderful!

And it's just the word "country" which isn't trendy. Farmhouse chic is still popular. What isn't popular is gingham check and a chicken motif, which is what most people thing of when they hear "country."

It sounds lovely, if high maintenance. But if you're only going to be in the house 5 years, I'd do something that would be better for resale. Agree with a PP that maybe just doing an island, or another discrete area with wood might be a better bet, if you have the space.

I have a run of wood, and I like it: it's inexpensive, it gives when you drop a glass on it, and it doesn't show every little fleck of whatever on it, but you do know when it's time to wipe down the counters.
Ours have an oil finish; they just need a wipe of food-grade mineral oil occasionally.
They do stain if they're light (ours are), but the stains don't bother me. They're minimal, and they do fade over time Maybe not if you spill a whole bottle of food coloring -- yikes, PP! -- but a drop of food coloring or say, totally hypothetically, a dribble of red wine -- will fade. I'm guessing over time the stain gets dispersed throughout the wood, but I don't know.
Anyway, if you want dark wood counters, they would show fewer stains.