Shun Cutlery Medium Hinoki Cutting Board | 15.75" X 10.75" Wooden Japanese Chopping Board for Kitchen, Medium-Soft Wood, Forest Stewardship Council Certified

I finally upgraded from cheap plastic sheets to this board after buying a real chef knife. Right off the bat, it smelled like a serene forest. I'm not kidding. Out of the package it smelled of real wood and trees and it was very pleasant. As far as performance goes, this thing is great. It's a medium softness wood so it will give a bit (good for keeping the apex on your good knives). Make sure you splash it with some cold water first before using it to try to get those fibers to expand. It won't really affect performance but it will help with liquids staining. Of course if you're cutting beets or something, that's inevitable. The fact that it's wood means it's antimicrobial by nature and that's important. Those plastic sheets I was using prior were a breeding ground for bacteria because of all the grooves a knife would cut into it. Overall I think this is a great board. Light as a feather, hard enough to be sturdy but soft enough not to dull your knife. I'm very happy with it so far.

It was hard to press the order button on this cutting board due to the cost, but I'm glad I did for reasons that made my wife happy, which is the most important reason. She liked it immediately because it smelled like a Christmas tree. She didn't use it for three days while it acted as an air freshener. It is thick (1/2") and large, but light weight so a nice complement to the small/thinner board we bought first. The wood is soft, which I understand some view as a negative, but if you spent $1,000 on a block of Shun or other high end knives it helps protect the razor sharp edges from dulling as quickly.

I really like this cutting board. I bought it after purchasing a fairly nice carbon steel knife to prevent chipping and dulling. The hinoki smell when you wet it down is amazing. It does have some small stains after use but doesnt affect the functionality of it. No warping so far, bit I hand wash both sides and air dry completely.

These are very nice and good looking boards! But I think there might be some considerations you should have before buying these. These boards are very soft, but should also be good for your knives. I have found them great for cutting vegetables, but they are not really sealed. The wood does not absorb water that well, so if you make sure to wipe them off with a damp towel and dry them after use, they do not really seem to stain too bad (dark spots will form obviously, but nothing that concerning). They should still last a while, but since they are so soft, I feel like it isn't that great for the price. Also, the sizes are reasonable and fit into a lot of spaces in a kitchen a butcher block would not. They are light and can slip a little unless you use a mat or a paper towel underneath. If you are doing some chopping though, you shouldn't have a problem. And again for harder knives the chopping shouldn't chip your knife if you do not go too crazy. Now the caviets: The lifespan, the staining, and the price. For a lot of people and a lot of tasks, I think a nice sturdy end grain board would be better. These boards are pretty expensive considering you could get a nice end grain walnut or maple for not that much more. Doing some research though, it seems this is partly because the wood is sourced sustainably, which is nice. And I also would not cut meat on these as I would worry about the juices getting into the grooves and soaking in just a little. You could probably oil them, though. Lastly, I think these probably won't last forever, although they should last a while. They aren't that thick, and they are cut easily, so they will need to be refinished after a while most likely.

Beautiful cutting board that compliments the bigger maple wood block we have at home. We use one side for cutting meats and the other for vegetables. After several months of use, it has performed wonderfully. The board is on the lighter side so it does slide on quartz counter. You will need something like a wet paper towel to stabilize it. It is very pleasant to cut into, a similar cutting experience versus the much more expensive maple wood butcher block we have. Extremely easy to clean with light biodegradable soap and sponge. I’ve only oiled it once and the appearance and performance have maintained well. No micro plastic which is a huge plus. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy this cutting board as a complimentary piece to the bigger chopping blocks.

Having used this product (the Shun Medium Hinoki) for a week and butchered over 200 lbs of elk with it, I can understand why it is controversial. On the one hand, it is very soft and thus extremely gentle on blade edges. (As the knife sharpener in my family, I can't overstate this quality.) I've been chopping like a madman in the last week without losing ANY sharpness. My bamboo cutting board would not have generated the same result. The Shun is also very light (possibly one quarter the weight of my bamboo board), which makes it easy to wield and clean in my sink. On the other hand, because it is so light, it is more susceptible to cut marks, particularly inadvertent stabs from my blade tip. I've cut it up quite a bit, but the marks aren't more than an aesthetic issue. Also, because it is so thin, light, and soft, it has the tendency to warp if the manufacturers instructions are not followed. It needs to be religiously wetted (and dried with a towel) on both sides BEFORE use. When you follow this procedure, the board stays flat and stable and can be easily cleaned. In sum, I love the new board, while my wife is a little ambivalent about it. But she's not the knife sharpener in the family! :)

The board developed a crack on one side within a month — no drops, no heat exposure. Although the product is under warranty for 90 days you’ll need to pay for shipping plus a fee to take advantage of it, which is nearly the cost of a new board. It makes no sense. I like the brand and the look and scent of the board. Its performance is fine although I followed all maintenance guidance and it still looked unusually scarred up after only a month of use — and I don’t use it for meat. Now I’ll need to buy a new one, and it won’t be from Shun.

This cutting board is absolutely perfect for my Miyabi knives! I had been eyeing those popular teak cutting boards for a while, but everything I found was either too pricey or too heavy, so I stuck with my Joseph Joseph plastic cutting board. My husband, who’s the better knife user (and the one who insisted on buying the knife set when I couldn’t even cut tofu properly), always said I’d ruin the knives without a proper cutting board. I didn’t want to invest until I was sure, but now that I’m the one using the knives more often, I see what he meant. It finally dawned on me that the knife company would probably make the best cutting board for their own products. I looked up Shun’s cutting boards, fully expecting to spend a couple of hundred dollars. To my surprise, the price was very reasonable, so I ordered it immediately. It was supposed to arrive later this month but showed up in just three days! First impressions: The board is gorgeous and lightweight, making it easy to handle. Using it today was a dream—it’s gentle on my knives, easy to clean, and feels so much better than my old plastic board. I’m so impressed with the quality and performance that I plan to order the small and large versions next. Highly recommend this cutting board to anyone with quality knives—it’s a worthwhile investment!

Beautiful cutting board. Smells amazing too. I use this with a couple high end knives. It will damage over time but its expected with a wooden board. A little light sanding will fix that.

Exactly as hoped

Needed a replacement for a hinoki board my ife threw out because 'it looked dirty' so my wife bought Ikea ones which were too small and had the useless dicth around the periphery. Wanted the largest hinoki board I could find, which was this one, but not only is it larger than my old one, it is also thicker. Overall a great performer and I am seriously pondering buying a second to pi$$ my wife off further.

Je viens de la recevoir et la tester. La luvraison etait rapide et l'emballage très soigné. Elle était plus belle que j'ai pensais, très légère, sens bon. Je l'ai mouillé avant de la tester, lavé et séché après l'utilisation. C'était un plaisir de couper sur cette planche, le bois est beau, presque lumineux, et fort agréable au toucher. J'espère qu'elle durera

En riktig skön skärbräda som luktar riktigt trevligt och särskilt utmärkt för om du har hårda knivsegg som japanska knivar. Har slipat den en gång efter ett års användning. Blev som ny. Rekommenderas att man använder skärbrädan på båda sidor men har inte upplevt några som helst problem att ytan blivit skev. Jag fuktar varje gång med lite vatten på arbetsytan innan användning, allt för att undvika att ingredienserna färgar av sig eller lämnar lukt efter sig. Jag brukar bara skölja av den med lite såpa vid behov och torka av överflödig vatten med pappershanddukar och lufttorka utan direkt solljus när jobbet är klart. Har en pall av hinoki badrummet, om den klarat sig över två år så ska en skärbräda göra det med :) Har aldrig och tror inte inoljning är nödvändig för denna typ av skärbräda som Hinoki. Önskar man kunde köpa en större och tjockare skärbräda särskilt när den är så mycket lättare än min massiva furu skärbräda. Köp är min rekommendation.