Creating your own homemade wood butter (or board butter) is a cinch and wooden chopping boards only need a little care to bring them back to life. This DIY recipe oils and protects the wood, keeping your bread boards and implements in great condition.
We have a collection of chopping boards and I've neglected them dreadfully.
The surfaces have become dry and damaged over time and they have lost their lovely colour too.
The one pictured below, I made in high school (I'm not even going to count the years!)and I've hidden it at the back of the cupboard in recent years to prevent it being used as I'm a little attached to it. I remember our wood work teacher telling us to condition it regularly, so I feel a little guilty that I haven't given it the love and attention it needs!
This recipe I'm sharing is simple and makes a batch of wood butter that will last for many uses, so there is no need to make it every time you want to use it. It works on wood and bamboo chopping boards as well as cooking utensils and other items. The ingredients are food safe, and of course you will still need to wash these items.
Make sure you don't leave any wood items soaking in water as this can damage them quite a bit!
I will re-oil the boards every few 3-6 months as we use these often, however seldom used bread boards may only need a treatment once a year.
How to Make your own Wood Butter
Ingredients
5 tbsp. Beeswax (pellets or grated from a block)
10 tbsp. Olive oil
10 tbsp. Coconut Oil
You can substitute these oils, but I find these work best and can be bought cheaply at the supermarket or located at wholefoods stores.
Instructions
1. Melt ingredients together in a double boiler. I used an oven proof dish in a small saucepan filled with water.
2. Heat carefully and stir, until it the beeswax is completely melted. Pellets take a little longer than grated wax.
3. Add essential oils - but wait until it is off the heat and slightly cooled otherwise you may ruin the essential oil properties.
This time I added 6 drops of Wild Orange Oil.
Make sure any essential oils you choose have a label saying they are food safe. You could also opt for oils such as rosemary, oregano, lemon and peppermint.
You will have a mild scent on anything you use the oil on but no flavour, unless you over do it, or you can opt to skip this step.
4. You can let it cool as is, or pour very carefully into in a jar and shake. Be really careful not to get this hot mixture on your skin as it can burn.
It sets fairly quickly, depending on the temperature of your home it should be ready in 30 minutes to an hour.
Then simply stir with a knife.
Your wood butter should have a beautiful creamy buttery texture and it mine smells good enough to eat!
5. Now apply to the boards with a cloth to rub the butter all over.
6. Admire your work and allow it to soak in for 24-48 hours
I was really pleased how well this one came up!
I also applied this to my wooden spoons and other boards and now the wood looks amazing and it really brings out the different grains and colours of each of them.
They look a little greasy in the photo, but I did apply a lot to make up for my neglect and these were ready to use after 48 hours. I have used the wooden spoons several times in cooking since AND accidently left them soaking in a sink of water but they still look great!
This recipe yields a decent quantity and you could halve the ingredients it if you only have one or two chopping boards. This would make a beautiful handmade gift too!
Store in a cool place out of the sun such as your fridge or pantry, and don't forget to label it so you remember what it is!
I hope this inspires you to go and give your bread boards and chopping boards some loving, let me know what you think.