John Boos RA-Board Series Rectangular Wooden Maple Cutting Board 24”x18” – 2.25” Thick, 30-lb Reversible Butcher Block with Edge-Grain & Finger Grips – Made in the USA

I recently purchased the Boos 15"x20" x 2 1/4" x maple cutting board as a supplement to my Boos 12" x 12" x 1.5" board. The first thing to keep in mind is that you need to oil your board heavily when you first receive it with either food grade mineral oil or Boos Mystery oil (a mineral oil cocktail). Oil it until it stops absorbing oil, then apply the Boos board cream to all surfaces and allow to cure overnight. Wipe off all excess residue and your board will be ready to use, just reapply oil and/or cream as needed. I nearly purchased a 12" x 18" x 2.25" Boos end grain black walnut board through a chef's supply vendor but the price was a pretty bitter pill to swallow. As well, I realized that my knives have held up very well using the smaller edge grained maple board by Boos, though, I am sure that end grain boards may be easier on your knives. The 20" x 15" x 2.25" Boos cutting board is a winner on every level, it is well made, a great value and looks absolutely fantastic on the kitchen counter! Oh, it is rather hefty and not for the slight of frame. Persons of shorter stature may be better served by a thinner, lighter weight cutting board. This Boos, however, is great if you use a 10" chef's knives regularly, it just has the necessary real-estate to make food prep easier and more enjoyable. My set up includes: The aforementioned John Boos cutting boards, Boos Mystery Oil and Board Cream, and Zwilling Professional S and Miyabi 600 D knives. Pros: Big beautiful slab of maple Made in USA Easy on your knives Rock solid build quality NSF approved Price Cons: Big heavy slab of maple Effectively increases countertop height Verdict: Perfect for the amateur chef You need one, yes, you really do! 5 Stars Plus! Update 2/4/2025: I added a 15"x20"x2 1/4" Cherry Boos Block to our kitchen around 6-7 years ago. Both boards are still in excellent condition and I expect they will outlive me. Just follow their care directions, use the Boos Mystery Oil and Board Cream, the applicator is also handy and well made. As nice as the maple cutting board is, the cherry is at another level! Buy good knives, and good cutting boards to help maintain their edges and it makes prep and cooking a real pleasure!

Listen, this is the Rolls Royce of butcher blocks. What you see with 0 or 1 star reviews for this butcher block are the same type of people who leave 0 star reviews on Le Creuset pans and Shun/ Miyabi Knives. These are high end kitchen items that you need to know how to use and take care of. This is an excellent Block that will last a lifetime and provide a nice cushion for your knives to extend their lives as well. I got a 24x18x2.5 which is literally massive and weighs approx 30lbs but provides for a ton of room for meats and veggies. It is also so large that you dont have to worry about putting towels down before using- this bad boy is not moving lol. Unless you are strong and can handle maneuvering this I recommend you get a smaller size board. Now... if you are buying this block and worried about it coming apart or cracking like other people who have reviewed it follow the below instructions and I can all but guarantee that it will last forever. The Boos Block comes extremely dry. I am not sure entirely why that is but it just seems to be the way that they come. For the first week you really shouldn't even use it, just condition it for future use. Also, you NEED to buy the combo bottle of Boos Mystery Oil and Board Cream, if you don't do not complain when the board cracks. Now first and foremost, wash the board off with warm soapy water and let it dry fully by wiping it down then resting it on its side with the grain vertical. Once it is dry, apply the ENTIRE, yes ENTIRE included package of Boos Mystery Oil to the whole outside of the board. The end grain sides (shortest sides of the block unless yours is square) are the most thirsty and you need to really saturate these sides with the oil, they can take a LOT- at least mine did. This is what people who have had theirs crack are missing. When I did mine, it got like 5 shades dark from absorbing all the oil. After rubbing all sides with a substantial amount of oil, stand it upright and let the oil fully soak in overnight. Next day, wipe off any excess oil that has not been absorbed. Repeat this process at least 4-5 days in a row, ideally 7 and now it is ready for the next step. After the board has fully absorbed the oil after 5-7 days, apply a layer of Board Cream and let that sit overnight to fully absorb, wipe off the excess. Now it is ready to use but you can repeat the last step again to be extra safe. Continue applying Mystery Oil at least once a week for the first month. After that every 2-4 weeks should suffice but just make sure the block is never drying out.

I can't say how it will perform over the long term, but my comments on the cutting board right out of the box are: 1.Overall I'm very pleased with the RA03 Boos Board. I'm using it on a 36 inch high countertop and it's to provide a prep area which is a little higher than normal -appx 39 inches high with a 12 X 18 plastic cutting board on top, and there is ample space for the stuff being cut up as well. I'm planning to mount 4 ikea capita adjustable legs on a second 18 X 24 board which will give a second prep area 42 inches high with a 12 X 18 plastic cutting board on top. The 2 prep areas suit 2 different height cooks. Used this way the board is not put in the sink, it's only wiped down now and then. 2.It's flat and with no visible defects, it looks brand new, just as advertised. Purchased from Warehouse Deals for about sixty four with free shipping. 3.Amazon shipped it in only the Boos cardboard box which really isn't a good shipping box-if it is dropped the board could easily be dented so I suggest you inspect the board closely if yours is shipped this way, and look for potential damage on the box. 4.It looks dry, so will give it the usual generous coating of food grade mineral oil which is what I use on maple or beech butcher block surfaces, including an old edge grain maple butcher block cutting board board which is about 30 yrs old. 5.For the weight which is considerable, the "handle" grooves are OK, but not very good unless you have very strong fingers. If you are planning to wash this in a sink the version with handles might be safer. (Might also damage the sink though). If you are planning to use this board in the conventional way, things to consider are, will it fit in the sink? can all of the cooks safely lift it and wash it?, and is there a place where it can be put to dry? Also when not being used where would it be stored? Note: the Michigan Maple board arrived and the packaging is similar, just a cardboard box. It's 1.75" v. 2.25", the quality appears identical, with the Boos board having a very slight edge. If you can get the Boos board for twenty nine percent (the rough amount of additional maple used) more than the Michigan board I would say get that, even better if less. But you will be happy with the Michigan Maple board if you decide on that one. I purchased one for a gift a few years ago and it hasn't had any issues.

The board is beautiful, fits my countertop like it was made for it, and is a pleasure to use. I am no expert but I think the problems people have had with it splitting is that they have not used enough oil. The board I got must have been stored and transported in a dry, hot environment. When I got it, it was dry as a bone. I used, literally, 30+ ounces of mystery oil over a 10 day period when I first got my board. It was so dry that I brushed it on with a basting brush - when the oil was mostly absorbed I brushed on more. The first few days i could brush on a coat every 20 minutes. Each morning I flipped it and oiled the other side hoping that the oil being absorbed would eventually meet in the middle. I brushed on probably, 75-100 coatings (I wish I had kept count). I made sure to keep the ends as wet with oil as the surface of the board. Over the last 3 months I have rubbed another 10-15 ounces of oil in (it’s hard to tell when you use a rag and some gets rubbed off the next morning after soaking in overnight). Again, I’m no expert, but if I understand correctly the oil is filling the empty cellular structure in the natural wood slabs/pieces that are glued together to make the board. If these cells were not filled with oil they would act like a sponge and absorb the varying humidity in the kitchen, swelling and shrinking, weakening both the wood and the glued joints. So, with a 2” board there is a lot of wood to fill and if you only rub an ounce or two into the surface the oil could never reach the core of the board which will then dry out/seek to absorb kitchen humidity, shift and crack. There’s a picture in a review from last year and you can see the surface of the board is a deeper color, but the core looks very pale/dry. I went through two 16 ounce bottles of mystery oil and then switched to Howard’s Butcher Block conditioner because you can buy it by the gallon. 3 months in and my board seems fine, but I think that wouldn’t be so in this summer humidity if I hadn’t filled it with oil. So, that’s the story of my board. I read all the reviews here and spent hours online reading more than I ever wanted to know about butcher blocks before I bought mine... hence this ridiculously long review... hope it helps!

This board was massive. Bigger than I thought even though I knew the dimensions. Seemingly very high-quality with no dents or scratches. The next day I ordered a smaller version of it. Treating it with the John Boos mystery oil and board cream.

Great product. It's large, strong, and beautiful. Make sure you have a large sink, otherwise it will be difficult to clean. My only gripe is that it came with an obvious dent in the wood corner. Right next to the Boos Logo. Of all 8 corners it had to be that corner! Ahhh. They really need to ship these things with corner covers. It's pretty heavy, so I'm sure it was dropped on that corner during shipping. It's disappointing since I spent a lot of money for it. At least I'm satisfied with every thing else.

This block is amazing. I'm by no means a professional chef but the amount of joy and ease this block has brought to my kitchen is exponential. Before this I had a cheap set of three varied size cutting boards that were of sketchy design and slid around whenever I would try to use them. Not with this guy! It is QUALITY. Things I love about this board: - Very large surface area, so much room for activities! - Sits well on my counter, doesn't slide around when I'm trying to slice and dice. - The hand slot thingies on the side make it relatively easy to lift this otherwise gargantuan hunk of wood Things I don't love about this board: - It's heckin heavy! While this is technically one of the qualities that makes it far superior to other flimsy boards, my girlish figure isn't the best adapted for picking this up and moving it around. Luckily the only time I have ever encountered this issue was when initially lifting it from the packaging and placing it on my countertop. ps- This is an investment piece! If you decide to buy it make sure you are prepared to take care of it and this guy will last you for years to come. My board came with a sample of Mystery Oil to get started. pps- If you have a small kitchen or limited counter space I would recommend really looking at the dimensions of this product because it didn't quite sink in with me how big this thing is until it arrived in my kitchen, though admittedly its size is one of the things I love most about this board!

I placed my order, and as usual, it arrived right on time. When I opened the box, I was first shocked to see how big it was. I guess I under estimated or under realized the dimensions. Anyhow, when I unwrapped it, I noticed something that another review had stated, and that was the fact that the finish was less than to be desired. It was rough, and felt unfinished, and was very pale in color. Well, I took my Boos Oil and Boos cream and proceeded to give it a treatment. I then put it away and waited anxiously for an opportunity to use it. That day came on Saturday, and I fell in love with it! Good Solid cutting board, plenty of room to work, and pile my chopped veggies to the top and sides of my working area. I then washed it with soapy water, after I figured out it would only fit in one side of my double sink, standing on end, and set it aside to dry before putting it away. That's when I noticed that it seemed to fit tighter in the space where I had stored it at before, which was standing on it's side, on top of my counter, and under the upper cabinets. The next time I used it, it was almost impossible to get out, and was impossible to put back into that space. It had grown approximately 1/4 inch in width, and now no longer fits under the cabinet. Well being the handyman that I am, I took it out to my shop, and put it on my table saw, and trimmed off about 1/2 inch. Then while sanding the newly cut edge, I decided to sand all sides smooth. I then brought it back in and re treated it with the Boos Oil. Today the board has a silky smooth surface, and is a dark maple color. It's almost as if it wouldn't absorb the Boos Oil in the condition it came form the factory in. Once I sanded it down, it absorbed like a sponge. You can see in the picture the color difference from the piece I cut off and the board now.