Forget the Cheap Plastic Cutting Mats!

Progressive Prepworks Cutting Mats

In the age of bacteriaphobia – when the average homemaker douses every surface with antibacterial soaps, consumes antibacterial wipes like… like Kleenex®, and sprays Purell® as if it were air freshener – wooden cutting boards are, apparently, passé. Silly people, don’t you know your gut is full of bacteria?? In reality, though, cross-contamination between meats and raw vegetables can be a problem, so even the most bacteriophilic homeowner (that's be me) uses different knives and cutting boards for meat and vegetables, even if the veggies will be cooked.

Progressive Chopping Mats

For years, we’ve had sets of color-coded plastic and/or silicone cutting mats, especially for cutting meats. Our first set was plastic and lasted a couple of years; then came the Casabella Silicone Mats that we used for several years. They were OK, but weren't really intended for long-term use. As a result, we tossed them a few months ago and replaced them with a set of Progressive Prepworks Flexible Color-Coded Chopping Mats. The set is typical of its type: four color-coded thin plastic mats sized 11” x 15”; red for beef, blue for fish, yellow for poultry, green for vegetables and fruits. Big Whoop. Each has a little symbol for the color-blind. According to the maker, they’re dishwasher-safe and won’t dull your knives. The set, which runs about fifteen bucks or so includes two smaller (7½” x 11”) clear mats for… well, who knows.

Each mat also has a small hole in the center of one of the short sides for storing them on a hook.

In our experience…

We never wash such things in the dishwasher, preferring to wash them by hand just in case. The Progressive Cutting Mats arrived already slightly curled, which the maker claims to be a selling point – they say you can pour the contents into the pan. Unfortunately, the curl continued to tighten during the months that we owned them, soon rendering them essentially useless for  cutting anything that weighed less than three or four pounds. They curled along the short dimension (11”) into such a tight curve that the center was about 3” off the counter when empty. One of the mats also cracked at the hole where it was hung. In other words, cheap, brittle plastic.

So we did what we should have done in the first place: we threw them away and replaced them with a Kitchen Gizmo 2-Sided TPU Cutting Board, a thermoplastic board about ¼" thick but still flexible enough to “pour” from it. It also has a little “gutter” around the edges to hold in juices. Instead of warping into a sharp bend on its own, this mat stays flat. We continue to use the plastic board for meat and juicy vegetables, while cutting dry vegetables, herbs and fruit on one of our quality bamboo boards.

Kitchen Gizmo TPU Cutting Board

Take my advice: forget those cheap plastic mats and get one that will last!

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