WOOD FACTS
Unveiling the stunning natural beauty of camphor laurel.
Caring for your board
Caring for your Eco Food Board is easy and ensures you will have years and years of use out of your unique piece of timber. After use simply wipe your food board down with warm water and dry with a towel. To keep your board beautiful, maintenance is easy; every three or so months whip out any light based food oil ,eg vegetable oil or grape seed oil, (but not olive oil).
Make sure you give your board a good oiling down. We’ll also include a little Care Card with each board you buy so you don’t forget how to show the love you know your board deserves!
Make sure you give your board a good oiling down. We’ll also include a little Care Card with each board you buy so you don’t forget how to show the love you know your board deserves!
Camphor Laurel
There are some questions surrounding the use of Camphor Laurel timber and we’ll do our best to explain all here…but we’ll have to get a bit ‘sciency’.
The anti-microbial chemicals found in Camphor Laurel occur naturally and after the wood is kiln dried present no issue in terms of contaminating food. The chemicals: camphor, safrole, cineole, cinnamaldehyde, fatty acids, mannitol, limonene, tannins, terpineol, eugenol, pinene, linalool, and geraniol (3, 4) are chemicals that tend to occur naturally in our food and confectionery.
The chemical that tends to raise the most eyebrows is the safrole but this little component of the wood’s makeup is also found in angelica, sassafras, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, cacao and black pepper…many of which you probably have on your spice rack in the pantry! Bay leaves contain cineole & eugenol, you’ll find traces of linalool, pinene & camphor in coriander and good old fashioned peppermint contains pinene & limonene. You see where we’re going with this…what nature has put in the timber she has also put in many of the ingredients we use freely.
And now the piece de resistance of using Camphor Laurel as a food preparation surface – those very anti microbial substances make these boards the most effective food prep surface as they reduce microbial growth. Yes!
The anti-microbial chemicals found in Camphor Laurel occur naturally and after the wood is kiln dried present no issue in terms of contaminating food. The chemicals: camphor, safrole, cineole, cinnamaldehyde, fatty acids, mannitol, limonene, tannins, terpineol, eugenol, pinene, linalool, and geraniol (3, 4) are chemicals that tend to occur naturally in our food and confectionery.
The chemical that tends to raise the most eyebrows is the safrole but this little component of the wood’s makeup is also found in angelica, sassafras, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, cacao and black pepper…many of which you probably have on your spice rack in the pantry! Bay leaves contain cineole & eugenol, you’ll find traces of linalool, pinene & camphor in coriander and good old fashioned peppermint contains pinene & limonene. You see where we’re going with this…what nature has put in the timber she has also put in many of the ingredients we use freely.
And now the piece de resistance of using Camphor Laurel as a food preparation surface – those very anti microbial substances make these boards the most effective food prep surface as they reduce microbial growth. Yes!
For those who love numbers and the science have a look at the table below:
| Camphor | Cedar | Glass | Plastic | |
| Fungi | 3.3 | 8 | 5.7 | 9.7 |
| Bacteria | 0.7 | 1.7 | 8.0 | 7.3 |
| TOTAL | 4.0 | 9.7 | 13.7 | 17.0 |
MEAN NUMBERS OF ORGANISMS PER BOARD FROM CUTTING BOARD TESTS.
Sustainability
Eco Food Boards is based in the unsurpassed beauty of Byron Bay and as such caring for our environment and being sustainable is paramount to us. Now as much we love the timber for our magnificent boards, as a tree the Camphor Laurel is a pest and considered a weed in our area. By using this tree exclusively for our boards, we are helping native flora replenish itself as their presence on the land hinders native growth.
We use trees from Murwillumbah to Lismore. When a local farmer is told to remove a tree, our talented manager is jumps in the truck and removes the hewn logs. Not only do we remove the logs we also pay the farmer to help offset their clearing costs. Native plants can once again grow, you get a gorgeous food board and a local farmer is a happy chap once again. Win. Win.
But wait…there’s more! The offcuts from the boards are bundled up and offered free as firewood for anyone who wants to pop in. Also available is sawdust to show the veggie patch some love or to freshen up a compost toilet.
FAQ’s
Yes indeed they are! The timber is all sourced from around Byron Bay and this hugely helps the growth of local, native vegetation. The timber varies in how it looks due to exactly where the tree was growing, how much rain the tree soaked up and how much beautiful Byron sunshine it absorbed as it grew.
If the log was stood on its end during milling then you have a lovely looking round board which is also referred to as showing an ‘oblique’ or ‘end’ grain. But if the log was milled laying down then you get those beautiful long wavy grains – the ‘straight’ grain. Whichever one takes your fancy you are assured of having a unique piece of timber in your kitchen!
All our Eco Food Boards are kiln dried right here on our farm. This means the timber is very stable and shouldn’t suffer from any warping or cracking. Our boards are also made from one piece of timber, not joined pieces. This also means cracking would be highly unlikely.
Yes they will. Can’t get around that. The boards are wooden so knife scratches will happen…but the timber is medium density and it really does wear well. Think of them of laughter lines…they are the records of the wonderful creations you have put together on an Eco Food Board.
We do use resin to fill in any naturally occurring holes in the wood or to replace a loose wood knot. Not every board has them and not every board needs resin… but if we have used it you have a clear, flat surface to prepare your feasts upon. Don’t worry either that the resin will fall out, we apply it to the fresh timber and it is not going anywhere!
What a great idea! And we are here to help. Drop us a line or give us a call to discuss what you have in mind and we’ll provide you with a quote and whip it up as a special order but without a ‘special price’! Rule of thumb is roughly the size of the boards on our website will give you an idea of the price on your board…. simple!
