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Your kitchen can become a hazard zone if you are not careful. Every appliance, every ingredient must be chosen with care. Your utensils, your knives, your kitchen rag clothes, your containers and your ingredients need to be checked and double checked all the time. Bacteria and mould attack at lightening speed if you allow your kitchen to run to seed. Dustbins, water taps and even your cutting boards need to be chosen with care and looked after well.

Cutting boards or chopping blocks are a must in every kitchen. I am sure that there are many of us who pay no attention to this humble kitchen tool, let alone spend time to choose it carefully. But, if you are not careful, this humble tool could become a danger zone as most of the vegetables and meats are chopped on it. And if it is not carefully cared for, it could become a problem area in your kitchen.

There are a variety of cutting boards to choose from, ranging from plastic to wood.Here are some real simple tips to choosing and caring for your cutting boards, your kitchen`s hardest-working surface.

Wooden cutting boards - Chefs all over the entire world swear by the wooden cutting board. If properly cared for, these cutting boards can last for years without cracking or splitting. The advantage of using this kind of cutting board is that it does not dull the knives. The sharpness is maintained. A good wooden board is more expensive as opposed to the contemporary plastic one and generally a little more care is required in the long run.

Always scrub your board with a non abrasive brush and hot, soapy water after every use. You need to rinse and dry thoroughly. The danger of not drying your wooden cutting board is that the water that sits on the board can create a germ-friendly environment.

Another very important care for your board is to oil it regularly So that it does not crack or split.

Plastic cutting boards - These cutting boards are lighter than wood. But you need to choose carefully. A lighter plastic board is less durable. You need to go in for a solid surface board. There a lot of experts who believe that nonporous plastic is better than wood at preventing bacterial growth. But this does not mean that plastic boards are safe. You have to be as vigilant in caring for them as you would a wooden one.

Scrub your board with a nylon brush and hot soapy water after every use. Always wipe and dry the water.

Take extra care in removing stains and germs embedded in slits and crevices of the cutting boards.

With a few precautions, your cutting boards which play such a major role in your kitchen can be durable and germ free