Hard maple
Hard maple is the classic butcher-block wood. It's very hard (around 1,450 on the Janka hardness scale), with a light, creamy color and a tight, closed grain. It stands up to years of daily chopping and keeps a clean, bright look.
Cherry
Cherry is a little softer (around 950 on the Janka scale), which makes it slightly kinder to knife edges. Its grain is fine and closed too, so it cleans up well.
What sets cherry apart is its color: a warm reddish brown that deepens with light and age. A cherry board gets richer over its first months and years, so it looks a little different, and darker, than the day you got it.
What is spalted maple?
Spalted maple is maple with dark lines and patches running through it. The marks come from natural fungi that colonize the wood before it's dried; drying the wood stops the process. No two pieces of spalted maple look alike, which is why a board made with it is truly one of a kind.
Spalting has to be caught early: the wood needs to still be solid and sound to make a good board.
Which should you choose?
- Choose maple for a light, bright, very hard everyday workhorse.
- Choose cherry for warm color that deepens over time, with a little more give for your knives.
- Choose a mix for the best of both: cherry next to spalted maple puts warm color beside dramatic natural lines.
Either way, care is the same
Both woods want the same simple care: hand wash, dry it on edge, and oil it when it looks dry. Our cutting board care guide covers it step by step.
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