Checkered Cutting BoardAmish Maple & Walnut Butcher Board

• Handcrafted Quality: Each board is individually shaped, sanded, and finished by hand by a single Old Order Amish craftsman from the extended Yoder family. He is very particular about his boards, and you can see it in every square.
• A True Checkered Cutting Board: Solid squares of hand-selected maple and black walnut, fitted together in the quilt-like pattern that gives the board its name. The contrast comes from the two woods themselves.
• Two Sizes, Both an Inch Thick: 7 1/2" x 11 1/2" for bread, fruit, and cheese, or 11 1/2" x 17 1/2" when you want room to chop and carve. Both are a full 1" of solid hardwood with real heft on the counter.
• A Finish Measured in Days: Sealed with a natural blend of pure tung oil and orange peel oil that takes hours to apply and days to cure. It bonds deep into the wood and rarely needs reapplication.
• Almost No Upkeep: No seasoning when it arrives and no monthly oiling schedule. Wash it by hand, dry it right away, and keep it out of the dishwasher; a butcher block conditioner now and then is all the extra care it ever asks for.
• Safe Where It Counts: The food-safe finish comes from tree seeds, not petroleum, and the glue joining the squares meets CARB Phase 2 and federal TSCA Title VI limits.
• Made in Small Batches: One craftsman makes every board, so each size comes in limited numbers. If yours is sold out, the notify-me signup on this page will email you the moment more are ready in the Shipping Barn.
• American Heritage: A handmade cutting board from the Amish community on the Iowa-Missouri border, built to be passed down. Backed by the same lifetime guarantee that stands behind every basket we sell, with free shipping on every order.

This checkered cutting board is made by one Old Order Amish craftsman, a member of the extended Yoder family, who spent years making boards only for friends and family before agreeing to share them here. Some folks say checkerboard cutting board, some say butcher board; the pattern comes from solid squares of maple and black walnut fitted together like one of the quilts the ladies in his community sew. The smaller board is right for slicing bread and laying out cheese, the larger one gives you a proper surface for chopping and carving, and both are a full inch thick. One customer wrote that hers is "beautifully made, crafted with care and adds the warmth of homemade to my kitchen," and that says it about as well as we can.

If you have owned butcher blocks that needed seasoning the day they arrived and oiling every month after, this Amish cutting board will be a welcome change. He seals every board with a blend of pure tung oil and orange peel oil, a finish that takes hours to apply and days to cure, and it bonds so deeply into the wood that it rarely needs anything more from you. Wash it by hand, dry it right away, and keep it out of the dishwasher; that is nearly the whole routine. The squares themselves are joined with glue that meets CARB Phase 2 and federal TSCA Title VI safety limits, so the board is as sound underneath as it is handsome on top.

Plenty of these boards spend as much time serving as they do cutting. The pattern makes a fine backdrop for cheese, fruit, or appetizers when company comes, and between meals it can lean against the backsplash and look like it was always part of the kitchen. Customers keep telling us the same thing about giving them away; one wrote that "they will make wonderful wedding presents" and planned to get one for each of her grandchildren. It ships gift-ready with no prices in the box, and you can add a free gift note at checkout. If you prefer diamonds to squares, the same workshop makes our Amish Legacy Diamond Board, and the two make a handsome pair.

Because one craftsman makes every board and each coat of finish must cure before the next, these come to us in small batches, and a size can sell out for a few weeks at a time. When that happens, the signup on this page will email you as soon as more are ready in the Shipping Barn; we would rather you wait a little for a fully cured board than have anyone hurry one out. Like everything the families make, this handmade cutting board ships free and is backed by our lifetime guarantee. It is the kind of piece that gets passed down, and it is built for exactly that.