Like a lot of plastic chopping boards, sharp knife marks do start to show after a while, but it’s still pretty durable for the price and you can throw it in the dishwasher when you have finished with it for a thorough, hygienic clean.

Downsides? You’ll see knife cuts in the boards before long, but this is almost impossible to avoid with a polypropylene board; bear in mind that these boards don’t mark as easily as cheaper plastic boards. They’re dishwasher-safe – except the textured holder, which should be wiped clean instead – and fairly resistant to warping, too. Glass: Fine as a worktop-saver; terrible as a chopping board. Glass blunts blades faster than almost any other surface – except marble.The only niggle we had is that it marked easily when using heavy-duty knives. If you’re like us though, you’ll have a different chopping board for different tasks and this one is ideal for general everyday use. If you’re looking for a sturdy breadboard, this might not be the one for you, however.

Each of the four polypropylene boards has a soft-grip tab on its edge that’s illustrated with a specific ingredient to reduce the risk of cross-contamination – the different colouring of each board helps in this regard, too – and they come stored in a sturdy, space-saving holder. Pros: Even cheap polypropylene boards are dishwasher-safe and can withstand rigorous abuse from chemicals, hence their popularity in pro kitchens. They’re lightweight and easy to manufacture in different colours, so you can buy a colour-coded set to avoid cross-contamination. Cons: Bamboo is harder than any hardwood, and its grain doesn’t offer much “give”. As such, it will dull your knives faster than wood, plastic or silicone. Wash it and it will warp, so you’ll have to wipe it instead – and oil it to keep it looking ship-shape. That’s not to say a wooden chopping board will be self-cleaning – you’ll still have to wash it. However, it possesses anti-microbial properties that make it somewhat more resistant to bacteria than plastic. So I should buy a wooden board, then?But there are a couple of downsides to this beautiful looking board.. One, it will blunt your knives in time, as would any bamboo board. Two, although incredibly hard-wearing, water is its kryptonite. It isn’t dishwasher-safe, and will warp if you soak it; you can wipe it clean with a damp cloth. Oil it with a food-safe oil such as linseed for maximum durability. However, since then scientists have found that wood can help resist harmful bacteria, turning food hygiene orthodoxy on its head. In 1994, Wisconsin University researchers infected plastic and wood boards with E.coli, salmonella and listeria, finding that the wooden boards retained 98-99% less bacteria than plastic. Plastic was said to become an even worse breeding ground for bacteria once it’s scarred with knife marks.