Slip sliding away

The most important thing I learned on my first day in cooking school was to put a damp cloth underneath my cutting board. This keeps your board from slipping and sliding on the counter. A damp piece of paper towel also works well. This is crucial because it’s a safety issue: if your cutting board is moving, even a little bit, then your knife will move too. And if your knife, food, and cutting surface are all moving, then you’ve greatly increased your chance of cutting yourself. This little step will help.

Some boards have small suction cups or rubber feet on one side, which also help keep the board from sliding. I don’t like these as much because this means that you can only use one side of the board. If you have a board that’s smooth on both sides, then you have twice as much cutting board as the other ones. And if the board starts to warp, then you can turn it over to help it flatten out again.