Do plastic cutting boards dull knives faster than wood boards

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I've heard on numerous occasions that plastic cutting boards dull knives faster than wood boards. I use a large wooden cutting board often, but recently I've been finding it heavy and it sometimes leaves behind a flavour on food despite good cleaning.

Is there any objective evidence that plastic cutting boards dull knives faster than good wood cutting boards? I'm hoping there have been experiments with sharpness measuring instruments such as the Edge-On-Up Industrial Edge Tester.

I've heard anecdotes and I've seen people provide plausible explanations why wood would be better for keeping knives sharp, but I haven't seen any hard data.

Best Answer

There is such a report, but you're not going to like the result. According to KnifeGrinder's scientific test(PDF), plastic board materials other than low-density polypropylene are the least edge-wearing board materials you can get. Wood wears the edge more than plastic, as a rule.