The cutting board your knives deserve.

Epicurean boards are a composite of wood fiber and food-safe resin, pressed into a thin, dense sheet and made in the USA. The board is heat resistant to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, so it doubles as a trivet, and it has a hole for hanging.

It is the board to reach for with raw chicken, since it can go straight into the dishwasher. The surface is harder than wood, and it shows knife marks as fine scratches rather than healing over.

Skip it as your only board if you care about the feel of a knife on wood. It is thin and light, which is handy at the sink and less pleasant for a long session of chopping.

The Charleston is end grain acacia, 20 by 14 inches and just over an inch thick, with a channel around the edge that holds about 4 ounces of juice. At 6.6 pounds it is light for an end grain board, which makes it practical to carry to the table for carving.

Acacia is a hard, dense wood with strong contrast between light and dark grain, which gives the checkerboard a busy look. The maker says to hand wash, dry at once, never soak and oil it periodically.

Skip it if you want a board that will stay dead flat for decades. A thin end grain board is more likely to move with the seasons than a thick one. Buy the Boos if that matters.

Teakhaus makes its boards from FSC-certified plantation teak, and this is its large edge grain board: 20 by 15 by 1.5 inches, reversible, with grip handles cut into the ends. It comes bundled with a bottle of the maker's EON conditioning oil, a blend of beeswax, coconut oil and orange oil.

America's Test Kitchen named the Teakhaus edge grain board its winner and praised the large size for being easy to lift while staying put. Its testers found the teak board soaked up only a fraction of the oil that end grain boards needed to stay waterproof. Teak's own oils do a lot of the work.

Skip it if you are particular about knife edges. America's Test Kitchen notes teak contains fine silica, which over long use wears a blade slightly faster than maple.

Virginia Boys Kitchens makes its boards by hand in Virginia from American walnut and seasons them with fractionated coconut oil before they ship. This is a reversible 17 by 11 inch board with a juice well on one side.

Walnut is softer than maple, which makes it kind to a knife edge, and its dark color hides beet and berry stains that would show on a pale board. It is the board to put out with cheese or a loaf when people come over.

Skip it as your main board if you break down whole chickens or cook for a crowd. At 17 by 11 inches it is a size down from the Teakhaus.

John Boos has made butcher blocks in Effingham, Illinois, since 1887, and the CCB is its classic end grain board in hard maple: 18 inches square, 3 inches thick, reversible, with recessed finger grips on the sides. Maple is the traditional butcher block wood because it is hard enough to wear slowly and fine enough in the grain to resist moisture.

End grain at this thickness is the kindest surface for a good knife and the most stable against warping. It is also very heavy and does not move, which is the point: it lives on the counter and the food comes to it.

Skip it if you do not have a permanent spot for it or will not oil it. End grain drinks oil, and Boos recommends its Mystery Oil and Board Cream to keep the wood from drying and checking.