The Kitchen Tool Tyler Florence Thinks Everyone Should Splurge On

Tyler Florence has shared the allure of food trucks and their accessibility. He has made known his favorite restaurants around the world. And now the celebrity chef is offering up a little wisdom about what kitchen tool he believes you shouldn't feel bad about dropping some money on. Per Food Network, Florence revealed that a good two-foot-long cutting board is a must-have. How much will this item set you back? The host of "The Great Food Truck Race" said, "It may cost you a few hundred dollars." Is it worth the splurge?

A cutting board may seem like a piece of culinary gear where you can buy something cheap to get the job done, but when you consider how frequently you actually use it, you realize how important it is. From slicing fruits, dicing veggies, mincing aromatics, cutting up beef, chicken, and fish, a cutting board sees a lot of action over the course of its life. 

Tyler Florence is a professional chef who cooks for many people and needs a large cutting board. So, it is fair to ask: Do you need a cutting board that big? A two-foot-long cutting board is rather large for some kitchens, especially when you consider that the standard size is somewhere around 12 by 18 inches. If you decide to splurge and get this oversized board, you first want to make certain it will fit wherever you plan on storing it. 

Will you ever use it? This is a big question to ask yourself when buying any kitchen tool. If you like to host friends and family and are preparing a salad and sandwiches for a crowd and need to slice up a few tomatoes, onions, and heads of lettuce, a big cutting board can come in handy. And when you make grilled steak to go with that roasted beet and orange salad, a large cutting board gives you room to maneuver as you slice the meat and prepare to plate it. But is it worth the cost? 

While $200 may seem like a lot of dough for a wooden, plastic, or glass board, a good one will protect something even more expensive: your countertops and any other surfaces you might use to show off your knife skills. If you've recently updated your kitchen, you know countertops can run anywhere from $10 to $70 per square foot, depending on your choice of material. So, spending a little to potentially save your kitchen surfaces from the blades of your knives and the pounding from your kitchen mallet seems like a good return on your investment.

If you are going to splurge on a two-foot cutting board, what type should you choose? Cutting boards can be made out of glass, plastic, and wood, and while this is a matter of personal preference, a wooden chopping board will be the most durable. If you make a cut that is too deep and you don't like the way the surface looks, you can always sand it. On the flip side, it can absorb odors easily, so you wouldn't want to slice up onions on the same wooden board you use for strawberries. That said, in the long run, you will ultimately save money with a wooden board, as plastic and glass boards generally need to be replaced more frequently.