It looks like an erstwhile normal cutting board with wood on one side and non-slip material on the other, giving you both an excellent cutting surface and a base that doesn’t move around even on a wet countertop. The CleverOne woodNflex, however, adds flexibility to the mix, allowing you to roll it inwards for easily transferring all the contents to a bowl.
That’s right, this cutting board can fold into a semi-circular shape, making it easy to hold in the contents and pour it out in a controlled manner compared to just a flat surface. Whether you’re slicing a slab of pork into smaller pieces, dicing vegetables for a stew, or finely chopping some fresh herbs, this things gives the added functionality keeping everything in when moving the contents to a new container.
The CleverOne woodNflex, of course, doesn’t use actual hardwood for the surface layer, since that would make the flexible function downright impossible. Instead, it relies on multiple layers of wood veneer, so you get that warm wood appearance without the stiffness. It pairs that wood veneer with food-grade silicone on the opposite side, so it gets a substantial material at the base that won’t slide around when performing fast cutting action. While designed for use as a cutting board, the silicone on the underside also allows you to turn it over for use as a functional trivet for pans and pots straight out of the stovetop.
Dimensions are 14 x 11 inches (length x width), giving you a spacious work surface, so you can slice and dice multiple food items at a time. It’s also just an eighth of an inch thick, so it won’t take up that much room whether in the sink or in a drawer. Plus, the fact that you can roll it allows for plenty of storage options. Weight, by the way, is just 1.5 pounds, so you won’t need serious wrist and hand strength when picking it up with one hand.
The CleverOne woodNflex has a wood veneer that’s made from either oak or walnut, so you can go with the former if you like a light woody shade or the latter if you want something darker. The outfit, by the way, claims this will last just as durably as any wooden cutting board, provided you treat them with the same oils and conditioners (such as linseed oil) you use with traditional butcher blocks. Oh yeah, the wood means this isn’t dishwasher-safe, so you’ll have to clean it with a sponge and detergent in the sink.
Does it work as well as a traditional hardwood board? We don’t know, but for standard household chopping duties, we imagine this will do just fine. Now, if you cut up entire pigs and cows in the counter, that’s probably another matter entirely. In case you need something smaller or bigger, by the way, CleverOne claims they’re releasing different sizes of the board in the near future, so may want to wait on that.
The CleverOne woodNflex is available now.
