Recipe Cutting Boards: Turn a Handwritten Family Recipe into a Lasting Gift
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904 Custom makes it simple to transform a handwritten recipe or meaningful note into a recipe cutting board that’s both kitchen-ready and display-worthy. Browse our most popular styles below, then learn artwork tips, wood recommendations, care instructions, and FAQs to make your board perfect.
Shop Our Recipe Cutting Boards
Full-Color with Red Plaid Background — a festive option that makes recipes pop, perfect for holiday gifting.
Prefer a flexible upload flow? Try Upload Your Recipe — Engraved Board.
How to Create Your Recipe Cutting Board (Artwork Guidelines)
You don’t need special equipment—just upload your recipe during checkout and our team will handle the rest. Follow these simple tips for the best engraving or printing results:
- Use a clean original. Avoid stains, folds, or shadows. Dark, bold ink works best.
- Prefer a scan (300–600 DPI). If photographing, use bright natural light and avoid flash.
- Plain white paper provides the best contrast for engraving.
- Fill the frame. Crop out backgrounds so your recipe stands out.
- Accepted files: JPG, PNG, or PDF.
Which Wood or Process Should I Choose?
Over the years, we’ve found that maple cutting boards produce the clearest, most legible engravings for recipe boards. Maple’s light color offers strong contrast, and its open grain handles small type and delicate handwriting beautifully. This makes it the top choice for traditional engraved recipe boards.
- Maple (engraved): Best overall for recipe boards. Light background, high contrast, and excellent legibility for fine handwriting.
- Walnut (engraved): Rich, elegant appearance with warm medium contrast — ideal for bold handwriting or typeset recipes.
- Bamboo (engraved): Naturally lower contrast and tighter grain can make small letters harder to read. However, we use thin long-grain bamboo cuts to provide a smoother, more consistent engraving surface. Combined with careful laser settings, this achieves the best engraving results bamboo can offer.
- Butcher Block (engraved): A thicker premium option with deep laser engraving — excellent for heirloom display pieces.
- Full-Color (printed): Best when you want to reproduce a recipe card exactly as it is, including colored ink, decorative paper, or lined backgrounds.
Care & Maintenance
- Hand wash with warm water and mild soap; dry immediately.
- Do not soak and never put in the dishwasher.
- Use coarse salt and lemon for a natural clean.
- Condition with food-grade mineral oil when the surface looks dry; let it absorb overnight.
Who Will Love This Gift?
Recipe cutting boards make thoughtful gifts for grandparents passing down family recipes, newlyweds starting traditions, new homeowners, food lovers, and anyone who wants to preserve meaningful handwriting. They’re personal, practical, and timeless.
FAQs
- Can you engrave lined or colored paper?
- Yes. For engraving, unlined white paper yields the sharpest results. For exact reproduction of colors or patterns, choose a full-color board.
- My photo has shadows—will it still work?
- We can correct mild shadows. For heavy shadows, we may request a reshoot or scan for best results.
- How long does production take?
- Typical production is 2–3 business days after artwork submission. Choose expedited shipping at checkout if needed.
- Can you engrave logos?
- Yes. High-contrast artwork with solid shapes and clean lines engraves best.
Create Your Recipe Cutting Board
