How do you treat walnut worktops?
Last Updated on January 27, 2021
There are a lot of options with natural wood; the walnut worktop strikes an excellent balance between functionality and aesthetics. This is a centrepiece that can really crown the room it is in, while having all the practical properties to serve in your kitchen for many years.
Walnut is not the most common of work surfaces and it can make it a talking point at dinner parties, setting your kitchen apart from the rest! With its deep shade, natural variation in hues, this wood’s rippling grain and hardwearing sheen will stand the test of time.
The tree
The joy of working with wood and having it in your home is its naturally crafted uniqueness, with the subtlety and character it can bring to a minimalist modern setting or the richness it adds to a cosy farmhouse kitchen.
Walnut wood is categorised into heartwood and outer wood; the denser, older heartwood is a rich coffee brown, whereas the outer wood is a creamy off-white yellow. It’s the interaction between the two extremes of shade in the grain of this wood which makes walnut such a pleasure.
Its grain appears wavy, almost swirly with noticeable variations between the good and bad growing seasons. This patterning adds to its distinctiveness, making it a striking piece to have in any kitchen.
The beautiful depth of a well-finished walnut worktop can, however, be overpowering and it’s a good idea to ensure it will either complement or contrast with the rest of your kitchen. If you are looking for a worktop that acts as a blank canvas, you should avoid walnut.
Longevity
There are harder and tougher woods but in the context of a domestic kitchen, walnut is more than up for the challenge.
There are denser woods, like those in our oak range, but the increase in character and distinctiveness more than makes up for it and it is in no way impractical.
Hygiene
There is a long-standing myth that leads people to question the hygiene of wooden surfaces being used for food preparation. These concerns date back to a time when untreated or unsanded wood was used as worktops, which allowed bacteria to breed. A varied and oiled wooden worktop is non-porous and inherently anti-bacterial. In fact, a well-maintained wooden top is as hygienic as a stainless steel catering bench.
Form and functions..
Yes, the longevity and hygiene from our walnut worktop will meet the challenges of cooking for decades to come. This is impressive, but not as much as walnut’s deep lustre and role at family functions; it really is stunning.
Our wood sourcing
We personally source our own wood from groves in the Balkans. Woodland, which is licensed for tree farming with the local government and is an approved, sustainable forest. We then pre-work and dry the wood in our workhouses for sorting before it goes on to our workshop for fabrication. We collect and compress the sawdust we generate into fuel pellets, as part of our commitment to having 0% waste workshops.