Buying a chopping board for a commercial kitchen is a different exercise than buying one for a home kitchen. The board isn’t just a cutting surface — it’s part of a station’s layout, and getting the size wrong creates real friction during service: not enough room to work, boards that don’t fit existing counters, or boards so large they can’t be manoeuvred for cleaning between tickets.
Start with the station, not the board
Before choosing a size, measure the actual counter or table space allocated to that station. A board that’s too large for the available counter space will overhang, catch on adjacent equipment, or force staff to work at an awkward angle. A board that’s too small forces staff to constantly reposition food, slowing down prep and increasing the chance of food falling off the working surface.
Common commercial sizes and what they’re suited for
- 12 × 18″ — A good baseline for smaller prep stations, garnish stations, or secondary boards used for quick tasks between main prep.
- 16 × 24″ / 18 × 24″ — The most common range for a primary prep station handling steady volume — enough room to portion and work without constant repositioning.
- 20 × 24″ / 24 × 24″ — A step up for stations with heavier, more frequent prep work, where a slightly larger surface avoids constant repositioning of ingredients.
- 20 × 30″ / 24 × 36″ — Suited to butcher stations or high-volume prep where large cuts of meat or bulk vegetable prep need generous working room.
Thickness matters as much as footprint
CutRight boards come in five standard thicknesses — 0.25″, 0.5″, 0.75″, 1″, and 2″. A thin board (0.25″) suits light, low-impact tasks like garnish or portioning, where the board sees occasional use rather than constant heavy knife work. The 0.5″-0.75″ range is the practical sweet spot for most primary prep stations: thick enough to resist warping and absorb repeated knife contact, without being so heavy that moving and washing it becomes a two-person job. 1″ and 2″ boards are built for the heaviest-duty use — butcher stations and high-volume cutting where maximum rigidity and surface life matter more than ease of handling.
How many boards do you actually need per station?
A single board per colour, per station, is rarely enough for a busy kitchen. Boards need to be sanitised between certain tasks, and a station that only has one board sits idle during that sanitising window. Most well-run kitchens keep 2-3 boards per high-turnover colour in rotation, so one can always be in active use while another is being cleaned.
When to go custom
If your prep stations were built around specific counter dimensions, or you’re retrofitting equipment into an existing kitchen layout, standard sizes may not fit cleanly. In that case, a custom-cut board sized to your exact station — rather than the nearest standard size — avoids wasted counter space and awkward overhangs. Request a custom size with your station’s exact dimensions and we’ll confirm feasibility and lead time before you commit.
A quick checklist before you order
- Measure the actual available counter/table space for each station
- Decide how many boards per colour that station realistically needs given turnover
- Choose material (HDPE or LLDPE) and thickness (0.25″-2″) based on how heavy and constant the knife work is at that station
- If standard sizes don’t fit your layout, go custom rather than forcing a compromise
See our full range of standard sizes or talk to our team if you’re planning multiple stations across a kitchen or across locations.