Jade is not commonly used in making cutting boards, knives, and other culinary tools for several practical reasons:
Hardness and Fragility: Jade is a hard and dense gemstone, which makes it difficult to shape into thin, sharp edges required for knives and cutting boards. While jade is known for its toughness, it is also brittle and prone to chipping or cracking under stress. This characteristic is not desirable for tools that need to withstand repeated impact and pressure during cutting and chopping tasks.
Cost and Rarity: Jade is a precious gemstone and is relatively rare, especially the high-quality jade used for ornamental purposes. Due to its scarcity and value, it would be uneconomical to use jade as a material for mass-produced items like cutting boards and knives.
Lack of Practical Advantages: While jade has historical and cultural significance, it does not offer any substantial practical advantages over traditional materials used in making knives and cutting boards. Modern knife and cutting board materials like stainless steel, carbon steel, ceramic, wood, and plastic are chosen for their specific properties, such as durability, ease of maintenance, and safety for food preparation.
Sanitation Concerns: Natural materials like jade may be porous, which could harbor bacteria and be difficult to thoroughly clean. In contrast, materials like stainless steel and high-quality plastics are non-porous and easier to sanitize, ensuring safe food preparation.
Weight and Handling: Jade is a relatively heavy material, which could make knives and cutting boards made from it cumbersome and challenging to handle for extended periods during food preparation tasks.
Due to these practical limitations, jade is predominantly used for ornamental and decorative purposes, such as jewelry, sculptures, and other artistic creations. For culinary tools like knives and cutting boards, other materials have proven to be more suitable in terms of performance, practicality, and safety.