Bon Appétit also explains a couple of other mistakes people are making. On one hand, you shouldn't be cutting cheese or other foods on the charcuterie board itself. This damages the board's overall appearance and destroys the effort you put into it. Instead, cut the cheeses and everything else ahead of time, and neatly place them all on the board to be grabbed with ease. In that same vein of preparing things correctly, you need to understand which parts of the board should be refrigerated and which should be kept at room temperature. Don't refrigerate the entire charcuterie board. Knowing which items are better cold and which are better at room temperature will enhance the overall experience.
According to Food & Wine, part of preparing is understanding variety and how much you should have. They warn against having too much variety or too little variety within your cheeses and other items. If there is too much, people will be overwhelmed, and if there is too little, people will be bored. Knowing your audience will help you make the best decisions for variety. At the same time, you have to learn variety for different occasions. Even if you find a good variety of foods, you can't serve the same charcuterie board every time. Instead, you'll want to constantly shift your variety so that each board is a new experience.
Overall, charcuterie boards should be fun, delicious, and easy, but they do require a little bit of thought. Have fun with it, and everyone will have fun with you!
