Basic Kitchen Knife Care And Maintenance

Best Tips for Maintaining Kitchen Knives

There are lots of elements that we use in a daily basis. They are considered as the most essential materials of our daily life. A knife is the most friendly and useful materials in the kitchen. There is nothing more worthy to care than a kitchen knife. A knife is the best friend to any professional chef or cook. There are a lot of steps how you can properly maintain a kitchen knife. In this article we will be describing you all the possible ways to care and maintain a kitchen knife.

Before stating we will take a glance at the methods that we will follow, as a navigator.

  1. Sharping
  2. Using Cutting Boards
  3. Cleaning
  4. Storing 

 

These are the basic rules you must follow and abide by in case you want to have a great knife experience in the kitchen. However, We have just mentioned all the methods, and below there are the briefings of every methods and why it is important to follow them. Read the following article and know your list of to dos for maintaining your kitchen knife.

 

1. Always Keep Your Knife Sharped

Not only a dull knife gives you a bad kitchen experience and make your work difficult but also it is dangerous to use it. It is the single most important aspect to focus on in terms of caring your knife. A dull knife will also take more effort and time to cut things compared to a sharp knife. A properly sharped knife will cut the things smoothly and you will have a great cutting experience. There are more that 70% people face major and minor knife cut accidents using a dull knife while the rest of the percentage use it wrong or don’t follow the rules of cutting.

However, do yourself a favor. Get your knife sharped by a professional and enjoy the smooth slice cut between an apple.

 

2. Use A Cutting Board

Now your knife is sharped and you are ready to go, now it’s time to have a great cutting surface. Using a good and hard cutting board is a must to combine all the perfect steps of a sweet cutting experience. The cutting board can be made of wood, or plastic. The board should not be made of any kind of material that is considerably harder than the knife itself, such as heavy steel metal. A plastic cutting board is much easier to clean. You can clean them with your dishes. And they are extremely cheap. They also don’t require too much maintenance. So whatever you are cutting, use them as your cutting surface. But we will recommend you the wooden boards as they provide the best surface in case of cutting.

 

3. Clean Your Knives

Here comes the most important rule to maintain a kitchen knife. This one you must do often. Cleaning your knife. Always clean your knife after using it and before you store them. It’s also better to wash them before using to get it smooth and clean. But the most terrible thing you can do to your knife is to wash them is the dishwasher. Your knife blade can be damaged by the friction between the blade and the edge of the plate or even the rack. Also the detergent and the moisture can dull and damage the blade. It is also a great cause of discoloration of the blade. To clean your knife, all you need is hot water and soap. Gently rub the soap and pour hot water to clean the blade. Make sure to dry the knife right away. Don’t you dare to keep them right away and let them air dry. This will increase the risk of developing rust on the blade surface. Rather, dry them with hand towel. Wash the knife without delay just after you finish using it to avoid corrosion, scratching, bending, or breaking.

 

4. Store The Knife Properly

Are you done with the knife? after washing and cleaning it, it’s time to store it in a rightful manner. Don’t neglect the step as it may save you from getting yourself cut from a sudden touch unknowingly and most importantly, a wrong storage can create rust on the blade surface. Make sure the storage is dry and clean. There must not be any moist. And obviously the place must be far away from the kids reach.

If you ask us for a suggestion we will suggest you to use a wooden block to keep it. That’s the best option you can get. It will allow you to get all the knives together in a single place and ensure the blade edges are unharmed. The knife must be kept upside down. And you can also use a plastic knife guard to keep the environment more safe for the children. If you have a drawer as only option, a knife guard is a suitable thing for you to use.

 

How do you take care of a chef’s knife?

I would suggest cleaning it with warm soapy water, wiping it down with a damp cloth and drying it with a clean rag. I would never recommend putting it in a dishwasher or letting it soak in a sink of dirty water.

 

Conclusion

There are lot’s of things you should keep in mind to keep your knife’s health well. However, in case you forget the correct order or this rules and terms, we can remind you a common conception on how you can remember all these things together. Firstly you need to keep your knife sharp to cut something. There comes the knife sharpening, Then you need to cut properly. You can’t do that on an improper surface. For that, you require a hard and smooth wooden surface. Here is the second one, Using a hard board. After the job is done, there are two things remained. Clean the knife (wash with hot water and soap) and at last store it properly in the rightful manner. Use a wooden block for easy and safe access. Also a knife guard is highly recommended for make it safer for your kids.

Throughout the article, we tried to introduce you to the minimal requirements of caring and maintaining a kitchen knife. We expect you will follow all these steps properly and have a great kitchen experience with your knife.

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