Knife Care

Knives have got a myriad of uses. They are used for hunting and gathering, as a home repair equipment, for arts and crafts and most important for chopping and cutting to prepare great gourmet meals. Irrespective of what the knife is used for, an ideal knife has to be 'sharp', which facilitates easy cutting and slicing. A knife is one of the most important and versatile kitchen cutlery. With the sharp blade and sturdy handle, chopping and slicing becomes easier and safer. A blunt knife requires more force and pressure and working with a blunt knife results in a higher risk of injury. Moreover, it slows down the work speed and leads to early fatigue. Hence, you should take proper care of your kitchen knives if you want efficient and flawless performance.

Kitchen Knife Care

The most important factor associated with knife care is the proper understanding of anatomy of the particular set of knives and the materials they comprise. Despite the high quality of steel used for making modern knives, it is prone to corrode with time, depending on certain factors like, temperature, moisture, oxidants as well as handling and mishap. Kitchen knives come in a variety of materials and can be quite an investment. Replacing knives frequently is not quite affordable, and it would be best to care for them properly to have them working efficiently for a long time.

Cutting
Use kitchen knives only to chop food, as they are not meant for cutting paper, string etc. Make sure to cut on a cutting board, preferably made of soft wood, where the cutting surface is end grain rather than side grain, as the end grain is the least abrasive surface to cut against. If you cut against the side grain, there are chances that the pieces of the grain chip off and may mix with the food. Using boards made of other materials like plastic, hardwood, ceramic or composite material may dull the knife blades.

Cleaning
Cleaning knives after every use is the best way to increase their shelf life. However, knives should always be hand washed and not put in the dishwashers. Putting knives in the dishwasher may cause cracks in the handle and may separate the blades. It may also cause certain knives to rust. Use warm soapy water to wash the knives. Avoid letting the kitchen knives stay in water for a long time. Wash them immediately, rinse well and dry them completely with paper towels or wash linen.

Oiling
Wooden handles lose their natural oils on exposure to harsh detergents, so handles as well as the knife blades should be oiled occasionally. You can use the normal vegetable or cooking oil for this purpose.

Storing
Kitchen knives should be stored in a knife block or a hanging magnetized rack, specially made for the knives. You could also store your knives in hard-shell storage cases.

Sharpening
This is the most important aspect of knife care as cutting with a blunt knife can be extremely annoying, especially when you try to slice a tomato with it. There are several home sharpening methods and knife sharpening tools available which you could use to hone your knife blades. Drawing the kitchen knives across sharpening steel or sharpening stones can help you sharpen the knife blades. You could also use a commercial knife sharpener.

I'm sure you will follow the above knife care tips and keep your knives from becoming blunt! Hope you found this article helpful!