All About Knife Care

Although I’m not completely sure on this, but I believe that the first cooking implement created by man was the knife. Ever since the beginning of the Stone Age, knives were used by man to gather and hunt for food, and later on used to prepare food when fire was discovered. Several centuries later, the knife is still one of the most common and most used tools everywhere you can find a kitchen. The ubiquitous knife is used everywhere, from homes to restaurants to cruise ships.

However, even if we know that the knife is a very important piece of equipment, it’s sad to see that a lot of people don’t know how to handle and take care of their knives properly. Perhaps it’s because knives don’t have manuals when we buy them.

One of the things that really annoy me is watching people use knives incorrectly. But then, no one showed us how to use knives properly whe we were little. All we knew at that time was that knives were dangerous and better kept away from us kids. There may be no instruction manuals for knives, but that’s not a reason why people shouldn’t learn to use them properly.

First, learn how to hold the knife properly. Basically, there are three ways to hold a knife, depending on the knife and what is being cut. For cutting against a board, a knife should usually be held with the blade between thumb and forefinger. The handle should be held with the other fingers. When you want to cut hanging meat, for example, the knife should be held like a dagger to get proper leverage. When using a small knife to turn or peel, one or two fingers should grip the blade, with the othersthe rest around the handle.

There are also several ways to properly care for your knives. A wooden board should be used for chopping and cutting. Plastic boards are not as gentle on the edge of the knife as wooden boards. It’s also better to use one where the cutting surface is end grain, rather than side grain. The end-grain is the least abrasive surface to cut against, and side-grains will chip off eventually.

When storing knives after use, it’s better to use paperboards or plastic sleeves. Clean the knife first after use, then dry before storing it away. Never wash knives in a dishwasher, no matter how convenient it may seem. Always protect the knife’s edge against other hard surfaces. To properly sharpen a knife, the best way is to use a knife sharpener with an abrasive, diamond surface. Of course, you can always use a whetstone, but it takes a lot of experience to be able to sharpen a knife to razor-like sharpness with it.

Azlan Irda is the co-founder of AfterKnife.com, which provides high-quality knives and supplies. Visit our website to get all the buck knives and supplies you need.

Azlan Irda is the co-founder of AfterKnife.com, which provides high-quality knives and supplies. Visit our website to get all the automatic knives and supplies you need.

- Azlan Irda

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