Proper Maintenance of your Kitchen Knives

Stratford 4 Piece cutlery set Model: MSK-3937/4 See details Market price: $50.00 Our price: $38.40 (€ 29.16), save 23%

Using your kitchen knives correctly is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your kitchen cutlery lasts for a long time. However, proper maintenance of your kitchen cutlery will also help to lengthen the life of your kitchen knife. By performing regular maintenance on your kitchen knives you will insure that you will have a life time of pleasurable cooking.

The key to keeping your kitchen knives in great shape is ensuring the edge of the blade remains aligned. Any knife will lose sharpness with regular use. If you look at the knife blade under magnification, you can see that the sharp, cutting edge will take on a wavy ‘S’ shape as it dulls. This curving of the blade can completely ruin the kitchen knife if you don’t regularly and frequently re-align the edge. In order to re-align the blade, you should use honing steel and oil. Failure to re-align the blade on your kitchen knife will result in those wavy ‘S’ shaped curves bending back over themselves and thusly damaging your kitchen knife permanently.

Sharpening your kitchen knives periodically extends the life of the blade and also promotes safety in your kitchen. If you have ceramic knives, the blades should only require sharpening once in a few years, but you should still handle them with care.

If you are unsure how to sharpen your knife, look to purchase a guided knife sharpener so you can ensure the knife is properly and safely sharpened. One of the most common errors in knife sharpening is to create an uneven edge and leaving some of the dull edge still on the knife blade.

Proper maintenance and cleaning of your kitchen knives is also imperative. Stainless steel cutlery is considered rust proof, though under certain circumstances even stainless steel can corrode. The finer the grind and the more polished the steel, the less likely it is to corrode.

When you are washing your kitchen cutlery, it is important to observe a few steps in order to preserve the lifetime of your knives. Wash your kitchen knives in warm, mild soapy water and rinse well. Completely dry your knives with a kitchen towel immediately after washing. Leaving them to drip dry can induce rust formation on your kitchen knife. If you have wooden handled knives, be sure to never soak it them in water as this can cause damage. Rub mineral oil, lemon oil or furniture polish on the handle occasionally to help keep the knife handle’s integrity and maintain the look of the cutlery.

Store your knives with care as well. Stainless steel, ceramic and other forged knives should be sheathed in a wooden knife block or placed in sleeves and put in a drawer. Storing knives in a compartmentalized drawer is preferred as it will keep your kitchen cutlery from hitting against other kitchen utensils or cutlery in the drawer. This jostling can damage, dull or chip the blades.

The final thing to remember when taking care of your kitchen cutlery is to never use your knives for anything other than cutting, no matter how tempting or convenient it may be. Using your knife as a screwdriver, chisel, hammer or pry bar will only result in damaging your blade.

Taking proper care of your kitchen cutlery will extend its lifetime dramatically.

-Ben Anton, 2007
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