A quality set of kitchen knives or chef’s knives can make a massive difference when cooking, although a good set isn’t exactly cheap. And for this reason, knife care is quite important. If you invest in quality knives and care for them as you should, they can last you a lifetime or even longer.
So, instead of treating your knives as you do the rest of your cutlery, you should consider these knife care tips to ensure yours are always in perfect condition. With these tips, you won’t have to replace your knives any time soon.
Hone And Sharpen Routinely
Honing and sharpening are vital to keeping the blades of your kitchen knives in perfect condition. If you neglect this step of knife care, your knives blades will become dull and blunt over time. And no matter how sharp your knives are when they’re new, they will eventually become blunt and useless if not sharpened and honed.
You’ll need a sharpening stone or a whetstone to sharpen the blades, and a steel rod is required for honing. It’s pretty effortless to hone knife blades, although sharpening is slightly trickier. However, making these routine habits will eventually become an effortless step in caring for your knives.
Wash By Hand After Use
Even if your knives are suitable for the dishwasher, it’s still much better to hand wash them after every use. The slight extra effort will go a long way in ensuring your knives can last a lifetime. Using the dishwasher risks the blades being chipped, even though the risk is pretty slim.
And because food particles can quickly become stuck between the blades and handles of most knives, hand washing is also the best way to ensure knives are always thoroughly cleaned. Dishwashers might be convenient, although they often don’t clean hard-to-reach places, especially on cutlery handles.
Cloth Dry Knives Individually
Leaving quality knives to dry in a drying rack could leave the blades with watermarks and the potential development of rust. And because rust is the fastest way to ruin a set of knives, this step is pretty vital. Always dry your knives directly after hand washing.
Use Proper Knife Storage
Proper storage is also crucial to keeping your knives in perfect condition; if you don’t store your knives correctly, the blades can become scratched and damaged over time.
Simply tossing knives in the cutlery drawer is a big knife care mistake that’s quite common. The best storage solutions for kitchen knives are magnetic strips or knife blocks. And knife blocks can also serve as a decor piece if you find a block that complements the theme of your kitchen.
Kitchen knives require routine care, just like many other kitchen essentials. And whether brand new and modern, or vintage, most cooking tools require maintenance and regular cleaning to stay in good condition. And because kitchen essentials can be quite costly, you’ll want to take care of them if you don’t want to end up repurchasing the same items again and again.