The 3 Things You Need To Do To Maintain Your Knives

When you take the time to buy good knives, you should make sure that you are getting the most out of them. A good knife should last a lifetime and pay for itself many times over. In fact, a good knife should also be handed down to future generations as an heirloom.

The key is to maintain them so that you can get the most out of them. Taking care of your knives will make them easier to use and last much longer than if you neglect them. Luckily, maintaining them is not difficult and will make sure that your investment is protected. In this article, we will go over what you need to do to keep your knives in great condition.

Keep them sharp

A dull knife is the most dangerous tool in the kitchen. This means that you need to keep your knives sharp for them to be safe and easy to use. When they are sharp the knife does all the work when cutting or chopping. When they are dull you have to force the knife and this is when accidents happen.

You can keep your knives sharp by getting a sharpening stone and grinding them down into a fine edge. Combined with a honing steel, your knives will always be sharp and work perfectly. Otherwise, you can send them out to be sharpened and honed but you will need to have two sets of knives for this.

This is because sending them out takes time and you will likely wait a few days or more for your knives to come back. Sharpening them yourself will have them always sharp and never need to wait for them.

Wash by hand

One thing to never do with your knives is to put them into the dishwasher since it will ruin them. If you spent a lot of money buying good knives then this will reduce them to a tool that doesn’t work as intended.

The chemicals in dishwasher soap are corrosive and will do damage to the metal composition of the knives as well as ruin the edge. Not only that, but the handle is a spot where water can get in and then rust the knife from the inside. Since the water is so hot it expands the material in the handle and allows water to get in. always wash them by hand in warm soapy water.

Store them properly

When you put knives in a drawer, you are risking ruining the handle of the knife as it bangs against other knives and objects in the drawer. Once the handle breaks then it is difficult to use and it will rust from the inside.

You also will ruin the edge of the knife. Knives that are banging against other things will end up with nicks on the edge of the blade that will be difficult to sharpen. This is also dangerous and will shorten the life of your knife.

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