How to take care of your kitchen knives
It’s hard to make good food without a good knife.
We strongly encourage you to buy a good knife, but if you don’t take care of it, the quality and price won’t matter.
“You’re eventually going to have to sharpen the knife,” says Dave Arnold, a former culinary school instructor who runs Precision Knife Sharpening out of his home.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of knife it is.”
Here are some tips about ensuring your knives will last for years to come.
• Understand how a knife works. Most knives are sharpened to an angle of 30 to 40 degrees, Arnold says, and over time and use, “That very thin edge is going to take some damage.” The edge will begin to flatten to more of a round shape rather than a sharp, pointy angle. The edge can also bend or fold over — not something you’d be able to see with the naked eye. When you sharpen a knife, you are grinding away some of the metal to reintroduce the proper sharp angle.
• Know how to recognize when your knife needs to be sharpened. The whole point of a sharp knife is to help you work efficiently, easily slicing through food without having to exert too much pressure. Dull knives can also cause accidents when they slip over rather than cut through food. Arnold suggests tomatoes, lemons, bell peppers and carrots as effective foods for testing whether your knife needs to be resharpened. Also, onions. It won’t work for everyone since sensitivity to the tear-producing chemical varies, but Arnold says a dull knife is likely to break open more onion cells and release more juices than a sharp knife that creates a clean cut.
If you’re worried that getting your knives professionally sharpened is too expensive to justify, you can rest easy. Most professionals will charge less than $10 to sharpen a standard chef ’s knife.
• Think about honing your knives. Honing does not sharpen the blade. Instead, Arnold says, it realigns the blade, correcting the bending or folding described above.
Honing can be done on a steel rod that looks a bit like a dagger (see the photo below). You’ll often find them included in knife sets, but Arnold prefers the quality of steels you buy à la carte. He recommends a diamond-coated one from Messermeister.
To hone your blade, lightly run the edge of the knife at a 15- or 20-degree angle along the steel. Three times on each side of the blade should be sufficient, Arnold says.
• Use the right board. Hard surfaces can dull or even chip a knife. Wooden or plastic boards are good choices, Arnold says.
• Clean them properly. Handwashing is the best way to clean your knives. Dishwashers can be especially hard on knife handles, causing them to discolour, crack or separate from the blade. After you wash a knife — a sponge with warm water and soap will do — dry it thoroughly, and carefully, with a towel. Do not store it dirty or wet unless you want it to rust.
• Store them the right way. Protect the blade, protect yourself. Never should you leave a knife blade exposed in a way that could cause injury.