Knife Care Tips

Good kitchen knives aren’t cheap, so it makes sense to invest a little effort into general knife care. The following knife cleaning and maintenance tips will help you get the most out of your kitchen knives.

· Never put your good knives in the dishwasher. Detergents are hard on them, and they could jiggle around, harming the edges. In addition the heat can change the temper of the forged knife blade.

· To prevent discoloration or rust wipe knives clean immediately after use, especially after cutting acidic foods like tomatoes or citrus fruit.

· Store your knives in a knife block or on a magnetic knife rack. When knives are thrown into a drawer, they will become dull more quickly, plus there's a good chance you'll cut yourself reaching in to retrieve one. If using a wooden knife block (with vertical slots), place the knife in up-side-down so that the cutting edge is facing up and thus not resting on its own weight.

· Always use a wood or polyethylene cutting board because these materials create less resistance to the blade’s edge than boards made from materials like ceramic or plastic.

· With a dull blade causes further wear and tear on the blade itself.

· Although it may be tempting at times, refrain from using your steak knives for prying, as a screwdriver, as a chisel, or for anything kitchen cutlery was not intended. It is also not recommended to use the back or side of your kitchen cutlery as hammering instruments unless it is specifically designed to handle that task. Doing so may cause the pins, springs, or handle to loosen or even break.

Keep those knives sharpened.

You will enjoy cooking even more when using sharp knives.

WASH . . . DRY . . . PUT AWAY!

Types of Sharpening

Traditional Sharpening

Most traditional sharpening methods use grinding wheels. This chews away the knife not creating and angle. Over time this process wears the knife down and from the heat created makes the blade brittle. As for other types of sharpening stones; it is very hard to achieve the ideal angles for a consistent edge without years of practice.

Vs.

Wet Stone Sharpening

We use a wet stone sharpening method. The blade is kept cool during the sharpening process with use of a water bath. This keeps the knife blade tempered and prevents the blade edge from becoming brittle. During the sharpening process we use jigs to help achieve a consistent edge and angle.