A sharp knife is one of the most important tools in your kitchen. With sharp blades, you can cut ingredients with ease, making slicing, chopping, and mincing less than a chore. There are times, however, when your kitchen knife’s blades become dull. This makes the task extra difficult and exposes you to the chances of getting cuts.
Not a lot of people know that dulling of knife blade can be due to some common mistakes when using it. Check out the following trick to prevent dulling and keep your knife in its best condition.
Never store it unsheathed
When you store your knife in a utensil drawer, the blade tends to rub against other tools and affect its sharp edge. The best thing to do is to slip it in a blade guard before storing it with other kitchen tools and utensils. It also helps to use a knife block or a magnetic knife strip to reduce contact with other things.
Wash it manually
Putting your kitchen knife in the dishwasher may also affect its sharpness. Most dishwashing agents are abrasive. In addition, the motion cycle that happens inside may also bring significant damage to your knife. It is always to wash it manually with mild dish soap and water. Dry it before storing.
Don’t use it to scrape sliced ingredients
Much of the wear and tear kitchen knives are subject are due to poor handling and wrong chopping practices. One big no-no is using the blade when scraping ingredients off the chopping board and into a pot or when doing so to clear some more space on the board for further knife work. This easily causes dull blades. The best and safest way to do this is to flip your knife over before sliding it across the board and pushing chopped ingredients.
It’s easy to find tools designed for knife sharpening in Australia, but it also pays to keep these measures in practice to preserve your knife’s sharpness and minimise the need for regular sharpening. Keep these ideas in mind so you can efficiently take care of your knife.
