How to Look After Your Kitchen Knives
Recently, Xinzuo reached out to me about collaborating, and the timing honestly couldn’t have been better. My previous set of kitchen knives had recently met an unceremoniously early end in the bin after they started chipping, despite only being a few years old. As someone who cooks constantly, good knives are one of those things I really appreciate, so watching a relatively new set deteriorate that quickly was both confusing and incredibly frustrating. Needless to say, when the opportunity to work with Xinzuo appeared, I was very happy to give a new set of knives a home in my kitchen.
It also got me thinking about how we look after our kitchen knives generally. A beautiful chef’s knife can be an investment, but plenty of people treat their knives in ways they’d never dream of treating their other good kitchen equipment. They’re thrown into drawers, dropped into dishwashers, used on whatever chopping board happens to be nearby, and occasionally recruited for jobs they were never designed to do. Then we wonder why they’re blunt, chipped or generally looking a bit worse for wear after a surprisingly short amount of time.
I’m certainly no newbie when it comes to good kitchen knives, which is exactly why the fate of my previous set bothered me so much. A properly made knife, looked after properly, should be something you can rely on for years rather than something you’re replacing annually. And while the quality of the knife itself obviously matters, how you treat it matters just as much. So, with a beautiful new set of knives now settling into my kitchen, let’s get chatting about ten simple ways to look after your kitchen knives so they stay sharp, safe and useful for as long as possible.
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How to Keep Your Kitchen Knives in Good Condition
1. Never Ever Put Good Knives in the Dishwasher
This is probably the most important rule, and thankfully one of the easiest to remember. Good kitchen knives do not belong in the dishwasher. The combination of strong detergent, prolonged moisture, high temperatures and being knocked around against other utensils can damage both the blade and the handle over time. Even if your knife technically says dishwasher safe, I’d still wash it by hand. It takes less than a minute with warm water, a little washing-up liquid and a soft sponge. Wash it shortly after using it rather than leaving food drying onto the blade, give it a rinse, then dry it immediately. Your knives will be much happier for it.
2. Dry Your Knives Straight Away
Once you’ve washed your knife, don’t leave it sitting wet on the draining board while you wander off and forget about it. Dry the blade and handle properly with a clean tea towel and put it away. This is particularly important with carbon steel knives, which are much more susceptible to rust, but even stainless steel benefits from being kept clean and dry. Water spots aren’t particularly lovely either, especially when you’ve invested in a beautiful blade. Taking another thirty seconds to dry your knife properly helps protect the finish, prevents moisture sitting around the handle and keeps everything looking as good as it should. It’s such a small habit, but an important one.
3. Use the Right Chopping Board
Your chopping board has a surprisingly big impact on how quickly your knife loses its edge. I stick with wooden or good quality plastic boards because they’re much kinder to a sharp blade. Glass, marble, stone and ceramic chopping boards might look lovely on the bench, but they’re incredibly hard surfaces, and every chop is effectively knocking that delicate knife edge against stone. That beautiful sharp blade isn’t going to stay beautiful and sharp for very long. Save marble boards for serving cheese, not chopping onions. A slightly forgiving surface lets the knife do its job without unnecessarily wearing down the edge, which means less sharpening and a much nicer knife to use.
4. Don’t Use Your Knife for Jobs It Wasn’t Designed For
A chef’s knife is incredibly versatile, but it still isn’t a screwdriver, tin opener, bottle opener or miniature crowbar. Please don’t use the tip to pry lids open or twist things apart, because that’s an excellent way to chip or snap it. The same applies to cutting through bones, frozen foods or anything else excessively hard unless the knife has specifically been designed for that purpose. Different knives exist for different jobs for a reason. If something requires brute force, your beautifully sharpened chef’s knife probably isn’t the tool for it. Treat the blade as a precision tool rather than something indestructible and you’ll dramatically reduce the chances of accidental damage.
5. Store Your Knives Properly
Throwing good knives loose into a kitchen drawer is bad for the blade and, frankly, slightly terrifying for whoever reaches into that drawer next. Every time those blades knock against other utensils, the edge can become dull or damaged. A knife block, magnetic knife strip, drawer organiser with individual slots, or protective blade guards are all much better options. The goal is simply to keep each blade protected and separate so it isn’t constantly banging into metal objects. Proper storage also means you can actually see and reach the knife you want without digging through a drawer. It keeps your knives safer, keeps your fingers safer, and helps protect the investment you’ve made in them.
6. Hone Your Knives Regularly
Honing and sharpening are not quite the same thing, and understanding the difference will help keep your knives performing properly. When you hone a knife, you’re essentially realigning the very fine edge of the blade rather than grinding away metal to create a new one. Regular honing helps maintain that lovely sharp feeling between proper sharpenings and means you don’t need to sharpen quite as frequently. How often you need to hone depends on how frequently you cook, but if a knife suddenly feels slightly less precise than usual, honing is a good place to start. Just make sure you’re using the right honing tool for your particular knife and steel.
7. Sharpen Them Before They Become Completely Blunt
A knife shouldn’t need to reach the point where you’re practically sawing through a tomato before you think about sharpening it. Keeping on top of sharpening means you’re maintaining an edge rather than trying to resurrect one that has been neglected for years. You can learn to sharpen knives yourself with a whetstone if you’re comfortable doing so, use an appropriate sharpening system, or have good knives professionally sharpened. What matters is maintaining the correct angle and not unnecessarily removing huge amounts of metal. A sharp knife is also much safer to use because you don’t need to force it through food, giving you much better control over every cut.
8. Don’t Scrape Food Across the Board With the Blade
I know how tempting this one is because you’ve chopped an onion, you need to move it into the pan, and the broad side of your chef’s knife is sitting right there. Scooping food with the flat side is fine, but dragging the sharp edge sideways across your chopping board can gradually roll or dull that carefully maintained edge. Flip the knife over and use the spine to scrape ingredients together instead, or use a bench scraper if you have one nearby. It’s one of those tiny kitchen habits that doesn’t feel important until you realise you’re doing it dozens of times every week. Protect the edge whenever you can.
9. Let the Knife Do the Work
If you’re having to push, force or aggressively saw through ingredients, something isn’t quite right. A good sharp knife should do most of the work for you. Use smooth, controlled movements and allow the weight and sharpness of the blade to carry it through whatever you’re cutting. Forcing a knife puts unnecessary pressure on the edge and increases the chances of slipping, which is obviously not something anybody wants while holding a very sharp object. This is also one of the reasons I appreciate a properly balanced knife so much. Cooking feels easier when the knife works with you rather than requiring you to wrestle every carrot into submission.
10. Pay Attention to Chips, Rust and Damage Early
One lesson my previous knives taught me is not to ignore small signs that something might be wrong. A tiny chip might not look particularly dramatic, but once damage starts appearing along the edge, it’s worth working out why before you simply keep using the knife as normal. The same goes for rust spots, loose handles, cracks or anything else that changes how the knife feels or performs. Some minor issues can be repaired by a professional sharpener, while others may indicate a problem with the knife itself. Either way, noticing problems early gives you a much better chance of fixing them rather than eventually discovering your favourite knife has reached the point of no return.
A Good Kitchen Knife Should Be With You for Years
A good kitchen knife is one of those pieces of equipment that genuinely changes the way cooking feels. When it’s properly sharp, comfortable in your hand and doing exactly what you ask of it, prep becomes quicker, easier and considerably more enjoyable. That’s why I think it’s worth spending a little time looking after your knives rather than treating them like another disposable kitchen tool. None of these habits is particularly complicated either. Hand washing, proper storage, sensible chopping boards and regular maintenance take very little effort once they simply become part of the way you cook.
My previous knife set meeting such an early demise definitely reminded me of that. When knives start chipping after only twelve months of regular home use, despite knowing how to care for them, it’s incredibly disappointing. It also made the timing of Xinzuo getting in touch rather perfect. I now have a beautiful new set to put through its paces, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they settle into a kitchen where knives are used very, very regularly. Between recipe development, weekend cooking and the seemingly endless pile of onions I chop, they certainly won’t be sitting around looking decorative.
Ultimately, taking care of your kitchen knives comes down to treating them like the precision tools they are. Use them for the right jobs, keep them clean and dry, protect their edges and deal with little problems before they become big ones. Do that, and a quality knife should become one of those familiar kitchen tools you instinctively reach for every day, rather than something you’re reluctantly throwing into the bin twelve months later. And after my last experience, I’m very much hoping my new knives and I have a considerably longer relationship ahead of us.
