Knife Cleaning

Avoid the dishwasher!

We advise you to always wash your kitchen knives by hand. Even if the supplier states that the knife is dishwasher proof. A knife with a wooden handle will visibly get damaged and a riveted handle will eventually tear at the rivets. In addition, the handle can break because of the heat.

Aggressive detergents can cause irreparable damage to your knife. Detergent can affect hardened steel and plastics and can leave specs of rust on the blade and leave you with dull handles.

In addition, when you clean your knife in the dishwasher chances are that the knife will come into contact with hard objects such as cutlery that can damage the edge. And if you don't immediately turn the dishwasher on any food left on the plates (herbs, sauces, juices) can damage the blade
leaving you with stains. Add up all the above mentioned arguments and you will understand why we advise you to wash all your blades by hand.

Still prefer to wash your kitchen knives in the dishwasher? Make sure you place the knife in the dishwasher with the blade pointing up to make sure the water will immediately fall down. As a result you decrease your chances of rust. As soon as the dishwasher is done make sure you properly dry the knife.

Knife Upkeep

So you've bought a sweet new 25-centimetre forged chefs knife. How do you keep it in tip-top condition? There's nothing more dangerous than a dull knife, after all-not only do dull knives tend to slip more easily, but they require more force to cut through things. More force equals more danger.

Using a honing steel

A honing steel, which is that long cylindrical piece of metal all too often mistaken for a sharpener, is actually used to realign your knife's blade. Use it "practically every time you use your straight-edge knife," says Jonathan Ray. "It should only take about 15 seconds, done properly." The key is to anchor the steel perpendicular to your countertop, and slice both sides of the knife across it at a 22-degree angle.

Storing your knives

Never store individual kitchen knives in a kitchen drawer. After all, it could bump into other hard objects that could leave you with burrs on the edge. Not something you are looking for if you want to keep your knife sharp. In addition, it is probably not a good idea to blindly reach into a drawer that houses a sharp knife. Use a knife guard, or, if you have one a knife magnet or knife block. If you Do need to store them in a draw, wrap each knife in a tea towel.

Take your knives to a professional sharpener

Don't use a home sharpening

machine unless you feel your knife has wronged you in some way and must be

punished. Contact a professional knife sharpener and have your knives sharpened or re profiled every 6 months for domestic and 6-12 times a year for commercial knives.

Cutting Boards

There's a lot of misunderstanding about cutting boards.

Jonathan Ray says only one material will do: Wood. Not plastic ("It'll dull your knife"), not bamboo ("It's harder than wood and lousy for your knife"), and certainly nothing like stone ("Are you crazy?!").


Go for a nice camphor laurel board-it's just about the best investment you can make after a good chefs knife. "A good camphor laurel cutting board will go into your will," says Jonathan Ray. Plus, if you're doing some hard cutting and you end up gouging the wood, a camphor laurel cutting board can simply be sanded down and seasoned with grape seed oil and be good as new.


Just don't ever stick it in your dishwasher-wash it with warm soapy water immediately after use, and oil it up with grape seed oil whenever it starts looking too dry.