Caring for your kitchen knives
As a kid, I hated washing dishes.
No, seriously.
I’d would have rather cleaned my room, picked up after the dogs, even watch my kid sister rather than wash the dishes. After dinner, there was always a pile of crusty pots and pans and I couldn’t understand why every single utensil had to get used!
I promised myself that when I grew up, I would always have and use a dishwasher. And that’s been my truth for the past 20 plus years.
Everything went into the dishwasher. EXCEPT for nonstick pots and pans and cast iron skillets. NEVER a cast iron skillet!
My kitchen knife set? They all got ran through the dishwasher too. I’m not sure how it is in your home, but utensils and kitchen cutlery often come up missing. They and socks must all be somewhere together.
I recently replaced our old set with a new complete one! As I was reading the instructions and care for my beautiful new knives, it said never put them in the dishwasher!
What?!
Apparently, the extreme heat from the dishwasher will rust your knives and dull them. That explained a whole lot. So, now I’m in the process of retraining the Alexander men on hand washing our new knives versus putting them in the dishwasher. Trust me. It’s been a hard habit to break but I am committed!
Cutting, dicing and chopping all the veggies from the garden means I need good utensils!
Here are some tips on taking good care of your kitchen knives!
- Always use a plastic or wooden cutting board
- Never put your knives in the dishwasher
- Wash them after each use
- Don’t use your knives as cleavers, screwdrivers, hammers or other other household tools
- Apply mineral knives to kitchen knives, particularly carbon kitchen knives
- Sharpen or hone your knives frequently
If you’re looking to improve your cutting techniques, check out the videos on this site.