9 things you really shouldn’t do with your good knife

Back when I worked front of house and as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant, the chef on duty would already start frothing at the mouth if I so much as LOOKED at his chef’s knife. And he took his knife set home every evening. When someone accidentally washed the knife in the dishwasher, we collectively hid in the bathroom for fifteen minutes. But honestly; if you have a REALLY good knife, you should take loving care of it. And these are the things you especially should NOT do with it!

Because if you’ve bought or been given a serious knife (and it doesn’t even have to be the most expensive knife!), you naturally want it to last as long as possible. So do have it sharpened, but…

These nine things you really shouldn’t do with your good knife

Cutting on glass or stone

The inventor of the glass cutting board is a complete idiot and hopefully went on to invent something else that actually benefits humanity. And to all the Insta-hipsters draping their unprocessed food on marble cutting boards: don’t then chop into it with your good knife, okay? That is THE way to steadily and surely shorten your knife’s lifespan.

Throwing it loose in a drawer

First, your finger is at risk when you’re looking for paracetamol or the meat thermometer in that same drawer; second, there’s probably so much junk rolling around in there that your knife gets dents and nicks every time you open the drawer. What a waste…

Leaving it in the sink after use (and walking away)

You’re guaranteed to forget that knife while you’re busy getting the food onto the table, and some other well-meaning soul (who has to do the washing-up because you cooked) turns on the tap for some soapy water. A thick layer of foam, groping around for the plates that have also ended up in there (probably on top of the knife, ouch) and a trip to the emergency room are what you’ll get instead of that delicious dessert.

Putting it in the dishwasher

See above. There isn’t really a nice spot for a large knife in the machine where it can be left completely undisturbed. The high water pressure during the wash cycle will make it slosh and bang back and forth, against other things, which will inevitably make it blunt again. Always wash it by hand. And then don’t:

Letting it drip-dry and dry in the rack among other cutlery etc.

Unless you’ve created the perfect knife-drying conditions, where your knife can calmly dry on its own in the air on a silky-soft private towel as if it were you in a five-star spa, just dry your knife immediately, okay?

Sweeping it across your board like a broom

By now you know that you can really only make do with a plastic (replace it regularly, a plastic cutting board) or wooden cutting board; now you also need to remember that sweeping your knife across the board with things you’ve just cut (to make, for example, a nice little pile of chopped onion) isn’t good either. If you hold your knife perpendicular to the board and move it back and forth, it’s slightly flexible from front to back. Bending it back and forth across the board also makes it blunt.

And then cutting with that blunt knife

Don’t! It’s really dangerous. When your knife is blunt, you need to apply more pressure, which means a greater chance of slipping—and you know: your hand is often firmly attached to that food. Use a good knife sharpener, and if you really want to handle it like a pro, have it sharpened occasionally by a specialist.

Placing a knife too close to the edge of the countertop

Terrifying: a knife handle lurking near or even just over the edge of the countertop! Dangerous for people and blade, so to speak. Always place it far from the edge if you need to grab or do something else for a moment. And if a knife DOES come crashing down: Jump! Back! Away! Farrrrr away. And watch it go, with pain in your heart—but at least not in your hand.

Using it for non-cutting purposes

Secretly tightening the tiny screws on your glasses? Attacking a cardboard box (yay, wine delivered, OPEN IT NOW!)? Opening a can?? Forget it. Don’t do it with your knife. End of story.

Read also:

• How to sharpen your knife without a knife sharpener
• Henk Schiffmacher designs a chef’s knife
• Are wooden spatulas unhealthy?