Beware: this almost automatic habit ruins your knives

A good knife is truly essential in the kitchen, whether you’re a fancy Michelin-starred chef or ‘just’ a home cook. You don’t even have to be an enthusiastic home cook, mind you—even if you don’t really feel like it but are dutifully chopping an onion for the bolognese sauce, you at least deserve a good, sharp knife. And do you know what the big mistake is that so many people make, causing knives to become dull so quickly?

It’s an action you probably don’t even think about. You sometimes see it happening on cooking shows, even by professional chefs, and it’s done before you know it. Chop, chop, scrape, wipe and hey presto!…yes, there it is. That onion you just chopped—did you just wipe it straight into the pan with your knife?

Once you start

That’s where things actually go wrong. You can take excellent care of your knife, never put it in the dishwasher and never leave it loose in a messy drawer, and diligently sharpen it regularly or even have it sharpened by a professional from time to time, but every time you scrape your knife across your cutting board, it cries a little inside. Or perhaps we cry a little inside.

So common

It’s a very obvious thing to do—we get it. As soon as you’ve cut something, you often first neatly sweep it together into a little pile, then wipe it into the pan or a bowl with your knife, and scrape the leftovers from the board into the bin or compost. That’s bad for the blade. A knife is strong when you bring it down at a right angle to a surface, but lengthwise the blade is flexible, and repeated movement like this will disrupt its alignment and eventually make your knife dull. And a dull knife is a dangerous knife—we already knew that.

Turn it upside down

How do you deal with this? It takes some getting used to, but I’ve taught myself to always turn my knife over after slicing or chopping so that the ‘blunt’ side points down. I use that ‘wider’ side to sweep what I’ve cut to the side or into the pan. I actually know I should use a scraper: a flat piece of plastic or metal that bakers often work with, and that lets you neatly sweep up absolutely everything. But if I’m completely honest, I’m often too lazy to put down my knife, pick up the scraper, put it down again after use and then pick up my knife again. What a hassle… So I do it this way.

Whatever works or is convenient for you, at least try to make sure you no longer scrape your fine kitchen knife across cutting boards; you’ll enjoy it for much longer that way.

Also read:

• 9 things you really shouldn’t do with your good knife
• Of all the knives, these are the only three you actually need
• Is this controversial appliance exactly what your knives need?