Keeping Kitchen Knives Sharp

I was up in the mountains the other day — and seeing all the rocks tumbling down into the rivers and creeks made me think of how knives wear and get dull. .Made me think of a way to illustrate how this happens so people will take better care of their knives.

Rocks Above a Creek

I was riding my motorcycle along a river and saw a cliffside full of loose, angular rocks that have been, over the years, sliding into the river. Once in the river, the rocks were worn down to rounded smooth river rocks.

This is the same process that dulls a knife — especially when a knife is mishandled.

Motion and contact are the cause.

Unfortunately I was riding faster than my pea-brain was thinking! I was past the river that gave me the idea — and needing to keep to a schedule — I passed the river without thinking of taking a picture.

Smooth River Rocks

With the motion and contact of a rock tumbling in the water — the sharp edges (which are the most fragile) — get worn off. The little bits of the sharp part of the rock are broken off bit by bit, eventually leaving a smooth rounded stone and little tiny pieces of stone.

In the Natural World this is called erosion — and is what creates our soil, our sandy beaches.

In the kitchen the motion and contact are created when a sharp knife is put unprotected in a drawer, sink or dishwasher. The sharp edge of the knife — which is very thin — hitting other things in the drawer, sink or dishwasher causes the edge of the knife to wear off.

In the Kitchen World this causes another trip to the knife sharpener — and allows the knife sharpener to make another payment on his backyard swimming pool!

Proper handling and proper storage is what is needed to keep a sharp knife as sharp as possible as long as possible.

Mundial Knife Edge Protectors

To store knives everybody knows about the wooden knife block. The block is made of wood as wood is softer than the steel and as such does not damage the edge.

Another way to store knives is to use a edge protector. The picture above shows four sizes of one made by Mundial, sizes to fit any knife from a paring knife to a large cleaver.

Knife Edge Protectors

Here is a picture of knives slipped into knife edge protectors.

The knife block is easy and works well. Knife edge protectors are a good choice if you want to store the knives on the counter, in a kitchen drawer — or if you want to take the knives with you, perhaps to a picnic or a cooking party.