by Jared Jeannotte

Created on: December 24, 2008

We have all heard the saying "behind every good man, there is a great woman." But have you heard "behind every great dinner, there is great cookware." If you haven't, then today is your lucky day. One of the most widely used kitchen accessories is a knife. Safety should be an everyday habit when working in the kitchen. All equipment needs to be maintained and cutlery is no different. They should be sharpened, cleaned and inspected on a regular basis.

Cleaning and inspecting knives is very important for safe usage. They should be checked for rust, sharpness and loose rivets. If you knife is showing rust, then there could be a weakening of metal in that area and the knife could snap if under pressure. The edge needs to be checked to make sure there are no nicks and the blade is not dull. Loose rivets in the handle can be a very dangerous problem. If a rivet loosens up the handle can separate during use and the knife can slip causing injury.

Knife sharpening techniques depend on the type used. The diamond sharpener included in the block is the most common. This is used by holding the sharpener facing downwards and moving the knife at a forty five degree angle downwards and away from the body. The second most common sharpener is a simple V shaped one. This one is used by placing the blade into the V nearest the handle and pulling the knife back. The third most common sharpener is a whet stone. A whet stone is "whetted" down with water and usually sits flat. The knife is then pushed forward on it by placing the blade at a forty five degree angle nearest the handle and sliding it away from the body and towards the tip. Sharp cutlery is necessary to a safe kitchen because when using a sharp knife there is less chance of slipping when cutting food.

A good cutting board and knowledge of how to properly cut items with a knife is essential. A good block can be made of bamboo, plastic, glass or wood. When using a cutting board, place the item to be cut near the center of the board. When slicing food begin with the tip close to the item and slide forward and away from the body. If you slip using this technique, the blade will slide forward away from yourself preventing injury.

Choosing the right knife is also important to safely handling cutlery. Using a butcher knife to peel potatoes would be very dangerous. Each knife has specific uses and should be only be utilized for that purpose.

Last but not least is storage of cutlery. A block is vital to storing cutlery. Storing knives in a drawer with other silverware is very dangerous. When someone reaches into the drawer they could accidentally grab the blade of the knife and cut themselves. By storing cutlery in a block, the knives are protected as are you.

While there are many dangerous items in every kitchen, following these suggestions for care of cutlery can make knives one less. If properly handled, a knife is an essential tool; however, when mishandled, a knife can be deadly.

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