Never put a knife in a sink full of water! You or someone else may forget it's there. This can lead to cuts when you grab things to clean. Don't try to catch a falling knife.
Do not leave the knife near the edge of counters or tables or in a sink full of soapy water. Use knives only for cutting food. Carry knives with the blade pointed downward. Keep knives sharp.
Rule #1: It is important to use a knife adapted to what you want to do / food you want to prepare. For example, you shouldn't use a bread knife to slice a roast or use the blade of a paring knife and use it as a screwdriver (don't laugh, we've all done it!) Rule #2: Don't drop your knife on the floor.
This meant sharp instruments were used in 41% of the 594 homicides that occurred in England and Wales in 2022/23. ONS data shows that in 2023/24, West Midlands Police recorded the highest rate of 178 offences per 100,000 population.
Knife Storage Don'ts
"Any good storage solution is always better than loosely storing knives in a drawer," says Liu. "Not only is this dangerous, but you could potentially dull your blades by exposing them to other tools and items in the drawer."
There are three primary knives that every home cook should have in their kitchen: a chef's knife, a serrated knife (also called a bread knife), and a paring knife.
Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife.
In Your Pocket
The pocket is a great place for smaller knives especially if they have a clip either on the sheath or the knife itself. Folding blades can easily clip to your pocket hem or sit inside your pocket due to their small size. Small, fixed-blade knives need a sheath.
It's crucial not to sharpen your knife too frequently or apply excessive pressure, as this can cause the blade to become thin and brittle.
Use a sharp knife
A dull blade is actually more dangerous to use than one that is sharp. Here's why: A dull blade needs more pressure to cut, increasing the chance that the knife will slip with great force behind it.
1. Place your cutlery on the table in the order of use, starting from the outside and working inwards with each course. 2. Forks should be set to the left of the plate, with knives placed to the right, blade edges facing inwards Soup spoons should be placed on the right of the knives.
It's bad luck to close a pocket knife unless you were the one who opened it. You should always cut bread with a knife rather than breaking it with your hands. It's said that your life will be broken otherwise. Never hand a knife directly to another person.
A kitchen knife should be sharpened every 1-2 months. Hone every week if you prefer a razor-sharp edge. For your professional chef's knife, you should have your knives professionally sharpened every 1-2 years.
By learning the simple Case Dating System, you can easily determine the year a Case knife was manufactured. In 1970, Case added dots beneath the “USA” on the tangs of all knives. As each new year passed, one dot was removed. So, nine dots appeared in 1971, eight in 1972, and so on. CASE XX.
Since the 1980s, the 21-foot rule has dominated law enforcement training. This rule was originally developed by John Tueller who was a training Lieutenant in the Salt Lake City Police department. He observed that it took trainees about 1.5 seconds to draw and fire a holstered weapon.
In reality, most people can get away with just three: a chef's knife, a paring knife and a serrated knife. “If I were to have just the bare bones, those are the three,” Nini Nguyen, chef, cooking instructor and author of the upcoming cookbook “Đặc Biệt,” told me on a video call from her home in New Orleans.
The last step in sharpening is removing the burr – the hide side of an old leather belt will do, or buy a strop such as this one. A bit of baby oil on the leather will help you get a nice, even covering of the polishing compound. As with most things, you get what you pay for.
A petty knife is a multi-purpose double-bevel knife that is smaller in size than other Japanese knives, so it also allows for in-hand work such as coring and peeling, as well as other smaller tasks for which larger knives are deemed unwieldy.
Never place knives at the edge of counter tops or tables. 4. Never leave knives in soapy water in the sink. This is a bad habit that easily leads to accidents.
The paper test
Hold the sheet of paper by the edge and place the heel of your knife at a 45 degree angle to the paper. Slice through it diagonally in a downward motion as you pull the blade through the paper from the heel to the tip. If it catches or doesn't cut, your knives need to be sharpened.
Knife blocks can collect germs if the knives are improperly cleaned or if the block is not regularly cleaned. Knife blocks dull knives over time with the repetitive scraping every time a knife is removed or put back into a knife block. Knife blocks take up valuable kitchen counter space.