When it comes to working in the kitchen with a knife, it’s become quite dangerous if you don’t have the right knife skills. Becoming aware of the necessary knife skills is quite important to reduce potential injuries in the kitchen.
There are many varieties of knives available in the market for many different purposes like cutting, chopping, slicing, and dicing. Knives are one of the most important tools for food preparation.
Knives are the basic building block for almost all kitchens. A sharp knife will not only help you in cooking the food well and faster, but it will also be safer.
However, It seems like most of them are not aware of the knife safety rules in the kitchen, and that is why I have made this complete guide about it.
So, in this article, I’m going to share all the safety rules that you must follow in your kitchen. This guide can help you minimize accidents when you are using your knives.
This article is going to be very informative and interesting, so don’t skip any points.
Let’s start!
10 knife Safety Rules In The Kitchen
Knives are used in almost all kitchens for cutting vegetables, fruits, and meat. It’s one of the most important pieces of tool for preparing your meal.
If you don’t have a knife it’s similar to having a car with fuel. A knife is extremely important and it can be used in many different ways in your kitchen.
However, it’s important to learn all the necessary knife skills, or else you’ll go wrong. If you are using a knife you must learn the knife skills, or else you might cut your fingers.
Using a knife can be dangerous if you don’t know how to handle the knife. No matter how experienced you are, a knife is meant for cutting, and if you use them casually and carelessly. Ultimately you’ll cut your hand.
It’s important to know basic knife safety to minimize the chance of ruining your experience with a knife. Basically, these are some of the awareness and some of the major knife safety rules in the kitchen.
1. Don’t Use a Dull Knife
One of the basic principles of knife safety is you must make sure that you’re using a sharp knife. Now you might think that a sharp knife is more dangerous. But you are wrong.
A dull knife is more be more dangerous than a sharp knife, because when your blade is dull, in order to cut the same thing you need to apply extra pressure.
And when you apply extra pressure then it’s more likely that you’ll slip and you might hurt yourself.
Moreover, if you manage to cut with the knife, then also the knife will mash the food.
2. Not Handling The Blade Safely
It’s very important to handle the blades safely when you are working with a knife. When you are working in the kitchen with others then you must make sure you hold the knife downside, like the badly facing downside.
Make sure that you are getting a knife with a good handle and a comfortable grip so that you can reduce potential injuries.
To handle the blades safely simply put pinch the blade against the index finger. This can allow much greater control while using the blade.
3. Store The Knife Safely
There are many different ways to store a kitchen knife, you can use the under-cabinet storage method, or else you can so use a magnetic knife strip.
In this way, you can potentially reduce the risk of getting injuries. Also when you are using this method of storing the blades then, the blade doesn’t easily get dull.
Alternatively, you can also use a knife roll and rest the blade when you are not using the blade. This can also secure the blades when you are traveling with your blades.
4. Use a Quality Cutting Board
You must make sure that you are using a cutting board for chopping vegetables and fruits. You can easily find cutting boards made from wood, bamboo, and plastic.
While getting a cutting board you must make sure that you are getting a good quality cutting board. Like some of them prefer using a glass cutting board.
But professionals do not recommend using a glass cutting board as it’s slippery and it can be dangerous.
5. Using a Knife Other Then Cutting
It’s very common that people to use a shape edge knife and try to open a can or smash and open nuts. Well, this can be very dangerous and in the worst case, you will bend your blade tip or even cut your fingers.
It’s highly not recommended not to use a knife for other purposes rather than cutting fruits, vegetables, and meat.
6. Licking Of Food From a Knife
This is still a common mistake that most peops lick food from the blade. First of all kitchen knives are extremely sharp.
Licking a knife or even any other utensils that are being used for preparing food may contain cross-contamination and even food poisoning.
When you are licking food from the blade you might cut your tongue. Licking food with a blade can be highly dangerous and it’s not recommended to do so.
7. Leaving Blades In The Sink
When you leave your knife knocking against the metal, or any other hard surface then this can blunt or chip the blades. When you leave the blade in the sink without properly storing the blades then it can be dangerous.
Plus, it’s highly not recommended to wash a knife using a dishwasher. When you are washing your knife separately you can protect both yourself and even the blades.
8. Leaving The Knife Near The Edge
When you are busy in the kitchen and put the knife at the edge rather than storing the knife, this can lead to accidental damage.
Children playing around the kitchen might play with the blade, or even the blade might fall on the baby, and it’s extremely risky.
Kitchen knife safety simply means keeping the knives safe so that others or children can’t reach them.
9. Playing With a Knife
I have seen a lot of them playing with a knife. Also, most of them try to grab a falling knife. This is extremely dangerous and it can easily lead to serious injury.
You are putting your hand and fingers at risk. You can pick up the blade once it hits the ground, but it’s not recommended to play or catch the blade while it’s falling.
10. Keeping Knife Clean
It’s important to keep your knife clean regularly and oil your blades at regular intervals, as this can protect the blade from corrosion.
Corrosion can weaken the blades and it can seriously affect the cutting ability of the knife.
Dangers Of Knives In The Kitchen
Knives can be dangerous and they can cut your fingers if you are not using them carefully. A very sharp knife can easily cut your skill, while a dull knife can potentially increase the chance of slipping or losing control of the knife.
Knives are highly dangerous and if you don’t know how to use a chef, then it’s not recommended to use a chef knife. Rather you can use a plastic knife and you can learn the steps to use a real knife.
When I was new to a chef’s knife I had many times cut my fingers and it feels really bad. I think all of us must be having the experience.
It is always said that sharp knives are less dangerous than dull knives. Yes, this is true, the sharper your blade the less downward force you apply to cut for whatever you are using your knife.
In this way, you can potentially reduce the risk.
How To Properly Handle a Knife Balde?
- While cutting with a knife you must make sure that you’re cutting in a direction away from the body.
- Before you start cutting you must make sure that you are using knife safety gloves if you are new.
- Now learn how to hold the knife. When you’re picking a knife your index finger must be outside of the blade and the other three fingers should be choked up to the top of the knife handle.
- Learn how to cut and chop with a knife. Use your fingers and guide safely and make safe cuts. It’s absolutely important to guide the blade properly.
- Now clean the blade manually. You can use a bar of dish soap and warm water for cleaning your knife blades.
Wrap Up On knife safety rules in the kitchen
Getting into the art of cooking is quite a fun and fulfilling experience. But before your start cooking in the kitchen you must learn all the important knife safety rules.
It’s very important to understand the knife safety rules so that you can protect yourself from potential injuries.
There is a lot to learn when it comes to a knife and definitely it will take time. But one of the best things or places to start is to first understand the knife basics of knife safety.
Therefore, now you know all the basic knife safety rules, now it’s time to practice and familiarize yourself with the art of how to handle the blade.
I hope this guide would have helped you out in finding out how important a knife is and all the knife safety rules in the kitchen. Well if you have any other points to add, you can suggest me in the comment section below.
FAQ: Knife Safety For Beginners
Learning knife skills is important and if you don’t have a proper guide some’s it becomes quite difficult. That is why people ask a lot of questions and I have tried to answer a few of them. You can read this section to clear your doubts.
1. What is knife skill all about?
Knife skill is all about mastering the basic skills of using a knife, along with keeping your knife sharp. A sharp will not only allow you to work faster but safer. If you’re using a blunt knife you’ll need a good amount of pressure to cut through and this results in a nasty injury.
2. Which knife is ideal for vegetables
A chef’s knife is ideal for cutting and chopping vegetables. The chef knife is one of the most important knives for professionals and home cooks as well.
3. What knives are needed in the kitchen?
There are only three types of knives that are very common and are widely used in most kitchens. The chef knife, the Pairing knife, and the serrated knife. These are among the most common kitchen knives. Any other knives are a luxury and they can make the cooking experience much better and more enjoyable.