Yvonne Glasgow
Whether you’re a culinary genius, or you only use knives to cut veggies, proper knife storage keeps the blade sharper longer and extends the overall life of your knife.
You’re also less likely to cut yourself if you don’t have to dig a knife out of a cluttered utensil drawer. This type of storage can break or damage your knives or dull the blades.
So, How Should You Store Your Knives?
Although we just argued against haphazardly tossing your knives in a kitchen drawer, there are safe ways to store knives in drawers. The key to safe knife storage is to keep the blades away from where your fingers might be. Also, keep the blades dry, and isolated from each other and other kitchen implements (so nothing bangs into the delicate edge and damages it). Let’s look at the different options.
Knife Blocks: The Ole Standby
While knife sets don’t always come with a knife block, you should invest in one if you don’t already have one. Knife blocks don’t take up a lot of space on the counter, and they make it easy to grab a knife when you need it.
When you purchase a knife block for a set that didn’t come with its own, you want to look for one that can hold a variety of sizes. There are different styles of universal knife blocks to hold all of your kitchen cutlery—big or small. Some knife blocks use little flexible plastic rods to hold the knives in place, while others have the traditional slots in a wooden block. If your set came with a block, you might still want to invest in another so that you can add more knives to your collection.
Always completely dry your knives before putting them in a knife block. Wood absorbs liquid, and damp blades might start to rust over time.
Knife Drawers: Upgrade Those Messy Utensils
If you don’t have the counter space or prefer to keep your knives in a drawer like the rest of your flatware, you can safely store them there. To avoid cutting yourself, and prevent blades from dulling by rubbing other utensils, you can keep them organized in a drawer insert. This keeps them in place, so they don’t jostle around.
Aside from lack of space, another benefit of keeping knives in a drawer is providing a safer environment for any children in your home.
Knife Strips: Clear Counter, Visible Tools
Magnet racks for knives are a great way to give yourself more counter and drawer space. You can also put them up high enough, so little hands can’t hurt themselves.
With a magnet rack, you can also easily see the blade of the knife you’re grabbing as opposed to a block, where the blade isn’t visible. Magnet racks are available in wood or metal finishes, so you can choose whichever works best with your kitchen decor.
No matter how you store your knives, be sure to take good care of them. When you place them in a counter block or on a magnetic strip, be sure to touch the back of the knife to the block or strip first rather than the blade. This prevents dulling the blade.
