Knives as sharp as new: tips on maintenance and recovery

A good knife is a blessing because it makes a hard and dangerous task much safer and effortless. But kitchen knives need some maintenance to keep as sharp as the first day.

Hoy to store knives

Good chef´s knives have a single blade. One half of it is protected by the handle and the other half is called the edge. The edge is the thinnest and sharpest part of the knife, what we use to cut, and therefore the area that needs to be taken deeper care of. The best way to keep a knife in good use is not to let any damage be done to it. To achieve this, storage is the first step we have to keep a close eye on. If there is not enough room at home to store a set of knives, a case or cover is an acceptable option. It will keep edges protected from crashing against other pieces of cutlery. Otherwise, a knife block is the best solution. This blocks are usually made of wood and have different sized slots so the knives are safe.

Cleaning knives best practices

Dishwashers are one of the best creations when it comes to appliances, but they are not very convenient for chef´s knives. As we know, edges are thin and fragile, and some dishwashers might vibrate as much as to make cutlery crash during the washing up. Soaps, salts, and polish may also damage the edge, making small cracks on it. And these cracks might be the main entrance to the worst enemy of a knife: rust. Not to have to worry about this, wash your knives by hand. Any regular soap will be good enough. The real trick is to dry them as soon as they are clean instead of letting them dry alone.

How to prevent rust from colonizing your set of knives

Rust tends to appear sooner or later. Whereas it is removable without much effort, it is best to delay the moment to deal with that. Time and humidity are rust´s best friends and chef's knives worst enemies, but food can also damage the blade and edge because of the acids it contains. Lemons, tomatoes, oranges are only an example of some acid foods. The rules to keep your knives rust free are only two and very simple: clean your knives straight after using them, by hand, and dry them as soon as possible.

How to remove rust from a knife

Once rust appears, the best thing to do is to accelerate the rusting process. It might sound a bit strange, but it is true. By wrapping the edge or even the whole knife with a cloth soaked in vinegar we remove the artificial rust from the metal and create a new natural slide of rust. This will darken the edge but will keep it sharp as new. The last step to take would be protecting the edge with a natural oil. There are many that serve this purpose, but paraffin is the most commonly used.