Knife Safety for the home and commercial environments.

Advice mostly taken from the HSE and altered very slightly for the home environment.

• Use a knife suitable for the task and for the food you are cutting

• Keep knives sharp, a blunt knife is far more likely to slip off and into your hand

• Cut on a stable surface

• Handle knives carefully when washing up. I’d advise washing them first in clean water and then dry them before moving onto other stuff.

• Carry a knife with the blade pointing downwards

• Store knives securely after use, eg in a knife block

Don't

• Leave knives loose on worktop surfaces where they can be accidentally pushed off

• Try to catch a falling knife

• Use a knife as a can opener, screwdriver, hammer, ice pick, lever etc

• Carry knives while carrying other objects

• Engage in horseplay with a knife

• Carry a knife in your pocket

If you’re a commercial venture such as a restaurant, hotel or a cafe then firstly I’d advise you have a look at the HSE page as it has a few more details than above.
If you want to talk to us about knife sharpening for commercial kitchens then please go to our contact page

 You've got your kitchen knives back nice and razor sharp. Lets try and keep them that way.

• If you've got a glass chopping block please place it in the recycling. Replace it with a nice wooden one or a plastic one. The only thing harder than your knife steel in your kitchen is ceramics such as plates or a glass chopping block

• Don't throw them in the dishwasher. The chemicals in a dishwasher are rather harsh and not only might they attract the blade but they will damage some handles as well as eating aluminium

• Don't throw them in the sink. Firstly if you reach into the sink and grab a knife after I've sharpened it then you are going to cut yourself. Secondly with them bashing around with other cutlery the edge is going to be damaged

• Do give your knives a quick wash after use and then dry them as high end steel knifes will rust very quickly

• It’s a knife. Not a screwdriver or a prybar. Abusing a knife like this will result in broken tips or broken knifes. A broken tip we can repair a bent or broken knife not so easy

• Don't chuck them in the cutlery drawer as it will rattle around with other cutlery which will take the edge off

• Have a high angle knife block so that most of the weight in taken by the handle instead of the knife resting on its edge. Most knife blocks are of this style

If you are a professional chef then you might want to take a bit more care over your knives as they help you have an income. You may want to have a bit more protection on your knifes.

I will thank the staff at Aberdeen Nisbetts for these links as i asked about them when i was collecting from the dropbox and they sent me a nice e-mail with them.

For indivdual knives there is the slip on plastic blade guard

For carrying all your knives then you can get a nice knife roll and i have seen alot of these from F.DICK and they are a nice knife roll

Now you've got used to having a razor sharp knife and it his starting to lose its cutting performance what to do?

If you don't want to use the professional services of Barras Blades then what options are there?

•  Butchers steel. Slightly better then a pull through sharpener but still remove a lot of metal which will result in a uneven blade profile which I can remove when I get a knife as I can reprofile it before sharpening. A document from the HSE on how to use one

• Spending a bit more money then you can invest some nice waterstones. With practise and patience you can meet the edge I can get on your knife. With a lot of practise and patience you can get it sharper then I can. Kin knifes have a small guide on their website here https://www.kinknives.com/sharpening.aspx

You want to go to the extreme ?

Watch one of my favourite youtubers French guy Alex go across to the USA to learn sharpening by hand.

It’s a world where people can very obsessive about honing their skills and equipment with people spending hours per knife and hundreds per sharpening stone.

Another option is guided waterstones

Amazon link HERE

If you are money no object or a commercial kitchen then Tormek do a baby machine BUT the price is not for the feint hearted link HERE