Do you store your kitchen knives correctly?
It is not a good idea to leave them unwashed and unattended.
The right way to take care depends on the knife you are using, so make sure you understand the characteristics of the knife you are using so you can store it correctly.
How to store kitchen knives properly?
The main thing to keep in mind when storing your knives is rust. Rust is the biggest enemy of knives.
It is a prerequisite to store knives in a safe place, but many people neglect to take care of rust.
So, when storing your knives, the least you can do is to take care of the rust.
Pay a little attention to it, you won’t have to worry too much about rust.
It is important to understand whether your knives are easy-to-rust or rust-resistant and to be careful how you store your knives.
Steel knives rust easily and stainless steel knives do not rust easily
There are two types of kitchen knives: rust-resistant knives and easy-to-rust knives.
The following is a rough guide to distinguishing between the two.
– Steel: easy to rust
– Stainless steel – rust resistant
The basic rule is that steel is easy to rust and stainless steel is hard to rust.
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There are some exceptions, but steel is mostly used for Japanese kitchen knives such as ‘De-ba kitchen knife’ and ‘Yanagiba kitchen knife’. On the other hand, stainless steel is used for western kitchen knives such as “Santoku knife”, “Chef’s knife” and “Petty knife”.
To be honest, stainless steel knives do not rust so much even if you handle them roughly. Even if you wash them with detergent and let them dry naturally, it will not affect the knives.
Japanese kitchen knives should be stored carefully
You should be careful with knives made of steel. Steel knives rust very easily. If you leave it wet for 30 minutes, it will rust.
It is important to treat steel knives before storing them.
- clean with a soft sponge and detergent
- rinse clean with water
- wipe dry with a dry cloth
- store in a place where it can dry naturally
At the very least, the above steps should be followed.
Not limited to stainless steel or steel, it’s a good idea to add a habit to wipe off moisture after washing the kitchen knife. This alone can significantly reduce the probability of rusting.
It is more important to keep knives in good condition than to keep them in a safe place.
Is it good to put salad oil on Japanese knives for storage?
The procedure described above is sufficient to prevent rusting, but it is also perfect if you coat the knife with salad oil.
Some people keep their frying pans oiled, but it’s actually a good idea to oil your kitchen knives too.
If possible, use a knife cleaning oil, but if not, vegetable oil will do. A light coating on the surface of the blade will help prevent rusting.
If you want to keep your knives for a long time without using them, it is also a good idea to wrap them in a newspaper. The air permeability of the newspaper and the oil content of the ink will help to prevent rust.
This storage method is recommended for kitchen knives that have not been used for more than a month. Especially Japanese kitchen knives that easily rust.
After that, it will be perfect if you store it in an environment that is as well-ventilated as possible
