"According to one article, cutlery use can be divided into chopping, striking, and slicing. Chopping involves rocking the knife back and forth to cut through food, and a chef’s knife is your primary chopping knife. Striking, which you do with a cleaver or with the short choppy strokes of a chef’s knife, appears in hard cutting strokes. Finally, slicing is a straight back and forth motion. You usually use a bread knife, paring knife, or boning knife when you slice. As much as possible, use the knives for their intended purposes; don’t use cutlery to pry open cans or to cut open packages.


Regardless of your motion, the primary cutting safety rule is to cut away from yourself. In many cases, you will set the food down and cut onto a cutting board; if, however, you tend to hold an item in your hand as you cut, make sure to cut away from yourself.


Whenever it is feasible, cut onto a chopping block. Not only does this help protect you and your countertop, it also protects your knives from quickly becoming dull. Cutting boards are available in wood or plastic, and some expects suggest having separate cutting boards for meat and vegetables.


When your knives become dull, you have to use extra force to cut, so you should sharpen them using a stone or an electric sharpener. A sharpening stone requires some skill to create the blade’s new edge, but it is also less expensive than an electric sharpener. If you have steel knives, you should also regularly hone your blades, using a honing rod to smooth and straighten the edge of your blade.


After using your knife, wash it immediately. Soaking your knives allows water to seep into the crevices of their handles. Instead of soaking, use warm water and dish soap (or warm water and baking soda for carbon steel blades) to hand wash your knives. Don’t put your cutlery in the dishwasher, as the high heat can damage the blades.


Dry your cutlery immediately, and then put away your knives so that your kitchen is as safe as possible. The best place to store cutlery is in a knife block (which can be purchased separately if it did not come with your set) or with each knife in its own sheath. If you place all your knives in one silverware drawer, they will likely harm each other as they knock each other.

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