+3 Knife of Bloody Dismemberment

Today's topic became apparent when I sliced my left hand this morning while preparing dinner for the slow cooker; knives. A good knife is one of the most important and frequently used tools in the kitchen.

I use two primarily, an 8" chef knife and a 3" paring knife. I do have many many other like my cleaver, santoku, usuba and ulu but, while very cool, the chef and paring knives are my instruments of choice. I use the chef knife for 92.773% of my food diassembly needs such as slicing, dicing, mincing and butchering. The paring knife us used for small jobs where I would most likely hurt myself with the chef knife; for instance peeling, hulling strawberries or trimming radish roses. The paring knife is made by Rada Cutlery and apart from Lodge Cast Iron is about the only brand recommendation you are likely to see on this blog. My mother uses a rada paring knife, my grandmother used a rada paring knife and most likely her mother used one as well. They hold an edge well, are very affordable and almost indestructible being of all metal construction.

I highly recommend keeping you knives sharp. Keep a stone in the kitchen and learn how to use it or have them professionally sharpened about once or twice a year. It may sound counter intuitive but a sharp knife is a safe knife. Dull knives lead to excessive force, excessive force leads to slippage and slippage leads to you running about your kitchen clutching a bleeding appendage. Also when an accident happens (not if but when) a sharp knife leaves a clean cut and a clean cuts heal faster.

On the receiving end of these knives is the cutting board. I keep two around. First is my end-cut maple block. It is used for cutting mostly vegetation. I use one side (called the stinky side) for onions and garlic and the other side for everything else. I wash it by hand and rub it down with vegetable once in a while. My other cutting board is a large plastic one. It is used for raw and cooked meats (but not at the same time) and is large enough to provide alot of cutting space but small enough to fit in the dishwasher to prevent cross contamination of food borne pathogens.

My last implement is a board scraper. Also known as a dough blade, it is basically a flat piece of metal with a handle used to scoop up whatever you sliced or minced or chopped or whatever. I used to use the side of my chef knife until one day I attempted to fillet off the meaty side of my left hand. I recommend one highly, they are only a few buck and may save you from super gluing one of your hands back together.

Lastly I want to discuss storage. Reaching into a drawer full of knives can be dangerous. A knife block helps organize things but the slots can collect dust and mold after a while. I use a magnetic strip screwed to the side of the cupboard above the sink. I keeps the up and out of the way, well ventilated and accessible. Chef knife, paring knife and board scraper hang side by side on mine, ready for use.

Good luck, be safe and watch those fingers!