After use!
In many knife handling guides, you often find the advice to ‘wash thoroughly with a neutral detergent after use and wipe dry with a dry cloth.’ When they say ‘after use,’ it means after you’ve finished the cutting task! Not necessarily after you’ve completed all your cooking or after the meal.
In a professional kitchen, it’s common to wipe off food juices and debris with a cloth during cooking, especially in the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen where there’s no time to wash with detergent. However, for home use, as well as for hobby cooking and daily meals, I highly recommend washing with detergent or at least wiping it down with a cloth once the cutting is done.
Stainless steel knives are usually forgiving if left unattended, but when dealing with high-carbon stainless steel used in professional settings, rust is a real possibility. Even in the case of stainless or silver steel, poor maintenance can lead to rust. The joint between the blade and the handle is especially vulnerable, getting messy with food particles and juices. Just thinking about what would happen with steel knives gives me the creeps.
The cause of rust is often food juices (which can cause discoloration due to alkali) and cutting debris (the cut parts are more prone to rust). Even fish scales or fibrous materials can have a significant impact. Carbon steel knives are particularly susceptible to rust.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, recently, we’ve been getting a lot of knives for repair that have been used at home. They show signs of rust, and there are traces of neglect after cutting. ‘Is this from cutting onions?’ I’ve even mistaken octopus suction cup marks for something else (lol). ‘Is this from the residue left after slicing sashimi?’ Such incidents are quite common.
For those of you who use knives as a hobby or manage knives handed over by your spouses, after finishing your cutting task, wash the knife! Or, at least, quickly wipe it down with a well-wrung cloth! ‘After use’ doesn’t mean ‘after every cooking.’ Just doing this can significantly extend the life of your knife.
Even in the world of work, after putting in the effort to remove rust, it’s frustrating when traces of rust are left behind. That’s what Tatsuya thought today.
Hibishugyo
2014-10-01
