Kitchen and Knife Safety

Every kitchen should have a set of quality knives. Chef's choose and maintain their knives with great care, because they know that good well maintained knives makes preparing food a pleasure. They also know that if they are not used properly, knives can be very dangerous to everyone in the kitchen, especially children and pets.

Here are some suggestions for knife safety:

• Cut slowly, with the blade point facing away from your body and the knife's edge at a 20 degree angle. Make sure your fingers are curled away from the blade, and have a strong grip on the item you are cutting. Don't use a knife to cut string, bones, metal, or paper.
• Always use a cutting board, keeping it firmly in place by putting a damp towel or paper towel underneath to keep it from moving. Never cut anything in your hand, always use the cutting board.
• Use the correct knife for the job at hand.
• Hand wash all knives and dry thoroughly. Never put knives into the dishwasher or into sudsy dish water, and always hold a knife by its handle.
• Never attempt to catch a falling knife. Step away and let it come to rest before picking it up.
• Store knives in a knife block if possible, but if you must put in a drawer, make sure to keep them in a separate compartment away from other utensils.