Food-Grade Mineral Oil: Keeping Your Knives Looking Their Best
2 MINUTE READ
BY: DAVID OLKOVETSKY
Ensuring that your kitchen knives last forever is all about building good habits. There’s nothing complicated or fancy about it, just some basic principles that will keep your blades in superb working condition. Our first two tips are designed to help you keep your knives looking great.
In our prior edition, we learned how to properly wash and dry our knives. For a refresher, click the link below.
The Nuances of Washing and Drying Your Knives Correctly
In this edition, we’re going over food-grade mineral oil, and why applying it to your blades will prevent patina.
Apply food-grade mineral oil to your blade and handle.
Food-grade mineral oil plays a major role in great knife care, yet it’s one of the most overlooked maintenance steps. We recommend applying a few drops of food-grade mineral oil to a towel, ideally one designated specifically for this task, and rubbing it into the blade and handle, taking care not to cut yourself on the edge.
The mineral oil will create a physical barrier between the steel and everything else. If your knife was properly cleaned and dried, this guarantees your blade will look its best for generations to come. Food-grade mineral oil prevents patination and corrosion.
One of the reasons we like storing our knives in leather sheaths, is that over time, the inside of the sheath will build up a modest layer of mineral oil, helping keep your knives lubricated and protected from the elements. Food-grade mineral oil is also particularly useful for handle materials such as Richlite®, wood, and micarta, so don’t forget to apply a drop of it to your knife handle. The oil impregnates the fibers of the material that make up the handle and fills in the intercellular gaps so they can’t fill up with water and bacteria. This reduces shrinkage and expansion due to moisture/humidity changes. Some additional tips:
Don't use cooking oils: It’s important to note that you should not use other oils, like olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil, etc., because they will quickly oxidize and go rancid.
Have a designated oil towel: We recommend having one dish towel set aside for mineral oil. You’ll use this same towel for your knives, your butcher blocks, anything in your kitchen that is steel or wooden.
Food-grade or food safe: Use mineral oils labeled “food-safe” or “food-grade”.
What Is Food-Grade Mineral Oil & Where Can I Get It?
Food-grade mineral oils are highly refined mineral oils that are tasteless, hydrophobic, and chemically stable. Importantly, they do not support bacterial growth and are inert. In other words, they won’t change the taste of your food, they repel water, they won’t react to acids or bases, and they create a protective barrier that protects the steel from patina. This essentially means that they’re a perfect belt and suspender protection tool for knife blades and handles.
You can find inexpensive food-grade mineral oil at Target, hardware stores, Amazon, and sometimes your local pharmacy, and it should cost under $10. You can find food-grade mineral oils here.
Go ahead and pick up some food-grade mineral oil to guarantee your knives keep looking their best. And, if you’re ready for an upgrade, join us, as we improve the quality of knives across America.
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Customer Reviews
We bought 2 chef's knives for a couple of our customers as an end of project gift. It was awesome to find such high quality knives, they look and feel amazing. David the owner of Artisan Revere was very helpful and even helped us get the customers names engraved on the leather sheath and knife.
The Artisan Revere chefs knife cuts with ease, is super well balanced, and keeps a sharp edge for longer than any of my Wustofs or other European knives. The edge is perfect and the knife is dulled in the exact areas where your fingers might be exposed. The leather sheath is a more plus for protecting the knife. The materials are top notch and are lightweight allowing for fast and easy cutting. You simply are less tired after using this knife compared with others.
Being somewhat of a knife geek, I have a multitude of knives, including ten chef's knives and Santukos of German, Japanese, and American steels in both German and Japanese knives. I researched this and other premium American made blades before purchasing this knife, mainly based on steel technology, but also its light weight. I also appreciated a 1:1 conversation with David to discuss the technology and craftsmanship before I ordered. After using this knife for six months, it is now my favorite knife for most all tasks that don't involve cutting foods that are prone to sticking to the blade, e.g., potatoes, (Glestain specialty Santuko for that unique task), or butternut squash, bones, etc. (Henckles and a rubber mallet for that).
It excels at precision cuts, like brunoise cut veggies, and prepping meat and fish. It is as light as the best custom Japanese knives I have, but sharper and better balanced. It is very well made. It maintains an edge significantly better than any other knife I own. In fact, I haven't sharpened it once in six months and it's still a razor. Its blade and handle geometry is superb. It fits my hand perfectly.
My guests may be impressed by some of the beautiful Japanese knives I have displayed in the block, but this is the one I use all the time and appreciate the most. I keep it in its handsome sheath in my drawer away from curious guests who might otherwise cut themselves, or god forbid, drop it. Well worth the money!
This is the ultimate knife. You will never need to buy another knife in your lifetime. A one-time forever purchase. Nothing even remotely comparable out there.
I'm having so much fun getting acclimated to my new knife. Immediately noticeable was how light it was in comparison to my current daily driver. This translates into a wonderful nimble-ness when in use, feeling very much like a natural extension of my intent as I cut rather than a tool for which I need to plan each movement. The details are beautifully considered, and I was pleasantly surprised by both the rounded spine and the very useful point at the heel. I'm so glad I finally treated myself to this knife!!
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