The Nuances Of Washing & Drying Your Knives Correctly

Name: The Chef’s Knife
Brand: Artisan Revere
SKU: Chef-Blu-Mahog-86
Price: 445.0 USD
Availability: InStock

3 MINUTE READ

BY: DAVID OLKOVETSKY

Ensuring that your 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.

Wash & Dry Immediately After Use.

Don't leave your knife in the sink or on the cutting board: One of the most common errors home cooks make, is leaving their high-end knives out on the cutting board or marinating in the sink for hours after cooking with them. Hell, line cooks get kicked out of the kitchen for doing it because it’s also dangerous—another cook might reach into the sink and cut themselves.

Avoid the dishwasher like the plague: Never ever place a quality knife in the dishwasher unless you are actively trying to ruin it. It is a hurricane of near-boiling water and highly abrasive detergent. It will chip, dull, and corrode your knives, including a high probability of causing pitting corrosion—a particularly nasty, localized form of corrosion. Finally, the high temperatures and wet conditions will rapidly eat away the epoxy that holds your handle together, and you'll soon have a totally useless knife handle.
Hold the knife by the handle: Ideally, in your dominant hand.
Hot Water: Run warm or hot water, and not just because it feels nice—it actually serves a purpose—which we’ll get to in a minute.
Use only non-scratch sponges: These can be found next to heavy duty sponges at the grocery store. Heavy duty sponges can actually dull your knife’s edge, because aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) on the scouring side is high Rockwell and used in abrasives.
Dish soap: Applying any of the name brand dish soaps to the sponge.
Avoid slicing the sponge: Never cut into the sponge with a sharp knife. Sharp knives will slice right through it.
Scrub the knife: Go ahead and scrub down the entirety of the blade with the sponge. Make sure to get any stuck-on food.
Wash off the soap: Now wash all the soap off with warm water. It’s always best when washing to use your helping hand to ensure you got all the soap off. We’re able to feel residual soap much more easily than we can see it.

Washing

“Moisture is the enemy of steel. So are acid and salt.” —David Olkovetsky

Here’s why it’s also bad for your knives: Leaving your knife dirty, means that a part of the beautiful meal you just finished prepping is still sitting on that blade. Anything acidic or salty or moist is actively trying to eat away at your blade steel and handle. Our founder, David Olkovetsky always says, “Moisture is the enemy of steel. So are acid and salt.” Acids and salts attack the free chromium in your knives, and it’s chromium that makes a “stainless steel” knife, stain-less. Excess, or free chromium (Cr) makes a passive film that protects your blade from rust and patina, so if you want to give the Cr a bit of a boost, wash your knives off right after use. We know this might appear to be obvious at first, but it’s still worth talking about how to properly wash and dry your knives, in detail.

Drying

Now that you’re done washing, there’s one step left—drying.

We mentioned earlier that it’s good to wash with warm or hot water, and the reason is that it makes drying your knives, and all of your dishes easier. Warm and hot water evaporate more readily off the blade, so it will be easier to dry your knife fully. Please make sure your knife is bone-dry before storing it.

Dry with a towel: Take a clean dish towel or paper towel, and dry off your knife, completely.
Use your fingers to feel for moisture: Feel the blade and handle with your fingers when you’re finished with the towel. You do this to confirm that the knife is totally dry.
Store safely: Place the knife somewhere safe, like a leather saya or a magnetic rack for storage.

There you have it. How to wash and dry your knife like a professional. If you’re ready for an upgrade, join us, as we improve the quality of knives across America.

Shop Our Top Tools

The Chef’s Knife

The Paring Knife

End-Grain Cutting Board

Customer Reviews

A Dream

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!!

Incredible chef’s knife

I ordered a chef’s knife that was out of stock so I knew there would be a delay, but the company kept me updated on everything that was going on with my knife (approximately when the steel would be there, when it got there, went into production, etc.) Customer service was above and beyond in every way. So is the knife. Incredibly sharp, great weight and balance, ergonomics are spot on. This is a fast and fun knife.

Outstanding knife

I love this chef’s knife. It is a very comfortable knife to use and wicked sharp. I was surprised by how lightweight the knife is, I’m used to heavier weight knives. I was a bit concerned until I used if for the first time. It’s so easy to use, the lightweight aspect is not an issue, it’s a benefit for bigger cutting and chopping tasks.

I own chef’s knives from Bloodroot Blades, Misen and Frederick Dick. All are great for their own reasons but my new Artisan Revere knife is fast becoming my favorite. I’ve used it a dozen or so times for various tasks and it makes even mundane work a pleasure. I’m interested to see the longevity of the sharpness. I’m used to honing with each use and using my work sharp belt sharpener every 4-5 months. So far the Artisan chef knife has held its edge longer than I am used to. I love this knife and look forward to continue to challenge it. You can’t go wrong buying this knife. PS I also own the petty knife. I bought that before the chef.

Incredible Kitchen Tool

The Artisan Revere Chef's knife is the best overall knife I’ve ever worked with.

Mine came RAZOR sharp and it stays that way for an insanely long time. I just do a quick hone on my honing rod and occasionally pop it onto a 1,000 grit stone and it’s back to perfection.

The other thing I’ve noticed with my Artisan Revere knife is how unbelievably comfortable it is. All of my other knives are really rough on my hands. My Artisan Revere knife feels incredible and I’ve been cooking wayyyyy more because of it.

I love this knife. It was the best investment I’ve made in a long time.

Top tier knife

First impression as soon as I got my package was wow. This company did a fantastic job on delivery and packaging of this knife. Second thing you notice is how light and well balanced the knife actually is. NOW for the actual performance of the knife. This is an honest review. I own over 70 plus fine western and Japanese knives ranging from brands and metals that you’re probably familiar with to ones that you probably wouldn’t have heard of. Wustof, henkels, global, Kramer, miyabi, kikuichi, sekai Takayuki, Mac, masakage. And metals such as zdp 189, 52100, Hap 40, aogami supers, white #2 you get the picture. Out of the box sharpness was just ok and that’s fine I’m usually not a fan of factory edges from a lot of knife makers. So after 2 days of use I sharpened my knife on the cerax 1000 and rika 5000 then Shapton 8000. And NOW THIS KNIFE IS SCARY SHARP. It took a scary sharp edge and now glides thru vegetable prep. I work in catering for over 14 years, so I know my way a knife. We do large amounts of prep and only time will tell how the edge holds up. Love the handle it’s super comfortable and appreciate the height of the knife. Also love how smooth the metal around the choil is. And the leather sheath he really nice. If you are an experienced knife sharpener which I’m sure if your buying this knife most of you are, pull the trigger you won’t be disappointed. I just recommend a good hand sharpening to unlock its true and full potential.

1 2 3

View Our Top Articles