You've Been Storing Your Kitchen Knives Wrong This Whole Time

If you asked a chef what his favorite tool is, chances are he'll name his most-used kitchen knife. They may be utilitarian, but the quality of your knife can make or break the presentation, or even the taste of your dish. Sharp, high quality knives allow you to slice up meats, pare fruits, and dice vegetables with precision. They allow you prepare herbs to prevent leaving their essences on the chopping board.

Chefs have an entire range of kitchen knives at their disposal, all dedicated to performing different types of cutting and slicing. From paring knives, to steak knives, and from bread carving, to butcher's knives, round, square, and serrated, a true kitchen pro requires an assortment of cutting and dicing tools a hand's reach away (via The Manual). 

But unlike many of us, chefs don't store their knives in utility drawers — unless they make a special provision to store them that way first. The quality of their knives is simply too important.

When it comes to storing knives, CNET advises you to pick the safest option for your household, and unfortunately, storing them in an empty spot of a drawer without inserts just isn't good enough. Even if you lay knives out neatly in a cutlery drawer, they are likely to move around each time the drawer opens and closes. Over time, these movements could end up either breaking blades, or dulling them. Leaving loose knives in a drawer can also be a hazard, for obvious reasons.

We get it. Drawer inserts, which allow you to store your knives in a protected sheath, aren't for everybody. Your drawers could be the wrong size, or you may not be partial to them. In any case, another option is to store your cutlery in a knife block. Be sure to store each knife blade side up, so the weight of the handle is not sitting on its blade, and to avoid dulling each time you take the knife out of the block. Another alternative is to store your knives using a strong magnetic strip affixed to the wall (via The Kitchn). How chef-like will you look? 

In the end, finding the right way to store your knives may mean you're not just protecting your treasured kitchen tools, you could be accident-proofing your home as well.