Putting A Better Spin On Dinnertime

Why It's Important To Sharpen Your Dull Kitchen Knives

If you do a lot of cooking at home or you work in the restaurant sector, it's important to add cutlery sharpening to your to-do list. While you could do this task yourself, it does require specialized tools, so it's often easiest to send your knives to the manufacturer or another mail-in sharpening service. Take a look at why this maintenance is important and how to prepare your knives for the mail. 

Why Should You Sharpen Your Kitchen Knives?

The two biggest benefits of knife sharpening are increased safety and increased durability of the blade. It may seem counterintuitive that a sharper blade would be safer, but a dull blade requires more pressure to cut, so there's more force behind the cutting action. People using dull blades may not be able to use the knife at the most efficient angle, which could cause the knife to slip. Using dull knives in the restaurant sector is also a bad idea since it sets up employees for repetitive strain injuries. In fact, OSHA says that using a dull blade is one of the most common reasons why people in different industries experience knife injuries.   

Besides improving safety, sharpening knives saves you money since it increases the life span of the knife. If your knife is dull and you are placing lots of additional pressure on it, it can nick and chip more easily. Tasks like cutting hard ingredients, such as bones or frozen foods, could result in chipping. If you use the knives on stone cutting boards or ceramic plates, it also has an increased risk of chipping.

How Often Should You Sharpen Your Knives?

The manufacturer of your kitchen knives should have a list of recommendations for your products. At the very least, you should have your knives sharpened every year or two. If you use the knives frequently in the food service industry, it may be beneficial to have them sharpened every few months. If the knives are washed in a dishwasher rather than hand-washed, then they can wear down more quickly and will require more frequent sharpening.

How Should You Package Your Knives for Mail-In Sharpening?

Again, your manufacturer should have tips on proper packaging. Kitchen knives can be sent through the USPS and other similar services as long as the package is safely wrapped for mail handlers. You should try to send the knives in the original sheaths if you can. If you don't have the original packaging, you can make sheathes out of cardboard, like an old cereal box. You can tape the sheath closed, just be careful that you don't get tape on the knife blade or the handles. Once the knives are in the sheathes, roll them up in bubble wrap or packing paper. Place the knives in a sturdy cardboard box and secure them with packing material like bubble wrap or packing peanuts. Don't place the blades in padded envelopes because the knives can easily pierce these packages.

Reach out to a mail-in cutlery knife sharpening service, such as Knife Flight, for more help and information.


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