How to Keep a Paring Knife From Dulling

Paring knifes have small short blades that can easily become dull. It is critical to keep the blade sharp for both performance and safety reasons. Paring knives are usually used to trim, carve or cut small food items like strawberries, scallions or herbs. There are several things you can do that can prevent the paring knife blade from dulling.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wood knife block
• Plastic knife holder
• Magnetic knife holder

1. Store the paring knife in a wood knife block. Many people choose to just toss their paring knives the kitchen drawer with other utensils. Keep the paring knife out of a kitchen drawer where the blade can be chipped or dulled from other kitchen utensils.

2. Place a plastic knife guard on the blade of the paring knife, if you want to store your knife in a drawer. This protector will prevent the blade from being exposed.

3. Store the paring knife on a magnetic knife holder. These holders are secured onto a wall and will keep the paring knife blade safe from articles that could dull the blade.

4. Choose to use a wood cutting board versus a glass board. Glass boards will dull a sharp knife blade over time.

5. Hand-wash all paring knives. If you wash your knife in the dishwasher, the violent action of the water jets may cause other items to bump or dent the sharp blade.

6. Never scrape the blade of a paring knife against the cutting board to scoop up food. Use the opposite side of the knife if you have to or purchase a bench scraper to move the cut food.

Tips & Warnings

• Take the paring knife to get professionally sharpened once a year.

Resources

• A source for paring knives and sharpeners