Maintenanceお手入れについて
How to care for your carbon steel knives
This is a basic guide on how to protect your knives from rust.
When it is humid or during rainy seasons knives are prone to rust, so they should be taken care of on a daily basis.
1. Wipe your knives frequently even while cooking with them
Moisture, acid, salt and lye contained in food cause rust on carbon steel knives.
Therefore, it is important to frequently wipe off moisture with paper towels or kitchen towel while cooking. Those towels should be in layers or folded into a thicker layer to avoid injury if they get torn.
Wash the knife once before wiping it after cutting vegetables with strong acid, citrus fruits, lye or salty foods.
How to wipe a knife
To be safe and thorough wipe the spine area and the edge area of the blade separately.
Hold the blade gently and do not use your whole hand to cover the blade to wipe the spine area from the base to the tip as shown in the photo.
Shorten your grip in order to avoid being cut by the edge or caught in the chin (shown in the red circle) for your safety.
※Please be careful not to wipe in the opposite direction of the red arrow shown in the photo considering the shape of the blade in order to prevent injury.
Please be very careful not to injure yourself when wiping the edge.
Grip the edge with the towel lightly for your safety and wipe it evenly from the base to the tip several times as if pulling it out vertically to the blade.
2. Wipe off water immediately after washing a knife
It is most effective to use a quick splash of boiling water over the entire knife to sterilize and dry the blade quickly.
Wipe off the water with a dry towel immediately after washing.
Make sure to dry the handle thoroughly before storing the knife to protect it from rust, which can be caused by water seeping into the handle between the handle and the blade.
Especially for a Japanese style knife, water can seep into the base of the handle and cause it to rust from the part. So be sure to dry the knife well and thoroughly before storing.
Do not use a dishwasher as it may cause damage to the knife.
※Do not heat the blade over a flame to dry it as this may cause quality deterioration. Extreme heat makes the original annealing of the knife deteriorate.
3.Apply oil when a knife is not used for several days
After wiping off water and drying the blade well, apply oil to the blade to make it more resistant to rust.
Applying oil can prevent rusting during storage so long as the blade is kept away from moisture and dirt.
How to apply oil
2 to 3 drops of oil can be applied to the entire blade, for example a Santoku knife, which is used widely at home kitchen.
Use a paper towel to rub oil over the entire blade.
Wipe the blade from the base to the tip by pressing the blade against a board to prevent the blade from lifting up and causing injury.
Apply oil to the back side of the blade in the same way.
Oil should be applied to the Tsuba part of the carbon steel western style knife as well to protect rust.
- ◯Oil suitable for use
- Cameria oil for knives(Tsubaki oil)
- Cooking vegetable oil (fresh, before use), etc.
Since carbon steel knives are prone to absorb the color and odor of oil, oil with as little as color and odor as possible is recommended.
- ×Oil unsuitable for use
- Rust preventive oil for machinery
- Animal oil
- Oil after use for cooking
We recommend using an oil that is food safe since the knife will be used when handling food.
Please remember that oil on the handle may cause discoloration
4. Wrap the blade in newspaper for storage
Wrap the entire blade with a newspaper to cover it as shown in the photo and store it in a dry place.
It is safe way to wrap the blade in a newspaper to protect it from moisture and to prevent it from being damaged or chipped by bumping into the other tableware.
The western style knife is shown in the photo as an example and the Japanese style knife can be wrapped in the same way also.
If the newspaper is dirty or damp it may cause deterioration to the knife, so newspaper should be changed every once in a while.
※Please note that if the knife is kept in wooden sheath or left being wrapped in a cloth for a long time, it will have moisture in it and this may cause rust.
Wipe, dry frequently and apply oil to them when they are not used for several days, and wrap them in newspaper for storage. Following these three tips can help keep your knife rust free even during humid times or rainy seasons.
Stainless steel knives, which are resistant to rust, can also be used for a long time if you take care of them in the same way as carbon steel knives.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any further problems with rust.