The kitchen knife, whether dull or sharp, can be quite risky if/when mishandled. While a sharp knife will easily cut through the skin, a dull one has a higher risk of slipping, causing you to lose control, eventually cutting you. Here are a few tips on how to stay safe when using kitchen knives.
- Ensure they are all sharp: Dull knives are considered riskier to use than sharp ones. For this reason, it would be advisable to keep all your knives nice and sharp at all times. Be sure to keep them out of your children’s reach.
- Slice away from your hand: Slicing things away from your hand while keeping your fingers away from the blade will help prevent a nasty cut.
- Never use your palm as a cutting board: This mostly happens when slicing a fruit. Doing this only increases the risk of cutting yourself. Invest in a good quality cutting board, there are many options available.
- Always keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board when mincing. Only the handle should move up and down. You, however, need to be extra careful not to chop your fingers.
- Hold food with your fingertips (keep them curled) when chopping. Curl your fingers away from the blade to avoid slicing yourself.
- Be extra careful with steak knives: Steak knives cut through meat, be cautious with them.
- Never lick the butter knife. The butter knife can easily cut your tongue.
- Make sure the cutting board is secure: While most cutting boards will have rubber feet for grip, some don’t. In this case, put a damp towel under it. The towel will help keep it in place.
- Avoid slicing things over the sink. Doing this freehand increases the risk of cutting yourself.
- Wash, apply pressure and bandage the cut if the worst happens. You can never be too safe with kitchen knives. Should you cut yourself, wash the wound, press the cut with a paper towel or cloth, then raise your hand above your head. Apply antibiotic cream once the bleeding stops, then bandage it.
