Sharp knives in the sink

[Darienne]

If I were ever going to write my autobiography, its title would be "Daughter of an Engineer". Now I don't have the brilliance or inventiveness of mind which my Father had and I can't do math worth a darn, but I certainly did pick up the habits I was taught as a child: don't break the corners of boxes and if you do, mend them; put everything back where it belongs if you want to find it again; don't put sharp knives in the sink, someone might get cut; etc, etc. It's true that the kitchen looks as if a whirlwind hit it when I cook, but I NEVER leave sharp knives in the sink. I don't even put them there. NOT EVER.

Now I married a man whose autobiography might be entitled "By the seat of my pants" (except when it comes to mowing lawns or shovelling...we all have our callings), whose safety quotient might be kindly described as non-existent. He tries to abide by my 'eccentricities' but his heart is not in it. Not at all. And no one can find anything in the Drive Shed.

So what I want to know...is there anyone else in the culinary world who feels that leaving sharp pointy knives (or other similar utensils) is not a good idea? As Ed points out with some glee, my confectionery partner, Barbara, leaves sharp knives in the sink.

Oh, he also loads the sharp knives in the dishwasher, points up...or down...or whatever.... ... But then he also unloads said dishwasher and he does bring me coffee in bed every morning at 6:30am. :wub:

[baroness]

No sharp objects in my sink, either!

[Darienne]

Yay!!! That's two of us.

[Lisa Shock]

The good knives, and they are all good knives excepting the ones that are part of the cutlery place-settings get washed immediately after use, by hand and returned to their block. No exceptions. In my household, the husband purchased said knives as a valentine gift and understands full well how much they cost to replace and that the dishwasher is very, very bad for them. Banging around loose with china and crystal, and the occasional glass barware in a variety of hot/cold situations in the sink is simply unacceptable. I can only see chipping, dullness and shortened lifespan as a result.

Ok, I'll admit, the husband has one cheap serrated dollar-store knife that he does unspeakable things with. But, it gets replaced every few years.

Honestly, I am a wash-as-I-go cook so there aren't any pots or pans in the sink -I am very protective of my copper pans. And, dishes get rinsed and set into the dishwasher right way, so, there's only the occasional soaking pan in the sink accompanied, maybe by a serving device or wooden spoon also soaking. (like lasagna, or peanut brittle)

edited to make sense!

Edited December 13, 2009 by Lisa Shock (log)

[Anna N]

Tried it twice and have the scars to prove it! Don't do it any more.

[Katie Meadow]

There are those of us (I'm one) who look at situations--in the kitchen or elsewhere--and see an accident waiting to happen. Many of us have never had a serious accident actually caused by the imagined carelessness, yet we can see the potential and automatically protect ourselves and others from it happening. Then there are people like my husband: optimistic risk-takers who see the big picture, who think they can carry twice as many wine glasses as might be prudent, and who blithely rests the knife with the sharp edge UP in the dishdrain; they dismiss the possibility of accident as being not worth the benefits of believing that things will not go wrong for them. He has cut himself ten times more often than I have--and I do ten times the cooking. The world wouldn't go round with only one kind of person.

In our house sharp knives never go in the dishwasher. My husband is adamant about that, but it isn't because someone might get stabbed. It's because he wants to preserve the wood of the handle and would never mistreat it!

[David A. Goldfarb]

I might rest a sharp stainless steel knife in an otherwise empty sink for a few minutes, because I need it out of the way while I do something else before I can wash it and put it back in the block, but other than that, no I never let knives stay in the sink as dishes are piling up, and I never put a knife into a sink full of soapy water. Carbon steel knives are cleaned and dried constantly and never go in the sink.

Dishwasher? Haven't had one of those in ages.

[dougal]

Depends what you mean by "sharp".

If its properly sharp, bumping into the blade accidentally will accelerate the learning process. The second time blood spurts everywhere, he'll feel more stupid than in pain. (You barely feel the actual cutting ...) Personally, I've learned not to hurry when towel drying food processor cutting discs!

How does he handle razor blades?

On the other hand, if its only "slightly sharper than the really blunt ones", it hardly matters because 1/ its probably not dangerous, and 2/ there's no edge there to protect from further damage.

[Darienne]

Thank you all, dear eGer's. I'll get DH to read the responses. It won't make any difference. He is a brother to Katie's DH. I couldn't begin to tell the accidents this wonderful man has had over almost 50 years of wedded bliss. But they include real doozies! Scary doozies.

[Doodad]

I do not and won't allow anyone else either. Not out of fear of getting cut (I clean as I go), but I don't want them dulled or chipped.

[paulraphael]

Never. Nor would I put them in a drawer (unless it has a knife storage thing to protect the edges) or on a ceramic dish, or leave them unatended on a counter. They're in my hand, on a cutting board, or in their block. Knife edges are the most fragile thing in the kitchen and need to be treated as such.

[paulraphael]

Never. Nor would I put them in a drawer (unless it has a knife storage thing to protect the edges) or on a ceramic dish, or leave them unatended on a counter. They're in my hand, on a cutting board, or in their block. Knife edges are the most fragile thing in the kitchen and need to be treated as such.

[Darienne]

Never. Nor would I put them in a drawer (unless it has a knife storage thing to protect the edges) or on a ceramic dish, or leave them unatended on a counter. They're in my hand, on a cutting board, or in their block. Knife edges are the most fragile thing in the kitchen and need to be treated as such.

What is a 'knife storage thing'? We have plastic knife guards for traveling, but I am interested in what you are talking about.

[Darienne]

I do not and won't allow anyone else either. Not out of fear of getting cut (I clean as I go), but I don't want them dulled or chipped.

I am very interested in that line...'won't allow anyone else either'. You have folks who listen to you and obey? Are you an army general? It's hard to believe that you are a wifely type. I am a wife and a much loved one too, but as for my DH following what I 'allow'...? I don't think so. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if he didn't put the knives in the sink and after lo these many decades.

All best to you. A tip of my hat to you.

[David A. Goldfarb]

What is a 'knife storage thing'? We have plastic knife guards for traveling, but I am interested in what you are talking about.

I think Paul means things like these wooden blocks with slots that fit in a drawer to protect blades as they would be in a knife block on the counter--

http://www.swissknifeshop.com/J_K_Adams_13_Slot_In_Drawer_Knife_Tray_p/jkid616.htm

[Darienne]

Looked them up online and found them at the nearest Kitchen store. Will look at them next Friday when we are off to Toronto. Thanks.

[sjemac]

I don't but my wife does and I have the scars to prove it. We have a couple of mag strips we put the knives on right beside the sink but she still won't put them there. She lets them hide under a film of soapy water waiting for prey.

The upside is that I don't do the dishes often. Volunteering to be the cook keeps my blood supply consistent.

[Katie Meadow]

Luckily only one knife mishap was bad enough to land him in the emergency room (at midnight, though, which wasn't much fun.) I consider it a minor miracle that our daughter is still in one piece, considering some of the dangers to which she was exposed while her dad was in charge. On the plus side, she is a talented rock climber and not afraid to try new things. Meanwhile, I've learned to be extra careful in the kitchen, given some of the strange places that knife blades have been known to turn up.

[Porthos]

NO sharp knives in the sink. My dear wife feels the same way as do my adult daughters.

I do, however, put my good knives in the dishwasher. The cutlery basket is in the door of the machine and only ONE knife goes into a section. I do not have trouble with keeping a good edge doing it this way. I only hand wash when in the middle of a lot of prep to avoid cross contamination. I do my own sharpening with an EdgePro Acme.

[Doodad]

I do not and won't allow anyone else either. Not out of fear of getting cut (I clean as I go), but I don't want them dulled or chipped.

I am very interested in that line...'won't allow anyone else either'. You have folks who listen to you and obey? Are you an army general? It's hard to believe that you are a wifely type. I am a wife and a much loved one too, but as for my DH following what I 'allow'...? I don't think so. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if he didn't put the knives in the sink and after lo these many decades.

All best to you. A tip of my hat to you.

I am the husbandly type and a cheap one at that. So that is part of the interest in keeping what is mine in good shape. Goodness knows the girls are pretty hard on things and do not take the best care in the world.

I had to bark at my sis in law one time after she wanted to use my knife and did so without asking. I cringed as I watched her cut and intervened at several points to prevent having to suture or worse on a holiday. And then, after all that she dropped it dirty into the sink. That was it. I retrieved it and my wife scolded the SIL. She does not get to use my knife anymore. I give her one of the generics out of the block to play with.

General? No. Benevalent dictator is more like it.

[Darienne]

Dear DooDad,

Please come and live at my house for a while and 'disallow' my DH from putting knives in the sink. Thank you, Darienne

[Doodad]

Dear Darienne,

I have looked at the weather in your area.

No.

Sincerely,

Doodad

[Moopheus]

Neither the my knives or my cutting board gets left in the sink. Whisks and strainers also get cleaned up more or less right away. I always wash them and put them away after use. Since I usually do the cooking, my wife ends up doing the washing up. I'd say I'd never put a good knife in the dishwasher, but our new house is the first place we've lived in in many years that actually has a dishwasher, but in four months we haven't actually used it yet. I think we'd run out of dishes before we filled it up.

[paulraphael]

There are a lot of reasons to keep cutlery out of the dishwasher.

In truth, a knife like one of the big German brands, with it's very stainless stainless steel and plastic handles, put in one of those knife protectors, will probably be ok.

But knives made out of better steel tend to have much less chromium in the alloy, and tend to be much less corrosion resistant. The highly alkaline detergents used in a dishwasher are corrosive to those steels, and will ruin your edges quickly. The possibility of detergent water seeping between the blade and the handle is also bad news. And of course, if a knife has a wood handle, you're just committing vandalism by putting it in there.

[OliverB]

I do put them in the sink to get them out of the kid's reach, but my sink is never filled with soapy water (or anything else if I put the knife in there). Just about anything goes in the dishwasher and the knives and some other things get washed under running water. My knives, meaning "my" knives, are used and washed only by me (check the price on Shun Ken Onion knives and you'll understand) and it's a rare day where somebody else cuts more than bread in the kitchen anyways. Soon to change, as my 6 year old is getting his first cook book (Silver Spoon for Children) and his first knife, an unexpensive sandoku with a plastic sheath, in 10 days. He's been interested in cooking and helping and we have lots of band aids, so I figured it's time.

All knives, from a cheap pairing knife over Chinese cleaver and butcher knives to my Shun are now on magnet strips ($16 or so at Target) on the wall, well out of reach of my 2 year old girl and the 6 year old knows better than to touch them, all are extremely sharp.

But if I should ever have to wash everything in the sink, no knife would ever be in there, they'd get washed by hand first and put back on the magnet. But even our table knives are pretty sharp, I don't have scars left, but depleted our band aid supply at times, so I'd have to wash those first too, before filling the sink.

As I'd rather throw out the TV than not have a dish washer (preferably one that plugs into the wall instead of a live one) chances are slim that injury will ever occur.

I guess I rather burn myself on the not quite fully opened oven door than get cuts on knives hiding in soapy water

Edited December 14, 2009 by OliverB (log)