Knife Storage

[forever_young_ca]

I seem to have developed a knife fettish and as a result my knives now outnumber the slots in my current knife block.

I would be interested in learning from others how they store their knives - blocks, magnetic bar, throw then in the drawer, etc. I have always used a knife block, as my kitchen does not easily accomodate a magnetic bar. I have looked at the Wustoff 25 slot maple block from www.cutleryandmore. Any comments would be appreciated. Any other inventive solutions would also be welcome.

I have done a search, this topic does not seem to have been discussed before.

[guajolote]

Throw in a drawer

I only have three knives (four if you include my electric knife ).

[EJRothman]

I dislike knife blocks because the repeated contact with the wood can cause wear to the blade. If using a knife block, you can put the knives in the block with the blade facing up to reduce the wear.

I personally like a knife roll, but that is mainly because it fits my needs. I'm a student and my year is divided up between 2-3 different cities and houses. The roll makes transportation easy, and storage convenient.

If I were setlled in a home I would favor the magnetic bar.

Anyway, you may want to try a knife roll, or if you really have a lot of knives, maybe a knife case. MetroKitchen has a large selection.

-Eric

[scamhi]

I keep my knives in a drawer. Neatly placed- not thrown in .

On the bottom of the drawer is a open weave rubber mat to keep them from sliding around in the drawer

[forever_young_ca]

Very inventive Scamhi, and certainly more economical than the bar/block solution. Unfortunately I do not have an available drawer..........ah.......for a new kitchen!

[weinoo]

Sideways Wusthoff block. If I have to transport, knife roll. If in a drawer, put knife guard on first.

[JAZ]

Magnetic bar, 12 inch length. It holds 1 paring, 1 utility, 1 6-inch chef's, 2 8-inch chef's and a bread knife. I've always had more wall space than counter or drawer space, so it's worked well for me. I am at the point where any additional knives will have to find another home, but the only knife I want to get is a santoku, and I figure when I get that, one of the 8-inch chef knives can go into a drawer.

[Fat Guy]

For my most frequently used knives, I use a rack that's mounted on the side of the counter. It's essentially two strips of wood, narrowly spaced, and the knives hang between them. The only contact is between the wood and the bolster. The blades come in contact only with air. The rest of my knives are in individual homespun cardboard sheaths, in a drawer.

[forever_young_ca]

Fat Guy - I am trying to visualize this - are the strips horizonal? Do the knives slide in from one of the ends? What keeps the knives in place?

Thanks

[Fat Guy]

are the strips horizonal?

Yes.

Do the knives slide in from one of the ends?

No, they load from the top.

What keeps the knives in place?

Gravity.

I'll try to find a link to a picture.

[vengroff]

I keep mine in a block with horizontal slits, so the knives rest on their sides instead of their edges. My 12" chef knives are too big for the block, so they go in a drawer in sheaths.

The Fat Guy method seems good, and I have been tempted by this approach in the past. However, I wonder how he keeps Momo and other young visitors from developing an interest in the exposed blades.

[Fat Guy]

The edge of the counter (a table, really -- or more of a cart) to which the knife-storage thing is attached is only 2" away from the wall, so there wouldn't be a problem anyway. But the design is such that there's a flat piece of wood keeping the blades mostly unexposed anyway. If I could just find a stupid photograph.

[maggiethecat]

I keep my knives in a drawer. Neatly placed- not thrown in .

On the bottom of the drawer is a open weave rubber mat to keep them from sliding around in the drawer

Same general idea, with a twist. Instead of the rubber mat, glued a strip of corkboard the width of the drawer. The strip is about three inches wide and 1/4 inch tall. The knives lean against it without slipping.

[vengroff]

If I could just find a stupid photograph.

Is this the basic idea?

[Fat Guy]

Affirmative.

[forever_young_ca]

ah.........now I've got it. I use a free standing chopping block that sits in the middle of my kitchen. I do the majority of my kitchen work on this block. I will have a close look at it to see if it can be modified so that the knives all fit, but don't amputate the user

[Suzanne F]

Most-frequently-used knives ( 10" chef, paring, bread, plus steel) are out in a block, along with the cheap horrible unsafe serrated knives which He Who Only Eats likes to use when making salad. All others are stored in a drawer or in my toolbox, with blade encased in the original cardboard sleeve, or "Knife Guard" or "Edge Guard" EGs are a bit better than KG, as they hold together better on the open long end. For travel, the knives stay in their guards in the knife roll.

I have seen guards by Messermeister (I think) that are blade-shaped, snap together securely, and completely enclose the blade. They will not work with Globals, though.

[torakris]

with lots of small kids in the house I use a very large block set up high and never buy more knives then fit into it.

[Marlene]

I have a knife block for the most frequently used knives. In my recent renovation, I had the cabinet maker build me slots in the bottom of my two tiered drawer, that holds the other ones individually in their sheaths.

[Nick]

Here's a link to a photo of what I use. It's not a great photo, but the only one I could find on the net in a quick search.

It's a Wusthof "in drawer knife tray" that holds 7 knives, three up to 10" and 4 shorter ones. I really only consistently use six knives. 10" Chef's, 8' carver, 6" flexible boning, 2 1/2" trimmer, and two 3 1/2" paring. All Wusthof Classic. And of those, I just use the Chef's and paring knives everyday.

I don't keep it in a drawer. It's at the head of the cutting board and is very handy. Much better than a block to my mind, and easy to clean.

Edited April 1, 2003 by Nickn (log)

[oraklet]

mine are in a block with horizontal slits (from raadvad). it's allright but not perfect. how do the pros feel about knife magnets? potentially harmful to tip and edge?

[jawbone]

I currently have a magnetic rack on the wall. If I had the drawer space I would put the magnetic rack on the bottom of the drawer dedicated just to knives. What I like about magnetic racks is that the blades are visible (unlike most blocks, where you have to ID knives by handle or placement). I, like Oraklet, worry about possible damage to edges -- I am always careful to put knives on the magnet spine first and then slowly roll it so the flat edge makes contact. But still I worry (what if someone uses the rack and doesn't follow this oh so vital procedure?).

[forever_young_ca]

Does a conventional knife block made of wood harm the cutting edge of the knife - even if you slide them in and out as carefully as possible?

[oraklet]

"Does a conventional knife block made of wood harm the cutting edge of the knife - even if you slide them in and out as carefully as possible?"

not if it's got horizontal slits, i think.

and you know, i guess i'll have to admit that i've got a growing knife fetich, too.

[elyse]

I've got what Fat Guy has, but it's two thin strips of wood so the blades dip down. They're maybe 1 &1/2" wide, 14" long. Maybe about eight knives in there and a hole for my steel. It's mounted on the wall above my spices. We've had it forever. Maybe it's a NYC thing.

I really like the idea of putting your blades upside down in blocks though.