Protecting the kitchen cutlery

[mb1]

Kitchen knives seem to get the least attention among knife nuts. No fancy locks or flickable actions I guess. But they are by far my most used knives.

I've just recently added a good end grain maple cutting board to the kitchen to help preserve my edges. But I don't have a good knife storage system.

There's the old standby's I know: knife blocks and magnetic strips on the wall. Curious to see if anyone has come up with a good, edge preserving drawer organizer or other clever storage.

[timlara]

Honestly, I have never seen a better solution than a good quality magnetic bar. It looks cool (in my opinion) and shows off your knives, and the higher end ones with strong rare earth magnets are nice because the magnets are strong enough to pass through the wood surface, so the entire thing is just one slab of wood like a cutting board, so you won't risk dinging your edges. I have this one in particular and am extremely happy with it:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/schmidt-b ... ar/s108280

I'm not a fan of knife blocks for a few reasons, mainly that they are not universal to any size/length knife and can be unsanitary / trap moisture if you don't very carefully make sure your knives are perfectly clean and dry before storing them.

I did use to store my knives in a locking drawer when my son was a toddler just for the sake of safety, but it was way less convenient than a wall mounted magnetic bar.

[mb1]

Honestly, I have never seen a better solution than a good quality magnetic bar. It looks cool (in my opinion) and shows off your knives, and the higher end ones with strong rare earth magnets are nice because the magnets are strong enough to pass through the wood surface, so the entire thing is just one slab of wood like a cutting board, so you won't risk dinging your edges. I have this one in particular and am extremely happy with it:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/schmidt-b ... ar/s108280

I'm not a fan of knife blocks for a few reasons, mainly that they are not universal to any size/length knife and can be unsanitary / trap moisture if you don't very carefully make sure your knives are perfectly clean and dry before storing them.

I did use to store my knives in a locking drawer when my son was a toddler just for the sake of safety, but it was way less convenient than a wall mounted magnetic bar.

Same here on knife blocks...especially true when you start adding individual pieces.

I like that wood block magnet. We looked at those and ended up with a stainless one for some reason. :confused: I don't see them as perfect though because my lovely wife will dig the edge into it when grabbing the knife. There's the main issue for me. Not everyone in the house cares about edges as much as I do!

[euphorbioid]

I think it depends on the type of cutlery you are talking about. If you have carbon steel knives that rust easily then magnetic bars will allow exposure to moisture in the kitchen. I have Japanese carbon steel knives stored in a knife block where each slot is open ended. I am very careful to dry off each knive as it is used. I have no problems with rust. Stainless steel knives are significantly more forgiving.

[timlara]

I don't see them as perfect though because my lovely wife will dig the edge into it when grabbing the knife. There's the main issue for me. Not everyone in the house cares about edges as much as I do!

Very true - also, the magnets in that block are quite powerful, which I like as the knives feel very secure, but my wife is much smaller than me and tends to put the knives back on with a *THWACK* since she's not tall enough/strong enough to ease them onto the block gently like I do, as if I were handling vials of nitroglycerin. :) So she has nicked the edges / dented up the wood a few times, but nothing a little sharpening / fine sandpaper / mineral oil / beeswax can't fix.