CUTTING BOARD:
Cutting boards come in many shapes, sizes and materials. I’m not going to get too fancy on you. You don’t need a butcher block. They’re cool, but you don’t NEED one. All you need is a couple of good wood (not bamboo) cutting boards. They should fit comfortably onto your counter and be storable. At least one should have a runnel (a deep groove) near the perimeter of your board.
Bamboo: is okay and cheap, but because they are made of many, small pieces of bamboo that are grafted together they tend to eventually split and don’t last as long.
Plastic: is fine if you want dishwasher safe. It functions much like wood, but tends to wear out faster or warp.
Wood: tends to discolor less, has natural anti-microbial properties that prevent bacteria and wood tends to be the easiest on knife edges. The down side is these are NOT dishwasher safe. This is my preference.
Speaking of knife edges: Slate, quarts, glass and other hard boards are NOT cutting boards, they’re presentation boards. Do not subject your poor knife’s edge to these unless you hate sharp knives. If your knife cannot leave a mark in the material DO NOT USE IT.
https://www.amazon.com/Large-Acacia-Cutting-Board-Kitchen/dp/B0869BYQ7Q
STORAGE:
Knife Blocks, drawers, magnet strips? What’s the best way to store your knives?!? Each have their pros and cons, so lets get into these.
Magnet Strips: Also fine, but ONLY if they’re coated. Don’t use bare metal magnet strips. You can but there’s a technique to it and a careless slip up can mean blunting, rolling or chipping your blade. Use ones with a plastic or wooden cover.
https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-HOSHANHO-Kitchen-Utensil…
Knife Blocks: My preferred method of storage. There are aftermarket blocks that’ll serve you fine and I tend to prefer the magnet core wood ones. The ones with all the plastic strands are okay too, but they tend to get shredded and ugly with repeated use making me question their longevity.
https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Knife-Block…/dp/B0B4PKD347
Drawers: Are fine, but ONLY if you have a system for keeping them from rolling around. Use folded towels or some kind of tray system. If they’re rolling around, they’re ramming their edges into things they shouldn’t. Like each other.
HONING STEEL:
A honing rod is not a sharpening rod! A honing rod is for making sure your sharp knife’s edge is straight. A sharp knife comes to a REALLY thin edge and that edge can warp and practically fold. If that edge isn’t in alignment with itself it can seem dull as the edge pulls your knife in different directions at once. A honing steel is just for getting that all in one uniform line. There’s lots of videos on youtube on how to use one properly and it’s worth learning. Just look how cheap a steel is and realize that it’ll probably delay your need to sharpen your blades by about 20%.
https://www.amazon.com/HENCKELS-Sharpening…/dp/B00004RFNK
ON THE TOPIC OF EDGES
Speaking of Sharpening, lets talk about that for a minute. How often should you sharpen your blades? How should you do that? Do I even have the time?!?! Good questions all. First, you should sharpen your blades. If you use them a few times a week, probably every 6 months is fine. If you use them daily or…gods forbid…run them through the dishwasher (just because the materials are safe doesn’t mean your edge will like it) every 2-3 months.
There’s several methods out there and they all have their pros and cons. Sharpening is the act of removing material from the edge of your blade to renew the edge. This means your balance is time it takes, cost investment, skill needed and how aggressively you’re removing material. This is important because the more material per sharpening you remove, the faster you wear out and will need to replace your knives.
Electric Sharpeners: Are fine, but they’re aggressive. They’ll wear down your knives noticeably quickly. If you have no other option and are okay with replacing your knives every few years, these are great.
Ceramic Sharpeners: These are not true sharpeners but a maintenance item. They’re good for removing burrs and aligning an edge like a honing steel. If you’re already steeling your knives with every use, this is probably redundant. If you don’t feel confident with a honing steel for whatever reason, this is a fine alternative, but is not a sharpening system.
Professional sharpening: Taking your knives into a pro is a GREAT plan….assuming you have one near you. They’re usually pretty cheap, do great work and tend to do other maintenance for you at the same time, like buffing your sides and oiling your handle. The added benefit that you can have this done while you’re at work or running errands is a great time saver! But be wary, ask how they sharpen them. If they’re using a grind wheel or a “Sharpening System” maybe don’t. Those will run into similar problems as the grind wheels. A good pro will either stone them or use a fine grit belt sander to sharpen for you.
Stones: Whetstones! Oil or Water, stones are a great way of going. I personally prefer oiled stones, but many like water. There’s about eight million tutorials on Youtube regarding the pros/cons, use and maintenance, so I’ll not get into those here. They require some practice and maybe you want to grab a cheap knife at Good Will or something to practice with until you’re confident, but these will give you a good edge with the least aggressive remove of material, cheap price of entry and will last you forever. If you never have the time to set down with your knives for a couple of hours, maybe not your jam, but there’s nothing cheaper or better for getting to know and maintaining your knives.
Swing Arm Sharpeners: Do you like the IDEA of whetstones but want to remove the skill in exchange for about 50 dollars? Swings are great. These are little machines that hold your knife into place and then have an arm that you lock at an angle and sweep them across your blade. The precision means fewer strokes are needed, the angle is consistent, and your edge is mechanically reproducible every time. You’ll be replacing your grinding stones every so often, but if saving time and skipping the practice is your goal, this is a great way to do that.