The One Place In Your Kitchen You Should Never Store Knives

If you've been storing your kitchen knives in a drawer, you might want to reconsider. Not only can this storage method lead to accidental injuries while you're rummaging around looking for a cooking utensil, but it can also damage your sharpened tools.

For instance, while in a drawer, knives will likely come into contact with other metal objects, and such contact (especially while you're rummaging through) can dull or even chip the blades. You would then need to sharpen your knives or replace them entirely, as dull ones present additional dangers.

To be fair, you may not have a better place to store your knives, so if they must be in a drawer, it's best to be strategic with how you organize them. Invest in a knife-holder that will keep each one sheathed and organized, or devote an entire drawer just to knives, laying them out on a towel. This keeps them from coming into contact with one another, and the towel can also help absorb moisture that could otherwise lead to rust formation.

Storing your knives in a knife block is certainly preferable to having them hang around loose in a drawer, as the block keeps them organized and in a designated space. However, these organizers can also damage knife blades and provide a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria and dust.

As you can imagine, knife block slots can easily become contaminated over time with dust, mold, and even old bits of food. Each time you place a knife back in the block (especially if it's still damp from being washed), it comes into contact with all that grime — then imagine using that same knife for your food. Yuck. Worse, the moisture from a clean knife just further encourages bacterial growth.

Health concerns aside, blocks can also dull blades as you take them in and out. That constant rubbing can wear blades down over time, so if you somehow own enough knives to justify a block, just use one with larger slots to minimize rubbing.

Magnetic knife bars are another step up from storing knives in a drawer or block, and they keep your utensils organized, accessible, and out in the open where they can properly dry after being washed.

However, this method also comes with its own downfalls, with the most obvious problem being that the knives may be in reach of small children. What's more, because the sharp tools are out in the open, they're also exposed to potential cooking oil splatters. As such, you would want to keep a magnetic knife bar in a spot both out of children's reach and outside the splatter zone.

Another issue with magnetic bars is the magnet itself. You want the magnet to be strong enough to safely hold knives, but strong magnets may also dull or warp knife blades over time. That being said, you can minimize damage by rolling the blade away from the magnet as you remove it for use.