Cooking Games and Knife Safety

Many times cooking games take you into dangerous territory. The most prominent being the knife drawer. Knives are very much an essential part of cooking games, but they can also be one of the most dangerous aspects of the games. Learning to use knives safely is very much a part of learning to cook.

Use a Sharp Knife for Cooking Games

It seems counterintuitive, but the sharper your knife, the less likely it is to slip when you are trying to cut something. A dull knife can slip and slide on the object you are cutting making it dangerous to use. Be sure your knives are sharp. This will help you make clean cuts when you are playing cooking games.

Keep Knives in One Place

Walking around with a knife is glutton for punishment. Do not move the knife from one area of the kitchen to another. Instead, bring the food you are preparing into the central area where you are working. This will prevent any number of accidents that can happen with an exposed knife on the move. If you absolutely must move with a knife, hold it straight up or straight down while you move. If it is pointing in or out, you run the risk of tripping or bumping into someone and stabbing them or you.

Always Cut Away From You

When cutting with the knives, always move the blade away from you. Hold the item firmly, preferably with your fingers very far out of the pathway of the knife and move the knife out away from your body. This way, if the knife jumps or slips, it is not coming toward you. By this same token, hold the item you are cutting closer to your body – behind the area you’re cutting. That way you’re not cutting toward your fingers either.

Use a Clean Knife for Cooking Games

Every time you cut something new, be sure you wash – not just rinse – the knife or pick up a clean one. Any number of germs and potential diseases move between food sources on knives. For example, if you cut raw chicken and then move on to cutting bread, you are smearing raw chicken germs on each bread slice and risking disease to everyone who enjoys the bread. Use a separate knife and you’ll be keeping germs in their place. By the same token, use a separate cutting board for each of these items as well.

Be Wary of Washing Knives

When you do go to clean up from your cooking games, be careful about how you treat your knives. Put the knife in the sink with the blade facing down or out away from the edge where people stand. This will protect others from accidental injuries as they reach down into the sink. By the same token, put knives into the dishwasher with the blade pointing down or laying flat on the upper rack. Having the blade pointing up is very dangerous to the person reaching in to grab the clean dishes once the cleaning cycle is complete.