Knife Care

A carbon steel knife should be hand washed and dried immediately after use. I recommend that you also apply food safe oil or wax onto the knife steel and handle once per week in order to prevent rusting. Carbon steel will develop a patina over time, which then will act as a natural rust barrier.

Read more about what a patina is in “Patina Explained” section below.

No, the heat and the chemicals used in a dishwasher are too harsh for the knife.

You should HONE your knife with a honing steel before each use, honing your knife is not the same as sharpening. Honing keeps the edge straight and aligned at a microscopic level. Sharpening is removing material and creating a new edge. So only sharpen your knife when it’s still dull even after honing. Every knife that I sell I will sharpen for free as long as the customer pays for the postage required.

In my 13 plus years in the restaurant industry as a cook and later a head chef, I find that carbon steel is a bit easier to sharpen. Though if you use your knife as for something it was intended for, carbon steel and stainless steel will bend and break. So do not use your knife as a pry bar or screw driver.

A full tang is potentially stronger than a hidden tang, but when it come to kitchen knives that are not meant for hacking at trees, the tang style does not affect the performance of the knife.

 What is patina on a knife?

Patina on steel or other metals is something we get a lot of questions about. There are, for instance, people who wonder that those strange stains are doing on the blade of their expensive chef’s knife. Or a grey hint on a carbon steel outdoor knife. Often, they immediately think of rust. For that reason, we would love to explain what patina is, but also what the advantages and focus areas are.

What is patina?

Patina is a broad concept that, we believe, can best be described as a product that has ‘aged’. Traces of use as it were. A natural, superficial discoloration of a metal that lies on the surface as a type of layer.

How does patina emerge?

Because of external influences patina can emerge in different ways. You could, for instance, expose two exactly similar knives to different circumstances and you will notice different discolorations on both. Well-known catalysts of patina are: salt, acids and moisture. The influences of salt and moisture are almost unavoidable. As soon as you touch a carbon steel blade with your finger the sweat on your fingers can already start to affect the blade.

What is the function of patina?

In the long run you will notice that with a normally formed patina layer the blade will become rustproof.  Have you learned in the beginning that your carbon steel kitchen knives stain and discolor when you wash them directly after use? You will notice that after some time the blade will start to hold on to its present discoloration. As such the patina will work as a type of ‘seal’ on the steel.

What is the difference between patina and rust?

When you learn that patina forms on knives that are not very corrosion resistant you might start to think that it is simply rust. It is, however, not that simple. After all, patina is a thin layer that forms on the blade and is ‘finished’ after some time. Rust, however, continues to spread and will affect the knife in the end. So basically, patina is good and rust is bad.