What should I avoid cutting with my knives? Knives should never be used for prying things open, or cutting through bone (unless you are using a cleaver). Knives are made with a specific purpose in mind....
Knives are made with a specific purpose in mind. Kitchen knives are intended to be used as tools to prepare food and do have limitations on what they can do. Trish Gray is the marketing manager for Kyocera Advanced Ceramics. She travels the country doing promotional work and public relations while handling the marketing and packaging as well. Gray states, "We sometimes see people trying to chop through something that is not designed for cutting, like chopping pork ribs. If you are doing pork ribs or something like that with a stainless steel knife remember: it is a knife, it's not a cleaver." Misuse of knives is often how the knives become damaged or people become injured. Knives can cause serious injuries that may require medical attention and possibly stitches.
Gray adds, "People will just use them to pry things open from the tip. You will break the tip off on a high carbon steel knife or ceramic knife as well. We can't reshape them once we get a broken tip. You will notice micro abrasions or micro nicks on the actual blade of the knife and that's the normal process by which any hard material like zirconium oxide will wear. It doesn't mean the knife is necessarily dull either. It will actually stay sharp quite a while. When it is no longer performing to your liking, you could send it in and we will make that edge true again and you will get back this lovely blade and be back to chopping and dicing."
Kitchen knives are not meant to open cardboard cartons, to cut duct tape, to trim plants, to cut wire, to wrap gifts, or to do other household cutting jobs. Abusing and misusing kitchen knives is a good way to damage or break them and may also result in an accidental cut or injury to the user. You will want to use items like box cutters, scissors, wire snippers, pruning shears, hedge trimmers, nail clippers, or other household tools for items other than foods that you need to cut around the house. Safety should be a primary concern to anyone using a knife. Proper handling and use will minimize the risk of a major or minor injury. Knife cuts can be quite painful and cause severe bleeding if you do not use extreme caution around knives.
Most knives are not intended for use on wood, plastics, metal, paper, carpets, wallpaper, or other extremely hard materials. They are also not intended to open mail, paint cans, jar lids, windows, doors, or other items that are hard to get open. Never use a knife as a prying device either. See the owner's manual or instructions that come with the knife for specific uses and restrictions that should be followed. Only certain knives will be able to cut through things like meat bones or tough foods. A thin blade may break off if it is used to cut a food with a thick rind or a thick piece of tough meat. Try not to exert extreme pressure when cutting with a knife or you hand may slip across the blade and be slashed open. Always choose the proper knife for your cutting task.
