Food safety requires kitchen cleanliness, and that means ensuring you keep your knives clean and sterile. If you are preparing meals in your home or at a commercial kitchen, a contaminated knife is responsible for cross-contamination and food poisoning. Depending on when and how you clean and disinfect your knives will protect you and others from germs and will keep food preparation safe and healthy.

In this post, we’ll discuss what are the most common occasions where you’ll want to wash and sanitize your knife, how to do so properly, and why separate cutting boards for food of various types are necessary. By following these tips, your kitchen will remain a safe space to cook food.

Instructions For Sharpening Knives: Basic Tips  

Knives should be scrubbed at the end and before each use so that there is no left-over substance in the knife that could potentially harm your food. Even a knife that looks clean can be covered in invisible bacteria from use or storage. Pre-cleaning will ensure that no chemicals on your knife find their way into your food you’re cooking, while cleaning after use will prevent bacteria from accumulating on the blade after you touch food.

Knives should be cleaned after every use, as food particles can cling to them making it difficult to remove. If you leave a knife with food residue on it, it becomes fertile territory for bacteria. Most of the time, your knives are cleaned and dried right after using them to keep them sharp and durable.

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When to disinfect your knife:

• Before you start using it for the first time.
• After cutting raw meat, poultry, or fish.
• After peeling the fruit or vegetable.
• With transitions between different types of foods.
• And put it back in the box.

Read more: Must-Know Secrets About Cleaning Prices & Hourly Rates in Calgary 2024

When Changing Food Types Between Meals.

This is the time of year when you really should wash and sanitize your knife, if ever you are alternating food. You shouldn’t, for instance, slice raw meat with the same knife that you do vegetables immediately after. Raw meat (especially poultry and fish) is full of harmful bacteria such as Salmonella or E coli that spreads to other foods and will result in food poisoning.

In the same way, cheese and baked foods should be separated from raw meats. Be sure to disinfect and wash your knife after each type of food so that you do not cross-contaminate. This is especially critical when you are cooking meals with raw and frozen food, because the bacteria that can be found in raw foods can easily cross into foods that don’t need to be cooked.

Situations involving knife cleaning:

• Cut raw meat, and then proceed with vegetables.
• When transitioning from raw to cooked foods.
• Dairy before cutting after meat Before cutting dairy products.
• After cutting fish, Before cutting prepared foods.
• Between making allergen-free foods at different time of day.
• Straight from the Grit. After Chop Raw Meat, Poultry, or Fish.

Knives that contact raw meat, poultry, or fish must be sanitized immediately after usage. These foods can have very dangerous bacteria that may transfer to other foods. Even if you are preparing the rest of the meal, cooked meat might leave residue on the work surface or cutlery that will be used to prepare other items.

For instance, you can contaminate food if you chop raw chicken and cleanly cut vegetables with the same knife. The bacteria in the raw chicken might pass on to vegetables not heated up sufficiently to destroy those bacteria. And by washing your knife after cutting raw meat, you will reduce the likelihood of germs infecting your kitchen.

How to wash knives after chopping raw meat:

• To eliminate the Salmonella and E coli from getting out.
• So that we aren’t infecting any other foods.
• Raw meat juices can contain harmful bacteria.
• Small pieces of meat leftovers have the power to infect us.
• Makes foods not to be cooked any further safe from contamination.

Read more: Allergy Cleaning: 10 Essential Tips to a Healthier Home

Using Different Cutting Boards

When you clean your knife, you must use separate cutting boards for different foods. That is an everyday kitchen practice that helps prevent cross-contamination. You don’t need one cutting board for meat, one for vegetables, and one for bread or milk — the raw food bacteria will not spread into other foods.

Color-coded cutting boards are typically used in commercial kitchens for separation. This approach is just as adaptable at home, where it's best to make sure you have at least three cutting boards: one raw meat one fruit and vegetable one bread or ready-made item. This labeling and separating of food on other surfaces are just as essential as scrubbing and disinfecting your knives.

What kind of cutting boards to buy:

• Separate cutting board for raw meats and birds.
• One cutlery board for fresh foods and veggies.
• Specially designed cutting board for bread or cakes.
• Plank to serve raw fish or seafood.
• Color-coded cutting boards to make them easier to identify.

How to Clean and Sanitize a Knife Correctly?

‘It’s not simply a matter of rinsing your knife with water. Clean and disinfect your knife first with warm, soapy water and a clean sponge or cloth. This gets the food and the grease out of the blade. Don’t use sharp materials that may dull the edge or grate the knife.

Clean your knife, sanitize your knife, particularly after cutting raw meat or other foods that can be toxic. This step should typically be completed using a mild bleach solution or a food-safe sanitizer that is commercially available. You should clean the knife very well once you’ve cleaned it, and dry it completely before you put it away to avoid it getting rusty and never having to replace it.

Cleaning and disinfecting a knife:

• Use warm, soapy water and a non-brasive sponge to clean with.
• Clean the blade and handle off well.
• Rinse the knife under warm running water.
• Spot clean with bleach solution or food poisoning sanitizer.
• The knife should be completely dry when stored.

Good to know: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) created this document as guidance to help food businesses comply with the requirements set out in the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.

Signs That a Knife Needs to Be Cleaned

Even if you believe your knife is perfectly pristine, these are a few signs you should pay attention to to make sure it is fully cleaned. There’s food left behind on the blade, even tiny bits of it, that might be harbouring bacteria that could harm your food. It’s a good idea to double check your knife after slicing things that are very likely to stick to it, such as cheese or raw chicken.

Bad smells are also evidence of your knife’s need for cleaning. Occasionally, even with a quick rinse, foods are stuck in tiny pockets or cracks on the edge or handle. If your knife smells strange or smells different from the normal, that's usually an indicator that it needs more attention to cleaning and disinfecting.

Criteria for a dirty knife:

• Dissipating food or stains on the blade.
• Remains of an odor after rinsing the knife.
• Reaction — Rusty or oily residue on the grip or knife.
• Blowing of blood from acidic fruits such as tomatoes or lemons.
• Food crumbs trapped in gaps.

Frequency of Cleaning in Professional Settings

Knives must be cleaned and sterilised more often in the professional kitchen than at home. It’s because professional cooks are utilizing knives to chop multiple foods at the same time, risking cross-contamination. There are food safety rules that require knives to be washed every time, especially if you’re moving between foods or working with high-risk food, such as uncooked meat or poultry.

Kitchens at a business tend to be regulated in terms of knife washing and sanitizing, and are clean using safe food sanitizing products to maintain hygiene standards. Knife clean stations are standard at restaurants, allowing chefs to clean knives between courses without interrupting the chef.

Frequency of knife washing in professional kitchens:

• After cutting raw meat, poultry or fish.
• In between working with different types of food.
• At the end of each meal prep.
• After years of frequent usage in mass food processing.
• During daily kitchen cleaning and maintaining.

Consequences of Not Cleaning Knives

There are serious consequences for failing to wash and disinfect your knives. Diseases such as Salmonella, E coli, and Listeria are easily spread via infected kitchen implements and cause illness to anyone eating it. The signs of these diseases can range from mild stomach pains to major infections, particularly among the elderly and children.

At work, when knife sanitization isn’t adhered to, it can be illegal and also negatively impact a company’s reputation. When the restaurant becomes liable for a foodborne illness outbreak because of poor hygiene, it can be fined, sued, and closed. Even at home, a contaminated knife can cause devastating harm to the people consuming it.

Repercussions of not cleaning knives:

• Accumulation of food-borne diseases such as Salmonella or E. coli.
• Food contamination of other food sources.
• Exposure to infection, particularly in the case of weaker people.
• Lawsuits in the kitchen professional.
• Restaurants lose confidence in food safety.

Conclusion

Kitchen and commercial kitchen food safety is paramount through the cleanliness of knives. You can avoid tainting your knives by scrubbing them clean between use, maintaining separate boards for each kind of food, and sanitation practices that will make your kitchen a clean place for food preparation.

Keep in mind, clean your knife whenever switching from food types, after you have sliced raw meat and for long-term use. Notice when your knife isn’t clean and do your best to sanitize. You’ll also be making sure that everyone eating your food stays safe and healthy.

Final cleaning tips:

• Wipe knives dry before and after use.
• Dispose of separate cutting boards for meat, vegetables and bread.
• Always disinfect the knives after you chopping raw meat or fish.
• Pat knives dry, and store.
• Food Safety in commercial kitchens — Respect food safety standards.