Although I'm not completely sure about this, but I believe that the knife was the first cooking tool ever created by man. Ages ago, knives were used by man to gather and hunt for food, and when he learned how to make fire, the knife was a major tool in food preparation as well. Today, the knife remains as one of the most important tools you could have. The ubiquitous knife is used everywhere, from homes to restaurants to cruise ships.

But although we can all agree about the importance of this versatile tool, it's sad to see that very few people know how to properly handle and care for a knife. A friend once jokingly explained that perhaps it's because knives don't have instruction manuals.

One of the things that really annoy me is watching people use knives incorrectly. But then, no one showed us how to use knives properly whe we were little. All we knew at that time was that knives were dangerous and better kept away from us kids. There may be no instruction manuals for knives, but I believe that people who use them regularly should at least take the effort to learn how to handle them correctly.

You have to learn how to correctly hold a knife. There are three basic ways to hold a knife, but it depends on the kind of knife and what is it going to be used for. For cutting against a board, the knife should be held with the thumb and forefinger gripping the blade. Grip the handle with your other three fingers. When cutting hanging meat, hold the knife in a dagger-like fashion to get the right amount of leverage. When using a small knife to turn or peel, one or two fingers should grip the blade, with the othersthe rest around the handle.

Learn also how to care for your knives. Use a wooden board for chopping and cutting. Plastic boards are not as gentle on the edge of the knife as wooden boards. Get a board with the end-grain as a cutting surface, rather than side grain. The end-grain is the least abrasive surface to cut against, so your knife's edge will last a longer time.

Always store a knife in a way that protects the blade, such as a plastic sleeve or a paperboard. Clean a knife after using it, then dry and store. Do not wash knives in a dishwasher, or just throw it in the wash basin. Remember that you have to protect the edge from other hard objects. It's more dangerous to use a dull knife than a sharp one, so always keep your knives as sharp as possible. To truly sharpen it, an abrasive surface that is harder than the knife must be used, such as a diamond honer. Of course, you can always use a whetstone, but it takes a lot of experience to be able to sharpen a knife to razor-like sharpness with it.

Azlan Irda is the co-founder of AfterKnife.com, which provides high-quality knives and supplies. Visit our website to get all the case knives and supplies you need.

Azlan Irda is the co-founder of AfterKnife.com, which provides high-quality knives and supplies. Visit our website to get all the case knives and supplies you need.