Kitchen safety involves taking specific measures to avoid the occurrence of accidents in the kitchen. It is a preventive measure that is necessary for every kitchen. Ensuring that the kitchen is safe helps contribute to the quality of the meal produced in the kitchen.
One measure of kitchen safety is that harmful kitchen tools are kept in a safe place to avoid accidents. One of these kitchen tools that can inflict these kinds of accidents is the kitchen knife. A kitchen knife is a cutting tool used in the kitchen that can inflict these kinds of injuries.
This article highlights what the causes of the kitchen accidents associated with the knife tool and how to avoid them are
Causes Of Knife Cuts and Accidents In The Kitchen.
There are various causes of knife cuts or accidents, and they are:
- Lack of Skill: There are various designs and sizes of knives that require the chef or cook have the sufficient skills needed to use the knife. These designs range from single-beveled to double-beveled knives. The professional cutlery direct mandates that a chef knows how to use his knives properly; this can include: how the knife is held, the motion of the knife when cutting, and how the cutting hand is positioned.
- Poor Knife Storage: Another cause for knife accidents and cuts in the kitchen is that the knife is not stored properly. A knife should be stored using knife racks and drawers because these storages conceal the knife’s blade from cuts or rust due to oxidation.
- When washing a knife: Carelessly placing a knife when washing can also lead to the chef sustaining cuts or injuries.
- Using the wrong equipment with a kitchen knife
How To Avoid Knife Cuts And Accidents In The Kitchen
There are various safety precautions that are taken to ensure the kitchen is safe to avoid knife cuts and accidents. They are:
- Properly Storing the Knives: One of the rules of kitchen safety mandates that knives be stored in a way that the blade is secured either by using a bar magnet or an enclosure. When the chef wishes to retrieve the knife from the rack or enclosure, he will access the knife through its handle.
- Using the Knife with the right equipment: Certain equipment should be used alongside a kitchen knife. These equipment are designed to give the chef stability and balance when cutting. This equipment includes a chopping board, table, and file.
- Having the required skill: Not every kitchen knife is simple to use. Hence, the chef should have the right skill needed to handle that knife when cutting. Some of the skillset a chef should have include knowing how to position the cutting hand when cutting, the knife’s motion when cutting, and the hand the knife is meant for, like is it a right-hand or left-hand knife.
Conclusion
In general, kitchen safety requires adhering to the safety rules required by every good kitchen, and these rules help prevent kitchen accidents or cuts that occur with cutting tools like kitchen knives.