Knives
A sharp knife is the safe one, because a dull blade slips off an onion and into a finger. Honing and sharpening are different jobs. A honing steel straightens an edge that has bent over with use, and a few light strokes per side at about 20 degrees, every few uses, keeps a knife cutting well. Sharpening grinds a new edge and is needed once or twice a year. A sharpening service charges a few dollars per knife.
Wash knives by hand and dry them immediately. The dishwasher dulls edges and loosens handles, and a knife left in the sink is a hazard. Store them in a block, on a magnetic strip or in blade guards, never loose in a drawer. Cut on wood or plastic only, since glass, stone and ceramic boards ruin an edge in days.
Cast iron
The black surface on a cast iron skillet is seasoning, which is oil baked into a hard, slick layer.
- Clean the pan while it is still warm with hot water and a stiff brush. A little dish soap does no harm.
- Loosen stuck food by scrubbing it with coarse salt.
- Dry the pan at once, and set it over a low burner for a minute to drive off the last moisture.
- Rub in a few drops of oil with a paper towel until the surface looks dry instead of greasy.
Never soak cast iron or put it in the dishwasher. If it rusts, scrub the rust away with steel wool, coat the pan very thinly with oil, wipe off nearly all of it, and bake it upside down at 450 degrees for an hour.
Nonstick
Nonstick coatings die of high heat and scratches. Cook over medium heat or lower, never heat the pan empty, and use wood or silicone utensils. Skip aerosol cooking spray, which leaves a gummy film. Wash the pan by hand with a soft sponge. Replace one whose coating is scratched through or flaking, which with daily use means every few years.
Stainless steel
Food sticks to stainless mostly because the pan was cold. Heat the pan first, add the oil, and let the food release by itself before you turn it. For burnt-on residue, simmer water in the pan and scrape with a wooden spoon, then scrub with a paste of baking soda.
Tip Let any hot pan cool for a few minutes before it meets water. Cold water on hot metal warps the bottom, and a warped pan never sits flat on a burner again.
