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I'm not completely sure, but I personally think that the knife was the first cooking tool ever created by man. Several millennia ago, man used knives to hunt and gather their food, and later on used to prepare food when fire was discovered. Several centuries later, the knife is still one of the most common and most used tools everywhere you can find a kitchen. The ubiquitous knife is used everywhere, from homes to restaurants to cruise ships.

However, even if we know that the knife is a very important piece of equipment, the fact remains that still very few people know how to properly handle and care for a knife. A friend once jokingly told me that perhaps it's because knives don't have manuals when we buy them.

One of my pet peeves is watching people handle 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. Knives may not come with instruction manuals indeed, but that's no reason why people shouldn't learn to use them properly.

First, learn how to hold the knife properly. There are three basic ways to hold a knife, depending on the knife and what is being cut. For cutting against a board, the knife should usually be held with the thumb and forefinger gripping the blade. The handle should be held with the other fingers. When you want to cut hanging meat, for example, the knife should be held like a dagger for proper leverage. And when turning or peeling with a small knife, it should be held with one or two fingers gripping 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 require more cleaning, and they are not quite as gentle on the edge of a knife as wooden boards. Get a board with the end-grain as a cutting surface, rather than side grain. Why? The end-grain is the least abrasive surface to cut against, and side-grains will chip off eventually.

Always store a knife in a way that protects the blade, such as a plastic sleeve or a paperboard. Clean the knife first after use, then dry before storing it away. Never wash knives in a dishwasher, no matter how convenient it may seem. Remember that you have to protect the edge from other hard objects. To properly sharpen a knife, the best way is to use a knife sharpener with an abrasive, diamond surface. 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 custom knives and supplies you need.