For fruits / cooked food or something else: do you use same knife or separate one?

[Dextar]

just wanted to ask, do you use separate knife for fruits, vegetable, cooked food or anything else directly eatable?

if no, e.g. using same outdoor knife to work on wood then clean and then cut cooked meat, how do you clean the knife?

As yesterday one of my mushroom knife got "leftover" (https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/how-to-clean-leftover-on-the-blade.1964353/) not able to be cleaned at this moment, I just wanted to use it to peel fruits and vegetable.
I have used the dishwasher and medical alcohol (75%) to clean it, not sure if it's good to go.

 

[kobold]

It's good to go, IMO.
Otherwise I prefer stainless steels to eat with, but food prep can be anything as long it's reasonably clean of course.

 

[Dextar]

It's good to go, IMO.
Otherwise I prefer stainless steels to eat with, but food prep can be anything as long it's reasonably clean of course.

something I've heard is to use different knives for raw meat and cooked one, to avoid bacteria left on the not full cleaned blade.
but in my everyday, I just don't use the one for opening box / parcel onto cooked food / fruits.

 

[tony281sc2]

something I've heard is to use different knives for raw meat and cooked one, to avoid bacteria left on the not full cleaned blade.
but in my everyday, I just don't use the one for opening box / parcel onto cooked food / fruits.

Yes it can cause salmonella, if you cut raw chicken (any poultry or hamburger, etc) and then use the knife for something else. Anything you shouldn’t or wouldn’t eat raw, you’re gonna want to clean the blade before cutting anything else

 

[Alberta Ed]

Always wash your knives thoroughly after cutting raw meat or chicken before using them on anything else.

 

[ferider]

Nice spread !

Just a note that there are religous reasons for some to use separate knives even for different food types. So a single knife won't do.

Myself, I have a couple of work knives that I keep seperate. All other knives can (and mostly are - except for choppers, etc.) be used in the kitchen.

 

[eveled]

For what it is worth. Commercial kitchens have color coded cutting boards and knives now, not only for food borne illnesses but allergies too

View attachment 2426611

I usually use the same knife. Cutting all the meats and veggies that will be cooked. Then wash it off, before Cutting stuff not getting cooked.

 

[ferider]

For what it is worth. Commercial kitchens have color coded cutting boards and knives now, not only for food borne illnesses but allergies too

I wish all did. The wife has an onion allergy, and has problems when the same knife is used for onions first, and then - without washing - her salad later. Happens quite a bit.

Not a problem in our kitchen, as it's onion free.

 

[eveled]

That must be hard. Food allergies must make modern restaurant kitchens challenging.

I thought it was weird salad was a different color than veggies. An onion is a vegetable and part of a salad so they wouldn’t even know they were doing something wrong.

Plus. They probably just pick the onions off of an already made salad. I have heard enough kitchen stories to want to make my own food.

 

[Knives&Lint]

When hiking I only carry the one fixed blade, which I use mostly for carving the occasional walking stick as well as for food (apple, cheese, salami, etc.). I typically just rinse it off in the creek (or alpine lake) and wipe it on my leg without thinking too much about it. As long as it seems clean it's good enough for me.

I'll cut fruit with whatever folder I have on me most of the time as well, so long as it doesn't have tape residue or something otherwise gross on it. Reasonably clean, as Kobold said above is a good way to put it.

When I'm at a campground, I bring a couple of Moras strictly for food prep, and use a separate knife for processing lighter-knot and other camp tasks. That's just because I'm a knife nut and like having many knives, however, not something I find necessary.

ETA: When I clean residue off a knife from cutting things I often use 99% alcohol, but I've found a little scrub with simple dish soap often works just as well if not better

 

[Daedric Panther]

I’m very guilty of using whatever knife I have in my pocket for food. Example: last night I was at a restaurant and it was absolutely packed. We had a reservation but it was over an hour and a half before we saw our food. I ordered a steak and when it finally showed up there failed to include a steak knife. It took them 40 minutes to get me a coffee, I wasn’t about to ask for a steak knife. zt0308blks to the rescue. The suits in the table next to us were not amused.

Probably not the healthiest considering that knife is exposed to all sorts of automotive fluids at work.

 

[rsrguy3]

I’m very guilty of using whatever knife I have in my pocket for food. Example: last night I was at a restaurant and it was absolutely packed. We had a reservation but it was over an hour and a half before we saw our food. I ordered a steak and when it finally showed up there failed to include a steak knife. It took them 40 minutes to get me a coffee, I wasn’t about to ask for a steak knife. zt0308blks to the rescue. The suits in the table next to us were not amused.

Probably not the healthiest considering that knife is exposed to all sorts of automotive fluids at work.

Squares...

 

[Grasshopperglock]

Order of operation.

Fruit, veggies, onion, and peppers get cut first. Stuck in a bowl. The knife isn't washed. Usually/maybe a rinse with cold water.

And then the raw meat or cooked meat is cut. Knife is washed after and is wiped off, dried off. Put back up.

Then the cutting board is cleaned after the meat is removed...Put back up.

 

[Dextar]

For what it is worth. Commercial kitchens have color coded cutting boards and knives now, not only for food borne illnesses but allergies too

View attachment 2426611

I usually use the same knife. Cutting all the meats and veggies that will be cooked. Then wash it off, before Cutting stuff not getting cooked.

Thanks for the information, first time to know the color code, very interesting~

 

[Dextar]

When hiking I only carry the one fixed blade, which I use mostly for carving the occasional walking stick as well as for food (apple, cheese, salami, etc.). I typically just rinse it off in the creek (or alpine lake) and wipe it on my leg without thinking too much about it. As long as it seems clean it's good enough for me.

I'll cut fruit with whatever folder I have on me most of the time as well, so long as it doesn't have tape residue or something otherwise gross on it. Reasonably clean, as Kobold said above is a good way to put it.

When I'm at a campground, I bring a couple of Moras strictly for food prep, and use a separate knife for processing lighter-knot and other camp tasks. That's just because I'm a knife nut and like having many knives, however, not something I find necessary.

ETA: When I clean residue off a knife from cutting things I often use 99% alcohol, but I've found a little scrub with simple dish soap often works just as well if not better

nice to see your reply again, with always stunning photos.
And the 15017-1 is always my most favorite for hiking, and at most time, I use it for cutting wood & cooked beef as well, I do clean it by using 75% medical alcohol after cutting wood then "wipe it on my leg" before onto cooked beef
but so far, I haven't use a same knife on raw meat and cooked one in hiking, in kitchen, I do, coz kitchen provides enough cleaning method.

That's just because I'm a knife nut and like having many knives,

same here, for camping, I bring about 3-4 knives just because I love them and "wanted" my friends see I have.



In the last, I have no idea why this post got moved to "Kitchen" section....this post is not limit to kitchen usage, in fact what i wanted to ask is under outdoor environment.....

 

[gadgetgeek]

I live in the "one wipe is clean, two is sterile" world, and have done fine. I have other food contamination worries, so apart from the basic kitchen rules of order of operations when it comes to foods being cooked or not, I really never worry about it. Realistically, unless you have a really nasty coating on your blade, bacteria are not going to be staying in any real numbers after a simple rinse. The sheath can be a different story, so I do like to have a couple knives around that have easy to clean sheaths if other people may be handling them (the Mora style bucket is really ideal). There are a few woods around me that I would not want to cut with a cooking knife, but they are also really nasty for just normal contact, so it's an unlikely risk there, and maybe mushrooms if I was doing some poking and prodding, some of those toxins are very potent, but again, a bit of a rinse and some standard soap is enough. Yes, the wilderness is a really bad time to pick up a food borne illness, I get that, but also, you need to triage the concerns and realize which ones can be left behind with minimal added risk at times. Most of the real wilderness risks I can think of, alcohol will not do a lot for, since toxic saps and allergens are not going to be impacted by it. But my risk matrix is not yours, so just make sure you are evaluating your real risks, and not what you think they might be "common sense" is often a false guide on things like this.

 

[Dextar]

I live in the "one wipe is clean, two is sterile" world, and have done fine. I have other food contamination worries, so apart from the basic kitchen rules of order of operations when it comes to foods being cooked or not, I really never worry about it. Realistically, unless you have a really nasty coating on your blade, bacteria are not going to be staying in any real numbers after a simple rinse. The sheath can be a different story, so I do like to have a couple knives around that have easy to clean sheaths if other people may be handling them (the Mora style bucket is really ideal). There are a few woods around me that I would not want to cut with a cooking knife, but they are also really nasty for just normal contact, so it's an unlikely risk there, and maybe mushrooms if I was doing some poking and prodding, some of those toxins are very potent, but again, a bit of a rinse and some standard soap is enough. Yes, the wilderness is a really bad time to pick up a food borne illness, I get that, but also, you need to triage the concerns and realize which ones can be left behind with minimal added risk at times. Most of the real wilderness risks I can think of, alcohol will not do a lot for, since toxic saps and allergens are not going to be impacted by it. But my risk matrix is not yours, so just make sure you are evaluating your real risks, and not what you think they might be "common sense" is often a false guide on things like this.

Mushroom is a different story other than the common risk, I forgot, thank you for the remind

 

[gadgetgeek]

I live where every damn thing in the woods wants you dead, from trees, bugs, fungus, with animals being a far fourth (and some of them are still pretty damn nasty) so for me a bacteria or three is still a problem, but I'm more worried about the water source than I am the food that I brought with me.

 

[Chefget]

Allergies are challenging and many times not practical to accomodate. It is a restaurant, not a hospital. In the 80's you might have a shellfish allergy once or twice a week; now about 20-30 percent of the tables have 'allergies' AND people now tell you they're allergic when it's just a shallow preference (thanks Sex and the City ).

We've had people insist we use *brand new* spatula/tongs/etc on their food because they're allergic. Their 'right' after all, and they will certainly tell you so.

But I'm still caught on a rare occasion tasting with my finger, so what do I know.

 

[Grasshopperglock]

Hey, as I'm told by the woman. Her mother's favorite saying. "Heat it'll kill it".