How To Avoid Cutting Yourself While Cooking

The kitchen is the place where most household accidents happen.

Cutting board and knife

Among these accidents the most dangerous and frequent are those that happen with cutting tools such as knives, graters etc..

The kitchen is, if we want, the place of election of the do-it-yourself in the sense that we are the ones who put our hands in the dough and therefore we are the ones who must be aware of the risks we are facing.

It may seem strange but most of the domestic accidents do not happen for incompetence but for distraction and overconfidence: when we have done something hundreds of times it is natural to lower the level of attention and that is the moment when the accident happens.

This is true for domestic accidents as for all other types of work: where you are too safe you end up getting hurt.

I have seen people who have seriously cut their fingers due to overconfidence and others who have cut themselves simply because they did not know how to use knives and other cutting tools properly.

Handling knives expertly is a matter of manual dexterity that everyone can acquire and therefore this is the first thing that needs to be worked on.

Cut Resistant Gloves - High Performance Level 5 Protection

That said, the tools that we will use when cutting meat and vegetables are not at all secondary, indeed.

Let's start from the base of support: a cutting board, preferably wooden and heavy enough, is what will ensure that we can slice the food with greater security.

The lighter the cutting board is, the more it tends to move, but even in case of a pretty heavy chopping board there is no guarantee it will not undergo dangerous and sudden movements.

cut resistant gloves

In order to avoid them it is necessary to place under the cutting board a damp cloth in order to avoid slipping, especially on smooth surfaces such as steel, marble, etc.

Let's now move on to knives: as strange as it may seem the sharper they are, the lower the risk of cutting oneself. Obviously always knowing how to use them correctly!

A knife that does not cut makes it difficult to cut the food and this increases the risk that the food will move during the cutting phase and with it the hand that holds it.

Round vegetables such as carrots are by their very shape unstable; not having a stable point of support, the sharper the knife the less we run the risk of them moving.

Here's a video that sums up what we've said well and also talks about the various types of cutting vegetables.

If you have made progress with your dexterity and have learned how to hold your fingers to avoid cutting yourself, this does not protect you from accidents.

This is because, as mentioned, distraction caused by overconfidence can always lead to an accident.

Secondly, there are many other tools commonly used in the kitchen that are just as dangerous as knives, if not more so.

The mandoline slicer is one of the most dangerous tools to use; then there is the potato peeler and several others.

Regardless of the degree of manual dexterity you have achieved, it can be very useful to use cut-resistant gloves that will protect you from possible injuries.

Working with gloves in the kitchen may not be for a great chef, but if you are not a great chef I think you can largely overlook what great chefs do and put your safety first.

However, even professional workers such as meat boners or fish processors use cut-resistant gloves.

The gloves are obviously designed to come into contact with food, easily washable and safe.

You can find them in the right size for the size of your hands and in addition to being cut-resistant also provide a more secure grip and less slippery than bare hands.

Cut Resistant Gloves - High Performance Level 5 Protection

So, in summary, to avoid injury yourself in the kitchen with cutting tools follow these rules:

  1. buy good quality materials, such as knives with ergonomic handles, and keep them sharp;
  2. watch a video on how to cut food correctly and safely and try to put what you see into practice;
  3. always be aware of the risks and that overconfidence is often the cause of most injuries;
  4. use protection systems that will protect you from the risk of accidental cutting.