No kitchen tool demands proper storage more than knives. Options include canvas knife wraps, wooden blocks and in-drawer organizers, but the mighty magnetic knife strip ranks as my absolute favorite. It’s the first purchase I make for any new kitchen, and I push everyone I know to install one immediately.
I’m a culinary-school trained nonchef, but even chef chefs recommend this storage tool: “I first tried a magnetic strip in my home kitchen a few years ago and I’m hooked,” says Melissa Araujo, chef-owner of Alma Café in New Orleans.
If wondering what’s so great about knife strips compared to other forms of kitchen blade storage, here are three big reasons, personal and chef-approved, to add an affordable magnetic knife strip to your home.
The best part? A quality magnetic strip for your finest blades typically runs under $30.
1. Magnetic knife strips save space
A knife strip won’t dull your blades the way some storage types do.
Whether you’ve got new knives, or freshly sharpened knives, storing them on a magnetic knife strip has myriad benefits in the staying sharp department. (If your knives behave more like bludgeons than blades, first things first, get them sharpened.)
First, the knife strip prevents your knives from knocking around in a utensil drawer, which can lead to dulling over time. Wooden knife blocks are okay for this purpose, but they still create a little more wear and tear than simply mounting them al fresco does. And, as Araujo’s point above, you’re not constantly pulling them in and out of the block in a guessing game of which-knife-went-where several times a day.
Read more: Want to Completely Ruin Your Kitchen Knives? Here’s How
For me, there’s also another element to keeping knives sharp that is enabled by the knife strip. The honing steel isn’t a sharpener, per se, but its function is to help preserve the sharpness. Even as someone who was trained to use it, I have a very out-of-sight-out-of-mind relationship with this tool, but with the magnetic strip, the honing steel is very much in sight all of the time, which means I’m more likely to employ it.
3. A strip is more sanitary than a knife block
Always put the knives spine-down on your strip so you don’t chip the edges.
If you’re now convinced of the superiority of the magnetic knife strip, there are a few things to consider.
Get a good one: “Spend the money,” advises Araujo. “Cheap ones aren’t strong, especially if you have solid, high-quality, heavy-duty knives.” Fortunately, there’s only so high the price can go here, and if you’ve dropped some real coin for your professional-grade knives, the magnetic strip will be a very small investment toward keeping them in good condition.
Some magnetic knife strips we like:
The most straightforward magnetic strip look: I’ve owned this $20 metal holder several times over. It has tens of thousands of positive Amazon ratings, comes in six different sizes, and maxes out around $35 for a 24-inch strip.
There are magnetic strips that hold more than just knives.
An Amazon best seller, this $21 magnetic strip has a wood finish to suit a particular aesthetic, if that’s a reason why you’re hesitant to give up a wooden knife block.
Wooden strips are also less likely to ding your cutlery should you accidentally set a knife on it blade first. CNET’s Home and Kitchen Editor David Watsky uses this one.
