My Brother's Chef Friend Swears by This Trick to Keep Knives Sharp-Now My Whole Family Follows It
During his freshman year of college, my younger brother's roommate had a job as a chef in one of the campus dining halls. There, he got a crash course in food prep, leading him to learn a lot of helpful and time-saving cooking tricks.
He would often share these tips with my brother, who would relay them to our family - and one tip, which is an easy way to help protect your knife blades, soon become second nature to me. In fact, I still use this tip every single time I chop veggies on a cutting board!
My Brother's Chef Friend Taught Us This Trick to Protect Knife Blades
After chopping up veggies, my instinct was always to use the edge of my knife's blade (the sharp part that slices through food) to scrape the chopped items off of the cutting board and into the pan or bowl, and that's what I did for many years.
However, as my brother's roommate taught us, scraping your blade's edge along the cutting board can dull - or even damage - the blade. So, instead of using the edge, you should flip your knife over and use the blade's spine (the back edge of the knife) to scrape veggies off of the cutting board.
Ever since my brother mentioned this tip to our family over 10 years ago, I set out to change this habit. Soon, it became second nature, and I noticed that I didn't need to sharpen my knife as often.
@debraforgeorgia Replying to @truthma6073 Apparently scraping along the board can misalign the blade and dull it. Okay I can't be alone- who else was scraping incorrectly?
original sound - debraforgeorgia
Knife Experts Agree That This Hack Can Help Protect Your Blade
The social media pages for multiple knife brands have shared this same tip online.
"Resist the urge," states a TikTok video by Henckels, over a video of someone scraping chopped green onions with their blade's edge. "Scraping food across your cutting board can ruin your knife's edge over time. Instead, always use the back of your blade. We promise your knives will thank you later."
@henckels_usa Do you scrape your knife on your cutting board? This is your sign to use the back of the blade to protect your sharp edge. #henckels#knifeskills#knifetips#cookingtips#cookingskills
VIBE - Made By J
@zwilling_usa Do you scrape your knife on your cutting board? This is your sign to use the back of the blade to protect your sharp edge. #zwilling1731#knifeskills#knifetips#cookingtips#cookingskills#cookinghacks#kitchenknives#cooking#cookingtiktok#cuttingonions#cuttingboard
just outside, you can see the northern lights - Daniel G. Harmann
All that being said, there's another alternative to using your knife for this task at all: getting a bench scraper. These handy steel tools are literally designed for scraping chopped food off of a cutting board and transferring it to a pan. And they aren't expensive, either - you can grab one from for $9.99 at Williams Sonoma or from OXO for $14.99 at Target.
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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 7:41 AM.