Cutting Boards

If you think your cutting board plays no role in the sharpness of your knife, think again! Choosing the right cutting board is crucial for longer edge retention. Harder plastic cutting boards usually don’t mix well with the harder steels of Japanese blades and can cause chipping. Hasegawa’s soft cutting boards are top-of-the-line cutting boards that are especially well suited for delicate Japanese kitchen knives. This specialized rubber surface is a great substitute for wood, receives the cutting edge very well and is non-slippery, which is vital for preventing possible injuries.

Are your knives getting dull super fast?

Here are 3 mistakes you might be making:

1. Using too much force when cutting:
Excessive force during cutting causes microscopic damage to the blade's edge, increasing the rate of abrasion and deformation, which makes the knife dull faster.

2. Scraping ingredients off the cutting board with the knife’s edge:
A tough habit to shake, but it’s necessary - whenever you do this, you’re folding the delicate edge of the knife, making it lose sharpness fast. Use the back of the knife for scraping instead.

3. Using the wrong cutting board:
Make sure to use wood or specialized rubber cutting boards, not those made of harder materials like glass or bamboo, as they will damage the delicate knife edge. Plastic cutting boards also aren’t suitable, as they release microplastics and are less hygienic. When it comes to wood, end grain cutting boards are your best choice, as the upward-facing wood fibers receive the blade better and close up after they’ve been cut, essentially self-healing.