What happened to knife boxes?

I suspect they have disappeared due to most people not wanting to mount such a box or strip to the wall in their kitchen. The ubiquitous knife block requires no installation and is easily moved around. Magnetic knife strips do still exist, but they don't seem to be particularly popular, probably for the same installation reasons.

Kitchens have changed....the wall-hanging gizmos are nice, but no room to slide the knife out if it is under a wall cupboard. I have a nice big block in a dead-ish corner of my counter top, and I keep a lot of stuff on the counter. My actual kitchen, continuous with dining area/room, is very small, but works wonderfully even for large meals. It's a little "U", plus pantry and doorway to garage (superb for carrying in groceries). I keep a crock for all the stirring/mixing stuff next to the range, and a smaller one for baking stuff like measuring spoons. I hate having to dig through drawers for stuff. Got one lower lazy susan below a large corner wall cupboard and all my baking stuff is in the two...mixer, bowls, seasoning, etc.

The good cooks only use two knives. A big chef's knife for most work and a smaller paring knife.

I think that is the essence of the problem. In my kitchen, like many, there are cabinets above the counter anywhere that you could put a hanging type. And the block type, sitting on the counter and shoved all the way back works fine for me. The only disadvantage is that the block types, at least the ones I've seen, can' be cleaned.

For the wall type, I've seen magnetic ones. There was one at Amy's Baking Company, the restaurant with the crazy owners that Gordon Ramsay visited on Kitchen Nightmares last week. That was quite an episode!

My Henckles knife set came with it's own counter top knife box similar to this one which is available without knives. $54.99

Rattling around in drawers will blunt knives. Idea here:

Commercial ad, but you could DIY. Useful for keeping the edge on a few knives (More than that and it will look trashy). []'s

Seems to me that these take up far more wall space (at a big premium in many modern kitchens) than a block. Note that the vertical wall space much be taller than twice the length of the longest knife. I don't think there is anywhere in our kitchen I could put one if she wanted it. With the block only takes around 20sq.in. of counter space and holds a dozen knives (and a pair of scissors).

I will have to give the originator of that knife rack a lot of credit for being original!

I don't want anything for knives on the counter. Though I suppose that could be wall mounted. And I see further down individual magnets being used on the wall. That idea is also original for me.

Don.

In my kitchen the sink looks out a tall window. Many kitchens are designed this way. There is height to the ceiling when mounted on a cabinet alongside such a window. And being near the sink, easy to store after cleaning.

The wood strip that I left behind was first mounted on a wall that a counter ended at. Then in the next apartment I had a wall oven, and its side at the end of a counter also worked well for the longer strip.

Yes. There are many around. Though as noted elsewhere in this thread, I do think they have fallen in popularity, with the countertop blocks increasing.

I don't want to give up counter space. Plus the block has the disadvantage that you can't tell which knife is which. Some handles may be the same. In what I'm seeking no problem identifying the knives.

Don.

I'd call that a block and not a box.

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And now as short as the tinyurl.

Don.

I have the same arrangement. But considering the height where the bottom of the cabinet ends, the knife box would be kind of high and not so convenient to get knives in and out, at least IMO. It might work better for one of the magnetic strip holders, but I still don't think that location is as easy as a traditional wood block holder where the knives go in on an angle. I have mine right next to the sink, at the back of the counter. Works fine for me.

Yes, it does let you see which knife is which. But I think most people with blocks just have a system of which knife goes where. That's how I keep them arranged. The chefs knife is top left, next is a shorter chef type chopping knife, then a longer thinner knife, etc ending with a paring knife on the lower left. I always put them back that way. On the right side, where I have the knives I use a lot less, I sometimes do pull the wrong one when I go looking for one.

-snip-

That gets them through the prepping stage. How do they carve a roast or slice soft bread?

I'll bet a 'good cook' will also have a cleaver and a frozen food cutter.

Jim

That would make a good project for a beginning woodworker. But I think I'd design it to fit in a drawer on a hinge so you could lift and slide the knives out. Use lexan to cover-- or life dangerously without one.

In my kitchen the only place it could hang would be on the side of the refrigerator---- which wouldn't be out of the question, actually. I could use magnets or double-sided sticky things. . . . . Hmmm. . . . I've never liked that knife block. .. . .

Jim

I'm a pretty good cook and I use three knives - 8" santoku type, 3" paring and a long serrated. I do use an electric carving knife, but only for BBQ brisket hot from the smoker where anything else will shred it vs. slicing it.

Adapt the idea and embed the magnets into the side of an upper cabinet so the knives can just stick on the side handles down...

Nice DYI project I did several years ago:

Cheap poplar board. Rough cut board to block size pieces and then cut out openings for knives on one side of piece then epoxied pieces together, planed and sanded down, stained and varnished. Only cost a couple of dollars to make.

I mostly use one knife. I bought another used ebay magna wonder knife, because I thought it was a good idea to stock up. Showing my sister the knife, I cut myself. The serrations are large compared to the other over 50 years old. Of course, I don't know the age of my acquisition.

I gave my mothers old knife to my sister. I keep it in a flip open panel right below and under the sink, where mostly it's a fixed panel in most kitchens. I made that when installing new sink. Very handy.

Greg

But the real question is not how many knives one uses, but how many one owns and has to store. Some may be special use, like for boning or filleting. I once researched all types of knives and summarized them here:

And that doesn't include a bread knife.

Don.