# Best advice I have gotten on keeping people from using/ruining your good tools



## happyhobby (Aug 18, 2015)

I am a home cook who is okay and has some nice things. Family and friends love to grab and abuse those things under the guise of cooking or helping. Examples (there are so, so many): 1. Bought the Victorinox paring knife based on advice here, used it once to open and scrape vanilla beans. I come home the next day to find my wife using it to trim cardboard to mount a poster in a frame. 2. I go to the bathroom and return 3 minutes later to find a friend warming rice in my brand new scanpan using the metal spatula I use with my cast iron (I have no idea why)

A friend is a food fan, a better business attorney, and has been through therapy for a long time. I was talking about my cooking knives and good pans issues. Best observation and advice ever followed.

Buy something this is cheap but looks cool, and hang/mount it closest to the work area. 'It is new and you use it, so I need to use it, too'

I tested it with a orange handle Rachael Ray Santoku and it looks fancy so I bought it for cheap on Amazon. Kept the blade guard on to look better, put it on the rail closest to the board and it is keeping people away from the better knives. I just got new fancy looking red handled Sur La Table skillets thanks to the one-thousandth 60% off email I got this month, and I have hung them on the rack closest to the stove. No issue with someone bypassing for the good pans yet, and I didn't cringe this morning for brunch when I used it for scrambled eggs and I was 'helped' by someone with a metal spoon.


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

Thats nice if you have money (and space) to double everything. I just dont put up with any malarkey in my kitchen.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

i find my surly personality to be an excellent deterrent. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## halb (May 25, 2015)

> I find my surly personality to be an excellent deterrent.


I have doors on my kitchen and make it known that nobody belongs in there except me. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif


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## happyhobby (Aug 18, 2015)

The funny reason I decided my friend's theory deserved trying out to the extent of buying stuff was I bought the giant huge silicone ice cube tray because I thought they would go great with whiskey. My wife gently mocked the size.

Then she and the friends who came over the next two weeks totally skipped over the normal trays to use the giant ones for everything including when the cubes barely fit into the glass.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Well ... I don't know. Both sample sets used here, wife and friends, don't all so much work for me. My wife is way smart enough to not misuse my stuff. And none of my friends, whatever the case may be, are stupid enough to ever touch the stuff in my kitchen without asking. On the other hand ... none of my stuff is irreplaceable. It's only _"stuff"_. My wife and friends I guess, are not so much stuff.

_"We work in kitchens ... It ain'te rocket surgery."_​


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Weird situation. Non of my friends touch my knives and stuff. They come home to eat and have a good time, not to cook or do the dishes. And my wife has its own cleaver -mostly the only knife she uses-, which of course i sharpen and care because she's brutal with the edges!


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

I have all the neat personal electronic toys.

Smart phone, Ipad, Kindle and laptop.

The rest of the family also has these things but cannot seem to keep them from malfunctioning.

Why you ask?

Everyone else (you too fisherman!!) lets the little kids and toddlers (sticky hand alert!) play with them.

Not me.... and I don't care if they think I am mean or stingy.

To stay OT..... I have a core set of GOOD pans (baking pans... small saucepans for candy.... silicone spats...a few knives (stuff like that) that under the fear of never having another sweet from my hands... NO ONE touches.

mimi


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

I have my own double cabinet under the counter that is mine. All mine. It did have a small label on it the first couple of years, but it's worn off. I keep just about anything that bothers me

if someone else uses it. Including family I keep everything from Saffron, my good olive oil, handed down and specialty pans, all purpose tools, mandoline, special ice cream scoops, boat keys, fisker paper scissors, M0A3, knives, voter ID card, dog tags, pasta dies, and my vacuum sealed olives someone brought me from greece, Rosary blessed and handed to me by  Pope Paul VI ,money,etc.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Even after 11 years my SO will still on rare occasions grab a petty sized knife to cut something, ALWAYS ON A PLATE. This is especially likely to happen on weekends after she's had a few.

Fortunately she will not grab larger knives or ones that have sharp pointy heels She will also not grab anything that is put back in its place, haha. And that really only leaves only one of my sharp knives she can dull [as fortunately it is the only one I ever tend to leave on the counter, all others being rather special purpose by appointment].

So when I eventually buy a nice Hankotsu to take the place of that one knife, I will just have to be philosophical about about, like the Iceman.

Rick


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## markrmoore2 (Nov 15, 2015)

Buy a gun safe from your local sporting goods store, place all of your favorite equipment in there. Problem solved. One last thing, get a box cutter, they're pretty inexpensive


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## markrmoore2 (Nov 15, 2015)

You could also even buy a cheap knife set that looks nice, she wont know the difference.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I've been thinking more about this thread. As it was ... a rookie in a kitchen where I was just working thought, for some odd stupid reason, that _"My stuff"_ was _"the kitchen's stuff"_. After I came back in from a short break, I couldn't find a number of things. Some other guys heard me making noise and while I went out to my car to see if I really didn't bring my bag in, they confronted the guy. Apparently they insinuated to this guy that if I saw he actually had my stuff that I would probably fillet out his internal organs and mail them to his mother. I had a simple laugh when he apologized and returned my stuff. I gave him some simple lessons and even gifted him a knife from my bag so that he could call something _"His"_. My point here is that nothing of _"mine"_ can't be replaced on the cheap; my work or home stuff. My most expensive knife is +/- $25. My cast pans are Lodge, on sale from Target. My regular pots/pans are Calphalon, acquired free with coupons from _'da Jewels_ grocery store. Most of my utensils are bamboo $4 sets, and silicon on-sale sets, again from Target. I've said this numerous times before, equipment doesn't have anything to do with skills. Skills put good food on plates. My wife and/or friends don't really do anything in my kitchen, but it wouldn't make much difference if they did.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

@IceMan , You need to move out of that tent.


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## grande (May 14, 2014)

Does he live in a tent?


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## markrmoore2 (Nov 15, 2015)

Price and quality of equipment definitely comes into play when you're cooking for hundreds of people everyday, favorite knife i have is one i made myself from some very expensive metal. I dont see it being possible that someone could break it, handle maybe but blade no.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

In places I worked, if someone I saw was trying to grab one of my knives, I usually stabbed them in the back of the hand with it.

It works....trust me./img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere. Maybe I missed the memmo.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

@IceMan ya know I love ya bro .... and I get it.

We have a lot of Target and WM stuff as well.

It is my GOOD stuff that I mind someone using in the garden lol.

When I closed up shop I sold a shitload of my heavy bakeware, big boy mixer, SS tables (you know) but kept quite a bit for home use.

I bought this stuff over the years and it was expensive then...

Meant to last ya know?

I priced a few things the other day and was shocked.

No way could I afford (well I could just don't wanna have to) replace those items at todays prices.

mimi


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Chefross said:


> In places I worked, if someone I saw was trying to grab one of my knives, I usually stabbed them in the back of the hand with it.
> 
> It works....trust me./img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


Did that with a fork once.

They never took food off my plate with those grubby things again lol.

mimi


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## happyhobby (Aug 18, 2015)

So glad I dd this. This weekend we had some more people over. I make some semi fancy looking breakfast, leave for the bathroom for 15 minutes, come back.

A guest is using the nonstick pan to cook some more egg, with a metal spoon, because using the wooden spatula laying next to the pan is...

My wife has him beat beat, using the aforementioned Rachael Ray $14 special to chop on a glass baking dish.

I wonder how long the sur la table nonstick will last? I give it less than a year's worth of people helping.

Bonus:

For dinner I used my big cast iron for flank steak and the toppings. Why is that the only time people want to hep clean up, is when there is a pan that shouldn't get soaped?


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Happyhobby said:


> So glad I dd this. This weekend we had some more people over. I make some semi fancy looking breakfast, leave for the bathroom for 15 minutes, come back.
> 
> A guest is using the nonstick pan to cook some more egg, with a metal spoon, because using the wooden spatula laying next to the pan is...
> 
> ...


I use forks with NS pans all the time.

They are disposables anyway lol.

mimi


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

IceMan said:


> I've been thinking more about this thread. As it was ... a rookie in a kitchen where I was just working thought, for some odd stupid reason, that _"My stuff"_ was _"the kitchen's stuff"_. After I came back in from a short break, I couldn't find a number of things. Some other guys heard me making noise and while I went out to my car to see if I really didn't bring my bag in, they confronted the guy. Apparently they insinuated to this guy that if I saw he actually had my stuff that I would probably fillet out his internal organs and mail them to his mother. I had a simple laugh when he apologized and returned my stuff. I gave him some simple lessons and even gifted him a knife from my bag so that he could call something _"His"_. My point here is that nothing of _"mine"_ can't be replaced on the cheap; my work or home stuff. My most expensive knife is +/- $25. My cast pans are Lodge, on sale from Target. My regular pots/pans are Calphalon, acquired free with coupons from _'da Jewels_ grocery store. Most of my utensils are bamboo $4 sets, and silicon on-sale sets, again from Target. I've said this numerous times before, equipment doesn't have anything to do with skills. Skills put good food on plates. My wife and/or friends don't really do anything in my kitchen, but it wouldn't make much difference if they did.


I can't find fault with this, because I operate the same way, although MY pots and pans come from IKEA -which, everyone knows, is far superior to Target and Mal*Wart.....(and my butt chews gum too...)

My knives, too, are "user grade" Victorinox's for the most part, most are 20+ years old. I lend them out, they get abused, I sharpen them, re-tip them, they shrink, I pick up "new" ones at garage sales, and the cycle goes on. Paring knives are different. I get the cheapest ones, and I make sure everyone has access to them.

Why? I need work done. If I need two cases of strawberries hulled, I don't give a rat's posterior who does it, or which knife they use, only that it is done correctly. Same for sacks of onions, breaking down boxes, or other menial tasks.

Some of my confectionary eqpt. is pretty pricey, but so far, only my wife has broken or abused this stuff. Wouldn't be a good thing to stab her hand though.


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## pt doc (Dec 9, 2012)

Interesting that your friends are cooking in your house? And you are where? Can't picture someone rolling into my house and start cooking when I am not there.


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## atatax (Jan 8, 2015)

I'm going to start using my super large veg cleaver for most tasks at work. The only people with enough balls to look into my case are the head chef and sous and the only thing they'll take without asking is my honing rod.


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

Hah certainly there is a barrier to entry to chinese cleavers.   95% of my cooking is with cleavers and woks.  It deters unauthorized personnel.


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## loomchick (Jun 11, 2013)

Metal on pans with a non-stick surface is why we have a couple of Scan pans.  My husband insists on using metal utensils for just about everything, but he would damage the non-stick surface . . . until I came home with a Scan pan.  Very durable surface and we now have two Scan pans in different sizes.  They are definitely marital aids and I can back off when he cooks.  

Now, if I could only persuade him to understand how to use a sponge . . .


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## happyhobby (Aug 18, 2015)

PT Doc said:


> Interesting that your friends are cooking in your house? And you are where? Can't picture someone rolling into my house and start cooking when I am not there.


I cook, but people love to stand around in the kitchen and talk, and when I leave the room they feel some compulsion to help.

I need to find a new sacrificial knife.

So Scanpan hold up to people using metal? Interesting.


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## loomchick (Jun 11, 2013)

> So Scanpan hold up to people using metal? Interesting.


So far, so good. My husband has yet to damage the nonstick surface. I started us out with an 8" Scan Pan. That went so well, I purchased a 12" one.

If it helps bring peace and harmony to our marriage and in our kitchen, they're worth every penny.


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## happyhobby (Aug 18, 2015)

I had a post deleted in this thread for a reason that isn't worth discussing.

Part of it that isn't in dispute is that my wife won't use a type of cheaper knife anymore due to branding. I was going to buy the closest slightly better quality knife of the same design, the Wusthof Grand Prix II Santoku.

I told my wife I was going to buy her a $65 knife. Instead she has spent $69 taking a knife skills class at the fairly nice looking cooking school at the local higher end grocery.

For some reason her taking a class wasn't going to happen, even though we will spend $20 on a bottle of wine like nothing. Now it is happening.

This is really working out well.


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## dago red (Sep 11, 2015)

I thought a few months ago that after almost 14 years together (this month was 12 years married) I had FINALLY trained my wife to treat the knives well and was ready to upgrade from my wusthoff and forchners to some good japanese steel. Alas, I still catch her putting them in the sink, rinsing them and just leaving them on the counter wet etc.

Then at Christmas I was about to carve the meat and went and got my cimitar from where I keep it in the garage in a knife roll. Now it's not a fancy nor expensive knife, but I insure it stays sharp by making sure nobody else uses it. I left it on the cutting board to step out for a minute and came back just in time to keep my sister-in-law from using it to cut the foil off a bottle of wine. I mean seriously, what the hell goes through a person's mind that makes them think a 12" knife is good for that? If she'd actually done it before I caught her I think I'd have taken a finger to teach her a lesson.

so now I have decided that I'm going to take one of the kitchen drawers and put a lock on it and make it mine. Then as I get good knives if they aren't in my hand I'll place them in the drawer and lock it, even if I'm just stepping out for a minute. 

Red


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

What's the problem, your knife wasn't sharp enough to cut foil?????????

But seriously... we all have that situation when visitors are in the house. Grin and bear it; it could have been worse.


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