Kitchen Knife Advice Please.

[theeggman]

I'm forever being asked to sharpen the kitchen knives.
I struggle to get an edge on the standard stainless knife, whatever the cost!!
I'm heading towards 'Damascus' blades, i.e. hard core, soft outer.
Any and all input will be welcomed.
Thanks.
Tim

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Just wondering what you do now, to get an edge?


Personally, I gave up on mechanical/electric sharpeners some time ago, and use an old-fashioned steel. Although there is a technique to be learned, it does give the best edge - and furthermore, is intensely satisfying to do.

D

 

[Anduril]

Just wondering what you do now, to get an edge?


Personally, I gave up on mechanical/electric sharpeners some time ago, and use an old-fashioned steel. Although there is a technique to be learned, it does give the best edge - and furthermore, is intensely satisfying to do.

D

 

[Nose Ma]

And here.

Secret is to put the point of the steel vertically on a surface, like a cutting block, and pull the knife carefully across, keep the angle right, and head down the steel.

Careful you don't score the counter top. Never wins friends.

It's very hard to get the angle right if you do the "both hands in the air like the flashing blade" trick.

As a bonus, steels are dead cheap compared to a new knife set!

 

[dpearce4]

using a steel is very simple to do and once learned never forgotten. any restaurant chef would be willing to teach someone how to.

the biggest thing to remeber is to sharpen little and often, and also wipe the blade before and after sharpening (you will be amazed the people that dont do that).

the blade needs to be at about an angle of 5/10 degrees, you start at the handle end and pull the blade at a 45degree movement along and down the steel until the point has left the steel, you then repeat on the other side of the blade (approx 5times each side). the point of the steel should be firmly anchered onto a chopping board so as to not risk cutting yourself.

if your knife is blunt to start with you can get a great edge on it with a whet stone or you could always ask a shoe repairer for them to re-edge the knife.

 

[BeeJayBee]

There's a good article about kitchen knives and how to sharpen them here >> http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/26036-knife-maintenance-and-sharpening/

 

[theeggman]

Thanks for all the info. folks.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Also, there are steels and steels - best results I had was from a second hand butchers one given to me as the handle had broken. Got one with a set of Global knives which, while it matches very nicely, is terrible.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There's a good article about kitchen knives and how to sharpen them here >> http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/26036-knife-maintenance-and-sharpening/

Blimey! The section on sharpening is a revelation.
I use a six inch serrated knife from Lakeland for most things (never needs sharpening) but I do have a boning knife that NOBODY is allowed to touch...might sharpen that properly though it's already pretty good.

 

[picton farm]

I used to use a steel or oil stone but now I use a sharpener which cost around £30 but it sharpens them as well as I ever could in half the time. I just drag the knives through it s couple of times and they are razor sharp and very evenly so. Its called a diamond fingers knife sharpener (try not to be put off by the name)

 

[Moggs]

Forget stainless. High carbon steel brought to sharpness with a Shapton ceramic whetstone is the way for me. Sharpening of kitchen knives can of course be accomplished with a steel, as a knife requires a comparatively 'rough' edge.

 

[aberreef]

I use a sharpener I bought from Tesco. It's a cheap plastic jobbie with little steel wheels set in a groove that you pass the blade over. You've got to get the pressure right and takes a few passes but I find it gives a fairly decent edge (good enough to fillet fish at least )

 

[theeggman]

Just a quick update folks.
We recently purchased a Japanese knife ( I O Shen) which is brilliant.
It has a very hard core with softer steel on the outside, so that the edge is very hard and therefore VERY sharp and durable. The drawback is the price!!
£55 for a 5" inch blade. OH is suffering from swollen finger joints and finds that not having to apply pressure to the knife is an improvement.

Tim

 

[For want of a better word]

In a previous life .... the knives used for postmortems were sharpened by the mortician on a round file as used to sharpen chain saw blades.
Those knives were sharp !!!!
I still shudder thinking about it !

 

[Baggyone]

With a good steel you can even bring back a Stanley knife blade. Us butchers have different grades of steels. Good ones are basically a set of blades in a spiral down the steel. Those are rough steels to get a edge back. Kitchen steels I would describe as honing steels once you have an edge.

I don't anchor the steel on a block but I don't do the flashing blade in the air either. I run the knife one side at a time for 5 or 6 strokes. Then change sides. Little and often is the key although everyone puts theirs through a grinder every now and then.

Baggy

 

[itma]

There's a good article about kitchen knives and how to sharpen them here >> http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/26036-knife-maintenance-and-sharpening/

Chad's article is excellent.
So excellent that after reading it, you probably don't need to bother with his book on knives and sharpening, "An Edge in the Kitchen".


"Stainless" can be soft or hard, it depends what stainless it is.

Sadly, any remotely affordable "Damascus" knife will only have a decorative outer layer over the blade. Sadly its just for looks, rather than performance. Its not really made out steel with a layered structure, exposed at the edges. You'll pay an awful lot for a real Damascus blade.

A hard steel (material) will hold an edge longer than a softer steel, but it will be harder work to sharpen, and the harder steel will also be more brittle, so you'd need to keep it away from bones, etc.
A new knife should (but doesn't always) have a good edge. But even so, it will not hold it for ever - its just a matter of when it will need proper sharpening.

See Chad's article for an explanation of how a 'steel' is used to 'true' (straighten) the edge, maintaining whatever edge, not to actually sharpen it.
Proper sharpening involves abrading material, usually with a stone (sometimes even Diamond!)
Motorised abrasives remove knife material quickly, but can therefore easily screw up a knife! They rarely produce a good edge.

To get a good edge, one requirement is a consistent edge angle along the blade.
Rather than acquire the muscle memory to hold an edge manually at the constant chosen angle to a stone, I invested in an EdgePro Apex.
I haven't regretted it.

But properly sharp kitchen knives need careful handling and storage - don't just toss them into a kitchen drawer! (That becomes dangerous, apart from risking damage to the knife edges.

I have mostly cheapish knives, but most of the time, most of them are very sharp indeed. I have one (for me) expensive blade made of the Japanese wonder steel "ZDP189" (Google it ...), but I actually prefer using a much more modest tool, in exceptionally good order.

The Victorinox (USA "Forschner") knives aren't expensive and can take a good edge - if you can make one!

Chad's "mouse mat trick" is a simple means of producing a decent edge, with very low cost tools...

 

[Baggyone]

We all use Victorinox at Boston sausage. Very good knives and can take some hammer too.

baggy