Knife Sharpening

In a kitchen a sharp knife is possibly one of the most important tools that a cook has at his disposal.  The knife is also, in a way, part of the cooks body.  An extension if you will of the arms and hands and creative force that is cooking.  There are many other tools and equipment that the cook needs, but the knife leads the way to creation.

Today I'll be discussing the ways you can get your knives as sharp as they need to be and how to keep them there.

There are two knives that are in my opinion the "bread and butter" of the kitchen.  The paring knife and the chef knife.  You can prepare nearly everything you desire with those two knives.  There are many other knives that could make many jobs easier due to their shape, flexibility, size or blade style that make preparation more efficient but the paring and chef knife can carry you to your desired goal without the rest if need be.

My first day of culinary school the executive chef held high a chef knife and extolled us to take care of it.  He stated that this knife would buy you a home, could bring what wealth you desired with the proper skills and ability, that this one knife is the conduit through which all great food and culinary careers are made and maintained.

I agree.

In order to really prepare great food, the knives that are used when prepping MUST be sharp.  If you are used to dull knives I can understand that a very sharp one may scare you.  If you are used to very sharp knives, a dull one is the most frightening tool you will encounter.  That is where anyone who wants to create in the kitchen needs to be.

A sharp knife can and will eventually cut you.  It's not the knife's fault, it's your fault or mine.  A sharp knife when not carefully used will nick you from time to time.  I morbidly hope that during one of my preparations for this blog that I cut myself so that I may show you how to bandage and go on.  Sadly, that has not happened yet, keep the faith, I'm really good at bandaging.

In order to keep your knives sharp you need to have a sharpening stone.  There are many types available.  The traditional stones are made out of a gray/black stone sand like substance that is bound together into rectangular shapes of varying sizes.  The color of the side of the stone tells you how coarse the stone side is - this relates to how much of the metal of your knife will be removed as you sharpen it.  If you choose the traditional type, you need to choose whether you will use water or oil as a medium to do your work.  I recommend water, since you may not always have oil available and once you use oil, you cannot use water.

There are also diamond stones that come on a variety of levels.  These are the ones I use.  They are color coordinated by the level of coarseness.  Mine is red the least coarse.  Next is blue, which is the one I gave my brothers and my mom, who don't take as fastidious care of their knives as I do.  The last is black, I think.  These are different from the traditional stone as they are made from the colored nylon base to signify the level of stone and a metal top with round holes in it.

Late's get started.

Holding your knife firmly on the handle with your other hand on the back of the blade, draw the knife forward in an arcing motion make the blade cross the stone from heel to tip.  Turn the knife over and repeat on the other side.  It should take several passes on each side to get your knife truly sharp.  A little patience is a good rule of thumb for this process.  You will get better at it as time goes on, but until you get the motions down it may take a few minutes for each knife.

If your knives are in really bad shape, you can take them to a cutlery store or look up a local knife sharpener.  They will charge per blade to sharpen your knives.  While I find this a viable alternative to sharpening your own, bear in mind that they will likely take a lot more metal off of your knife than you will thus significantly shortening the life of your tools.

  I seem to remember that the optimal angle of the knife should be held in a 19 degree angle.  That's what I do, and it works very well to me.

The way that I know that my knife is as sharp as needed is to draw the knife across a scallion without exerting any pressure at all and I am able to slice it.

Once your knife is sharp, you should not need to use the stone for 6-12 months if you care for the edge properly.

As you use the knives you will begin to notice that they are not as sharp.  This is due to the edge bending as it hits the cutting surface.  When you perceive that the knife is losing it's edge it is time to use your steel.

The steel will help you keep your knife sharp and preserve the edge that you have created.  It doesn't really sharpen your knife, it repairs the edge to the one that you created on the stone.    There are a few types of steels as well.  I would argue for the traditional type rather than  a diamond steel or one that will actively remove metal from the knife.  The traditional  steel is magnetized, this helps it straighten out the edge that is damaged by the use of your knife.  Over time your knives will become magnetized as well.  When using the steel, you should also try to hit the 19 degree edge.  Here is a short video demonstration:

Please note that a serrated knife, one with a scalloped edge should not be sharpened in the ways described above.  If you have a serrated knife that is worth sharpening, I would take it to a professional.

Good luck, send me a message if you need pointers or are otherwise in need of help.

Next up:  Kitchen tools that you need and why.