Saturday, August 6, 2011

Sharping Your Knives

One of the most dangerous things in the kitchen besides broken or damaged tools are unsharpened knives.  As long as I don't fly to vacation, I always pack my own knives.  I traditionally bring a paring knife, a serrated tomato knife, and a 5" Santoku although in the past I used to bring my 6" Chef's knife.  I have mentioned this in previous posts but am reminded again, as I am on vacation, and once again I would have been subject to the wooden block with all of the cheap knives.  I drove here so I don't have to use these knives, but they are horrible.

When a knife is dull, instead of cutting through the food, the blade actually moves or rolls the food and causes your fingers to be under the blade.  A finger cut doesn't stop bleeding very quickly.  Keep your knives sharp by learning to use a steel.  Run the blade over it a dozen times or so before each use.  It takes a little extra time but it is worth it.  I finally bought a knife sharpener and use it every few months to get a good blade on all of my knives.  It cost about $80.  It has 3 wheels in different grades, course to fine, which spin.  There magnets set at a 45 degree angle to the wheel.  You pull the knives past the spinning wheel to sharpen both sides of the blade.  The sharp blade holds for a good month depending on how much use it gets.  Pull out your steels today and to remove the burrs and nicks and I guarantee you will feel the difference.

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