I’ve got a drawer full of knives—most of them have lived out their lives in various stages of dullness. Having wanted sharp knives for years, I’ve received an assortment of knife sharpeners for Christmas and other gift-giving holidays. But, although I’ve tried and tried, those dang knives remain dull. Am I holding them at the wrong angle when sharpening? What’s up?
In the quest to own a knife sharp enough to cut a tomato, I have purchased or had purchased for me (gift-giving holidays), a few fairly expensive knives. Even expensive knives are only sharp for so long. Then, along with their less expensive cousins, they get dull.
Imagine my delight then, when driving home from the grocery store, we spotted a man standing outside of his truck in a vacant lot. The sign said, “knives sharpened here.” WooHoo!!! We came home and decided which knives we should sharpen, and at only $3 a knife, I now own some sharp knives.
I feel like a pro! I never knew what I was missing! Not only can I slice a tomato, but I can chop!!! I can also slice skinny slices of carrot, celery or onion. I am now master chef in a functional home-kitchen.
You want some carrot sticks? Here, let me do that for you. Need to slice an onion? I’ve got your back.
Who knew that having sharp tools made the job so much easier? Well, I did really, but now I'm living the dream!
3 comments:
Your blog post title caught my eye. And then you actually talked aobut knives! Love it! I saw that guy, too. I should have taken advantage of his services.
I used to cook for a living. The secret to sharpening knives is to make sure the same person always does the sharpening. Pick your angle, and stick with it. Be sure to maintain the same angle throughout the process. And less is more, especially if you don't have a steady hand. Get a steele to clean off the stainless bead that forms when you sharpen and use it between sharpenings to keep a good edge. If you want to keep your knife sharp ONLY USE IT TO CUT FOOD! No boxes or other things. Also keep it out of the dishwasher. The more you pay for a knife the better the quality (usually) Look for knives that do not have that safety bump in the back, you lose half your chopping surface and they are harder to sharpen. And really what's the difference if your finger is hanging by the skin or completely chopped off? Not much safety provided there.
I like to spend between $110 - $140 on one good knife. The last time I bought one was 15 years ago and it is still going strong. Let me know if you have any other knife questions:)
Monique,
No one else will take the time to even try and sharpen my knives except me--so we do the same person thing. I have an electric sharpener that's supposed to be top-notch, but I'm never sure of the angle, so that's probably my problem. The professional guy apparently has a steadier hand than I do.
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