what kind of knives do you have and how do you sharpen them ?
We've talked about knives on here before,but i was wonderin how everyone likes to sharpen them?.....i have 3 forschner knives...an 8" and a 10 " chefs knife and an 8"breaking knife...the breaking knife i usually use at work....meat cutter....i use a steel every time i use any knife....but when they need serious sharpening i take them to work and use the 3 sided whetstone......but only the mediun stone...i never let my knives get to where i need the coarse stone an find the fine stone only polishes the blade...what about you guys?
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34 Comments:
Most of my knives come from my parents(i'm just starting out on my own, so they gave me their old stuff and bought themselves new equipment). I have no idea what make they are, but i've got a butcher's knife(cleaver), a chef's knife, a 8"(or so, i'm guessing) utility knife, and a 10" boning knife. the only real defining feature of them is that they've got wood handles.
Also, they're old as hell. Like, I think my parents got them when they were first married(so, 80s). My other knife is a carving/slicing knife that looks positively demonic; the serrations are very deep, and in groups of three, and at the front, there's literally fangs; it's sharper than hell, too, which is super nice, cos i can't really sharpen it myself.
as for all my other sharpening needs, I keep a 2-stage sharpener I got from williams-sonoma a few years back. I'd like to get a nice whetstone except 1) they're expensive and i'm broke, and 2) I truthfully have no clue how to use them.
rasellers0 at 3:34PM on 06/29/08
I have Henckels Twin and use the steel unless I forget and then I proceed to destroy the tomato I was attempting to slice.
I wish they would make self-sharpening knives.
bodaciousgirl at 4:02PM on 06/29/08
I have a lot of knives, but use my 15+ year-old Chicago Cutlery Carbon Steel 7" Chef's Knife (C42) at least 90% the time.
I always use the steel prior to cutting, and wash and dry the blade immediately afterwards.
srhcb at 6:47PM on 06/29/08
In most cities chefs get their knives sharpened by pros who travel around with the finest in sharpening stones. You might ask at one of your better restaurants if you want a professional sharpening done. In Portland "Mike The Knife Guy" has an $18,000 Italian sharpening system. He takes consumer knives on every other Tuesday only.
myspicekitchen at 7:11PM on 06/29/08
Excuse ... "old as hell ... so like the 80's" !!!!! I've got underwear older than that !!!!
kjgibson at 7:33PM on 06/29/08
I went to a Knife Skills class and they recommended professional sharpening about once a year. They also mentioned some farmer's markets have people who will do them for you on a belt.
Chaos at 7:39PM on 06/29/08
We are fortunate in having a knife shop here that does the professionals and folks like me who sort of stumbled into the place. I'm a big believer in Chicago Cutlery, as I came of age, cooking-wise, when I was a struggling young single mom. The first chef's knife I bought, which I still use decades later, I earned the money for by guinea-pigging at the medical school. I use the ceramic wands with good results, have the knives re-sharpened every year or so, and wish I'd had my father give me hands-on lessons using a stone, which he seemed to do as easily as he shaved. (With a straight-edge razor for most of his life, maintained on a leather strop and, of course, a whetstone.)
lemons at 8:23PM on 06/29/08
I only use my chef's knife, a Wusthoff . Every chef I know taught me that you really only need one knife. I love it so much. Scary to use a chef's knife in the beginning but once you learn how, there is no turning back,
Frantic foodie at 10:17PM on 06/29/08
I feel bad, sharpening my knives is one of the tasks I assign my dad whenever he visits...most of the time no prompting is required. He goes to the kitchen to make something, takes a knife, shakes his head and ask me for the whet stone he bought (from Chinese cookware stores, very cheap there) me the first time he discovered the sad state of my knives. The visits are annual, so my knives are okay, but I have a small whetstone on a plastic stick (got it at a Japanese dollar stone) that I will use if I can't wait.
My parents both tailors, so dad regularly sharpen scissors at home. I remember growing up in Toronto, once a month a guy would come around in the summer time with his knife sharpening cart, ringing his bell.
My local farmer's market has a professional knife sharpener every other week, and one of the specialty butchers have a guy who comes in once a month.
gnomatic at 11:25PM on 06/29/08
I use 2 Wusthoff knives - paring knife, chef's knife, and utility knife. I have professionally sharpened sort of around every 8 months or so, and while I know one should use a steel every time I use the, I don't. Maybe once a week instead. For serrated slicing, I use a ginsu knife I bought a hundred years ago, as I've yet to find anything that comes close.
chisai at 1:21AM on 06/30/08
I have several Globals. I sharpen them myself using an assortment of stones.
GumbeauxGal at 1:50AM on 06/30/08
I have a Global chef's knife, which I love. I steel it every time I use it (or every other time), and have just been learning to sharpen it myself on a Japanese (wet) stone. Sharpening has been a lot easier since I got over my initial terror that I would somehow ruin my knife with one round of incorrect sharpening...but I still feel insecure about my technique/results.
producestories at 8:27AM on 06/30/08
Many of my knives are eons old...I still have the serrated bread knife from my mom's kitchen when I first set up my own kitchen 25 years ago.
I have several stainless parers, mostly that I bought for a nickel each from my Gramma's estate (you can't just give a knife away - bad luck!).
Over the last few years, I've finally added better quality (though probably not known-name) knives. My son got me a set of 2 - utility and butcher - a few years ago that are doing well. And, my man has given me two very nice utility knives in the last 6 or 7 months.
For sharpening...that's his job. He has made knives in his life, and has the skill to keep them sharpened for me. I, too, have always held the fear of one wrong session destroying my knives forever.
thewrighttaste at 8:59AM on 06/30/08
I have 5 star Henkels, which are easily the best knives I have ever used. I just got them in February, so I havent needed to sharpen them, but it wil be by a professional. I cant imagine taking the stone to them.
nhfoodie at 9:23AM on 06/30/08
Has anyone ever used the ChefsChoice "professional" electric sharpener? It retails for about $169.
joannabar at 9:54AM on 06/30/08
All of my knives are Kershaw Shun Classics. I love them and I always use a steel. My steel came from a restaurant supply house, it's a dexter russel and I like it because it's way longer than the longest knife I own. Once a year I send them back to Shun for a sharpening which they offer for free for life. Every time i send them in, they send me back new knives instead of the old ones sharpened.
agemme27 at 10:10AM on 06/30/08
We have 4 Global knives: 8in chef's, 7in santoku, 5in utility knife, 4 in paring knife. We keep them honed with a ceramic sharpener. We also use the ceramic blocks that you need to wet prior to sharpening.
I wouldn't trade them for any knives.
hereandthe at 10:22AM on 06/30/08
I love my Wuestoff Classic chef's knife (10-inch) and offset serrated. They've got great heft and balance and cut clean. I keep them sharp with a steel, but would really love to learn how to use a stone.
Leah Greenstein at 10:26AM on 06/30/08
i buy all my cutlery at metrokitchen.com. I'm a huge fan of Wusthof Ikon, the santoku knife is amazingly sharp and I use my Global chef's knife daily. This Web site does a good job describing the product features!
DanielleS at 10:30AM on 06/30/08
i have a wusthoff 10 inch chef's knife, a wusthoff paring knife, and an inexpensive serrated knife. i steel the chef's knife when i think about it, which isn't too often, unfortunately. if anyone in the new york area is looking for a great knife sharpener, i can recommend samurai sharpening at the chelsea market. she's there on wednesdays and saturdays from noon to six and does a fantastic job.
cybercita at 10:33AM on 06/30/08
set of wusthof grand prix and a classic santoku. i sharpen them on the steel that comes with it. when i ever lose the edge, i'll have them professionally done
suburbangourmet at 10:36AM on 06/30/08
There is a big difference between sharpening and straightening a knife. The steel most people use in the kitchen a knife straightener to get a better edge and should be done regularly (if not for every use). Actual sharpening of a knife only needs to be done once or twice a year for household users and should be done by a professional.
Most of those sharpeners you see on TV or for under $500 are garbage and just destroy your knives.
BirdDoggie at 10:37AM on 06/30/08
I wait for my husband to feel helpful and then let him sharpen them!
smallblondemom at 12:22PM on 06/30/08
I bought my main knife from the guy who used to service the restaurant I worked at It cost me $5.00. I steel it every two or three times I use it, depending on what I'm cutting. It's generic, large (10-inch), and, for the most part, all I ever need. I bring it to a pro shop for real sharpening maybe every two years.
I also have a nice 10-inch carbon steel, also generic, from the same restaurant which I don't use much anymore because it oxidizes so quickly.
When I do the occasional catering job I bring a 10-inch sushi knife for slicing roast and such.
We have a set of Chicago Cutlery knives that a friend gave us as a wedding present. They mostly sit idle, as I find the blades are too thick and they get dull really quickly. I'm not a fan.
Depending on how much I use my knifes, professional sharpening seems to be needed only every year or two. Otherwise I use the steel I got from the restaurant supply house.
beano at 1:49PM on 06/30/08
After using and being happy with my Cutco, stop giggling!, I went straight to the Shun. Oh my what I was missing. I only use two of them: a 10" Chef that we call "The Samurai" and my 3" paring "Son of Samurai". The buggers are so sharp my 5" serrated that I used on almost exclusively tomatoes no longer gets used. I still use my Cutco carving knife because it works rather well but besides that, it's all about the Shun.
I run them over a Shun steel before every use and they stay scary sharp.
Bunnyman at 3:22PM on 06/30/08
My main knife is a Calphalon chef's knife. Otherwise, I've got some knives that my parents gave me when I moved into my apartment in college and needed to stock up my kitchen (a long-ish straight edge, a serrated knife, a couple steak knives and a paring knife). I also ended up with a semi-serrated bread knife. Nothing fancy by any means, but sturdy knives that have held up well.
The only three I really use are the chef's knife (most things), paring knife (small stuff), and the bread knife (tomatoes, bread). For sharpening, I only do the straight edge knives, using a whetstone (and a steel to keep them edges straight). I found a video on how to sharpen knives by hand on Grocery Guy. It requires some patience and coordination, but the results are good and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the alternatives.
stratusgd at 4:36PM on 06/30/08
I've used a Messermeister and Surge, but my favorite is still the 8 inch Farberware my mom got me years ago- I like something with heft. My man has a MAC he loves that's razor sharp but feels too light in my hand. We use a Kyocera ceramic honer, and here in SF, Jivano's does an awesome job sharpening.
Ravara at 12:28AM on 07/01/08
I have Forschners in my knife kit and Henckels I received as a gift at home. I like my Forschners better. They're sturdy little beasts, crazy affordable, and hone really easily!
OneWallKitchen at 11:38AM on 07/01/08
I just recently got married so we had the privaledge of wishlisting our perfect knife-collection -- which we got. GLOBAL KNIVES. It's the best japanese steel you can buy without taking out a loan. We got:
10" Chef's knife
9" boning knife
9" serrated bread knife
4 1/2" paring knife
A 1000/6000 grit water stone.
A cuisinart electric carving knife
We also have a 7" henkle santoku that serves as a secondary chef's knife.
johnhutch at 2:34PM on 07/01/08
Joannabar - have used a Chef's Choice sharpener for years. Donated the old one (with the ceramic/diamond honing oscillating thingies) and got a new model 130 a couple of years ago. Three slots. Does a great job on the eclectic collection of knives that I have - a 40+ year old L. L. Bean carbon steel chef's knife, a couple of Sabatier's, Wustoff Trident, a loooong Dexter Russell slicer, a few Chicago Cutlery, etc.
The nice thing about the new sharpener is that it gets right to the heel of the blade - the old one didn't. Cooks Illustrated testing lab likes it, too.
As far as using a whet stone - I can, but it takes a LOT of practice and experience to get it right. The Chef's Choice does a great job, and does it quickly.
Purrkins at 2:55PM on 07/01/08
I have Cutco knives too, and I love them. I sharpen them periodically with the sharpener that came with the set, but I am taking them with me on a trip camping this summer because I plan on stopping at the Cutco factory during the trip & having them sharpen them for me. The best thing about Cutco...lifetime guarantee! I dropped a knife on the floor and the tip broke off....they replaced it for free.
mepolo at 10:02AM on 07/03/08
I have Shun knives. I have them sharpened professionally every year. I steel them with evey use.
NuJoi at 2:23PM on 07/26/08
We have used the Chef's Choice sharpener for many years. I use a steel every time I use my knives, but when they need to be sharpened we do it with the Chef's Choice. Works great. I have Wustoff Trident knives.
izatryt at 4:15PM on 07/26/08
Thanks, Purrkins. I confess that I bought it because CI liked it. My remaining question is how often do I sharpen my knives? My knives are Wusthof and Henckel products if that makes any difference. I hope I'm using the sharpener correctly....I do follow the directions exactly but even with directions I can make mistakes!
Is Cutco only available from door to door salespeople?
joannabar at 1:59AM on 07/31/08