Knife care

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

Honing, stropping, sharpening… now I know how wine newbies feel when I start talking…

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/840455/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They claim to sharpen wiht a 2k stone daily, not honing at
all… hmmmmm…

One thing that makes the whole business confusing is that “honing” seems to
mean different things to different groups of people. In kitchens, honing
seems to be done frequently using a steel with no or minimal removal of metal.
On the other hand, for barbers, wood carvers, and many sportsmen,
honing seems to mean a fine grinding step done occasionally with a fine stone.
The barbers and wood carvers use a frequent “stropping” stage on a material
such as leather or paper (sometimes with a very fine grit “stropping compound”)
that seems to replace the honing on a steel done in kitchens. The relative
advantages of a steel vs. a strop are not yet clear to me.

I intend to play with Wicked Edge. http://www.wickededgeusa.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; to see where that gets me. They are local so I’m going to the factory/showroom to talk, to test drive, etc. They look stupid proof, and for knives of this cost, I think stupid proof is just what I need.

2

We have a guy that drives around in a van and has a sharpening service he operates out of it. I was using him often when I was in the restaurant biz. Our local butcher will also sharpen my chef’s knives if I bring them in when he’s not busy. If you buy your meats from one place you should ask this may be safer for your fingers :wink:

3

I buy my meats from Flannery. I’m not sure shipping them to Bryan is what he wants.

4

When your knives need sharpening (using the steel no longer works) send them to Shun/Kershaw in Tualatin, Oregon. They’ll sharpen them and send them back, though there’s a rumor that they just send you brand new knives. Mine are Wusthoffs, so I can’t speak from personal experience.

5

Yes this was a BIG selling point. They fitin my hands almost perfectly, and are pretty to look at, and are wicked sharp, the free sharpening was the final straw that said “go buy”.

6

I can only tell you that I have always done it wrong as my favorite knives are mere splinters of what they once were. Once you figure it out - please advise. [beg.gif]