I like the old-school way of sharpening knives. Our kitchen knives needed some TLC, and I always take some time in the holiday season to get them in great shape again. It's getting hard to find the supplies any more to do this type of sharpening. The world wants FAST and NOW. That means power grinding wheels, ground diamond stones and sticks, and other fast-is-better-forget-quality approaches. That's just not how I view things, so I do it the slow and steady way. The proof is in the finished blade seen with a magnifying glass.
When you consider what the routine tasks are for a kitchen knife, any sharpening method will get the job done. If I'm making a sandwich, store bought bread makes a sandwich just as functional as home-made bread. There's more to life than 'functional'.
On a lighter note, I can now sleep soundly knowing our butcher block of knives are all in top working condition. It may seem like such an invisible thing that doesn't mean much, but it does to me. They are the right tool for the job!
When you consider what the routine tasks are for a kitchen knife, any sharpening method will get the job done. If I'm making a sandwich, store bought bread makes a sandwich just as functional as home-made bread. There's more to life than 'functional'.
5 comments:
NICE, John, what a great post and lovely reminder. I adore my knives, not a new one among 'em, and they get loving care too.
Thanks, Kate. I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way about cutlery.
I appreciate your dedication to "doing it right," John, and your drawing puts me right there at the honing edge with you. Not sure what your crock sticks are, though. Is that the long narrow tool? Or the crossed sharpeners? Man, I love to see a perfectionist at work. I can watch a professional for hours, just appreciating how they use their tools and their attention to details. Good on ya!
Irene - the crossed sharpeners are the crock sticks and are made of ceramic material. They were popular 30 years ago and are hard to get now. The single rod is a "steel" for homing the final edge. Sometimes the steel is made of ceramic material. Other tools can be used for sharpening, too, but this is the set that I've gotten used to and serve me well.
Good to get the skinny on that. Thanks for the education! I've only used whetstone and file, so it's nice to know there are other good methods. I live in Belize now, and need to learn how to sharpen my machete!
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