Do Not Attempt This Yourself!

[Mama Mangia]

If you are not experienced in this department - go to a professional!!!

Better safe and correct than sorry and ruined!


Use wood or polyethylene cutting boards. Marble, glass, stone, ceramic and other hard surfaces damage knives. They can dull, blunt or nick a blade.

To clean knives, wipe the knife quickly with a nonabrasive cloth or sponge, dry it and put it away. I always use hot soapy water and rinse well - never let my knives sit in the water.

Do not put that expensive knife in the dishwasher: the handle will loosen over time. The blade of a knife is made from different material from the handle and each will expand and contract differently.

A poorly sharpened knife blade will give you a jagged edge.

Have a knife professionally ground and sharpened by a skilled craftsman is the best way to go.

Holding the knife at a proper angle is the key when using a sharpening tool. Make a quick guide by folding a piece of paper twice, like you're making a paper airplane, to create a 22.5-degree angle. Hold the paper perpendicular to the steel, and you have an idea of the correct angle to hold the knife while sharpening.

An easy way to sharpen a knife is by holding the steel upright, with the point braced against a cutting board. Start with the end of the blade closest to the handle and gently pull the knife back toward you. Repeat and alternate sides of the blade.

Avoid using the knife-sharpening feature on the back of your electric can opener. This only heats up the blade and makes it duller than when you started. Instead buy a small handheld sharpening tool. They're inexpensive, easy to use and available at most housewares stores.


TIPS:

* Soak a whetstone in vegetable oil prior to use, for smooth sharpening. Do not run water over an oil-soaked stone because it will ruin it. Place the whetstone on top of a towel so it won't slip around when you begin to sharpen.

* If using a sharpening stone, try lubricating it with a little liquid dishwashing soap. It will work just as well as oil and will wash away the steel particles that could potentially clog the wheel.

* Knives dull because microscopic bits of metal are nicked and bent each time you cut. Run the dull blade across some butcher steel approximately 10 strokes down the length of the blade.

* Place the tip of your knife blade at a 20-degree angle against the stone, with the sharp end facing you. Push the blade away from you, following the curve of the knife about a third of the way down the blade. Repeat 20 to 30 times, lifting the blade off the stone for each stroke. Do not backstroke your blade.

* Sharpen the hone of the blade--the flat part of the blade--by stroking it back and forth diagonally across the surface of the stone. Use slight pressure by carefully pressing down on the blade with your fingertips as you run the blade down the stone. Run your knife from the lower left corner of the stone to the upper right.

* A ceramic coffee mug with a rough base can be an alternative tool for sharpening. Turn the mug upside down, and using your opposite hand, hold the cup in place with the cup's handle. Run the blade at a slight angle across the bottom of the mug away from your hand. When I was a kid, gram would use the stoop in front of the house - great concrete it was!

* Place sandpaper over a wooden block. Hold the sides of the sandpaper over the block and tack it down. Run the blade across the surface approximately 10 times, alternating sides of the blade.

* When working with sharp knives, practice first with a bag of onions. You can cop the onions for a soup, while getting used to using a sharp knife.

* Wash and dry the knife immediately after each use to deter bacterial growth.

* Never put a knife in the dishwasher because it can rattle around, and the blade can get nicked. Also, wooden-handled knives can be damaged by heat and steam.

* Keep knife blades protected when they are not being used. Cut up old cardboard from shoeboxes and form knife slips. Simply lay the knife out on the cardboard and trace the blade. Cut out two of the same shape. Tape with heavy duct tape along the two long ends to the point. Reinforce the point with extra tape. Slip the cover over the blade through the open end.

* Use a wooden knife block or in-drawer knife holder.

IMPORTANT!!! The above is for the experienced only - if you have never sharpened a knife before - let a professional do it for you!!!

 

[Jafo232]

Another tip, when using a knife block, place the knives in it upside down so the knife is not resting on its edge.

Also, if you have never used a stone to sharpen a knife, practice with some of your older/cheaper knives until you get the hang of it.

 

[KYHeirloomer]

Agree with almost everything Mama says. Except the line about using a professional if you've never done it before.

Everybody has to learn sometime. And it's getting harder and harder to find a professional sharpener anyway.

But you don't want to learn on your good knives.

My recommendation is that you go out and buy several cheapie knives at a box store. Why several? Because different knife configurations will handle differently in your hand when you sharpen/hone them. So if you get, say, a paring knife, a slicer, and a chef's knife you'll be able to practice with different shapes and lengths.

You'll need a stone and a steel as well.

Keep in mind that there is a difference between sharpening, honing, and steeling (stropping) a blade. Sharpening is something that should only happen, in most households, about once a year. Or even less. With sharpening you are actually removing a lot of metal and reshaping the blade.

Honing is more common, and is used to realign the edge of the blade. Most people think they're sharpening a knife when they do that, especially if they hone with crock sticks, opposing metal or ceramic rings, and similar devices. What actually happens is this: As you use the knife, the edge takes on a ripple. This means that the knife actually has to work harder to do its job, because it is, in effect, traveling further. Honing and steeling realign the edge so that it is straight. And because the knife (and you) aren't working as hard it seems as though you've sharpened it.

A word, btw, on those sticks, rings, etc. There is nothing wrong with them, per se. The problem you run into is that you are stuck at a pre-set angle. And not all knives share the same angle in common. Kitchen knives typically are sharpened from about 17 to 22 degrees. Which may not seem like much, but is; particularly if you're trying to inadvertently regrind the edge on a very fine stone.

Stropping is a fine-tune honing, and does things like remove any hairline edges that may have formed. In general, if you have a well sharpened blade that has not been abused, stropping is all the maintainance it needs until the next actual sharpening. If you have a good stone and a good steel you really don't need any other sharpening tools.

BTW, when you buy a steel, there is no need for a diamond grit or any of that stuff. They actually work too fast, and remove metal, thus sharpening instead of honing. If you need to sharpen, use the stone.

Anyway, practice with those cheapie knives until you're comfortable with the process. You'll get lots of practice, because the cheap knives won't hold an edge very long, so you'll be sharpening often.

Once you're comfortable with the process, try it on one of your good knives.

 

[KYHeirloomer]

Just a word about knife storage.

All the various systems share one thing in common: they keep the knives from banging together. And that should be your secondary goal when storing knives (safety being the first one).

So, if you don't have one, invest in a knife block, an in-drawer knife holder, or even one of those magnet bars you can mount on a cabinet door. Or, if you have the room, use a slot cut right in your work surface.

The one thing you don't want to do is have your knives jumbled up together in a drawer. It's not good for the knives. And it's not a safe practice.

 

[Jafo232]

Here is a good video from Alton Brown:

YouTube - Alton Brown Good Eats Knife Sharpening