Re-learning knife skills, by necessity. I now have a killer knife sharpener...

M

michael-in-phoenix

Well-known member
...and my knives are sharper than they were when they came out of the factory.

I'm cutting myself to ribbons! Little habits I have are resulting in nasty cuts.

I guess it shows how dull my knives used to be! I do love having sharp ones now, but I have to be very, very careful how I use them, to say the least.

Michael

 
I have learned that that last little piece of the onion is not worth it

Throw it away! (After a trip to the emergency room for stitches)

 
Shed blood TWICE while chopping onions! My onion chopping 'routine' is ...

...pretty much automatic. I was doing the same thing I always do, but that knife slipped into the onion faster and further than it used to when it was dull, and whammo!

No ER trips, yet.

Michael

 
Sharp knives are much safer than dull knives,...

You'll get the hang of it, and don't ever let them get dull again!

 
Michael, I get all my knives professionally sharpened every year on my birthday. (It's the gift

that keeps on giving)because a sharp knife is SO much safer to use.

Took me a while but consider this: let the knife do the work for which it was designed. In other words, instead of sawing while pushing down, put it in position and use your hand, wrist and arm to let it glide through the onion. The only work you have to do is keep the food in one place and your fingers out of the way.

Check out these videos:


 
I despair visiting my mom because her knives are always so dull!

I take them out the garage and use the electric knife sharpener on them and it helps such a great deal.

My other big tip is no "sharks" in the sink. I always wash my knives after use and put them on the mag rack to dry. I have cut my hands at friends and family's sinks by reaching in and getting a "shark bite".

 
I have a huge family and there is not one decent knife between all of them!

I grew up with dull knives and learned to all all my slicing and dicing with my dad's steak knives. At least they were serrated. My first sharp knife was such a revelation.

 
I started learning to chop using a chefs' knife but I do a rocking motion

I keep the point of the knife on the board at all times and rock the back of the knife down through the tomato, onion or whatever I am cutting. Does anyone else do it this way?

 
Yes, and though I love my Santoku knife for slicing, I still use the chef's knife for mincing

and fine chopping because, as you say, it rocks.

 
I hide my carving knife even though we use it only several times a year. Otherwise it would be

slicing god knows what and dull.

 
I acquired a Chef's Choice model 130. I heard about it from Cook's Illustrated.

I think they said they liked it so much they use it in their test kitchens to sharpen all the knives they use.

It does work well, and it removes a minimal amount of metal... even when you have to put a brand new edge on a really dull knife. It was pricey, but should last a lifetime. I have to add that if you total up all the junky sharpeners I've purchased over the last few years, it would probably total near the cost of this one. Besides, it was a birthday gift -a real surprise.

I'll never buy razor blades again! This thing rocks!

Michael

http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-Proffesional-Station-Sharpener/dp/B003AECBZA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317393622&sr=8-2

 
My knife skills are very good, in general. I am expedient and my technique is good, but...

...there are a few little bad habits I picked up over the years that are getting me in trouble with these super-sharp edges.

The knives fly through food with very little, if any, resistance. For example, when I dice an onion I first slice it in half, pole to pole. Then I cut off the stem end and peel. I lay it cut side down and before I make my verticle cuts toward the root, I usually make one or two lateral cuts with my knife parallel to the cutting board, toward the root. It all depends how large the onion is. Well, the knife slips through the onion so fast on the lateral cuts that I didn't pull my left hand out of the way fast enough. With my (relatively) dull knives, it took more effort and a sawing motion to accomplish the cut. I had plenty of time to move my left hand (holding the onion in place) out of the way of the blade. Zoinks!!!!

Little things. I just have to clean up my techniques and anticipate the behavior of a properly sharpened knife. I've been looking forward to this day for YEARS, when I'd have a kitchen full of very sharp knives! It is very, very fun, and I look forward to prepping for a meal now.

Michael

 
Last Christmas I schlepped my Mac santoku to my fil's house, knowing...

...I'd need the sharpest knife I own to get through all the prep for holiday feasts. It was the only knife I owned with a decent edge on it, as I bought a manual sharpener specifically made for the angle on santoku edges at the same time I bought the knife.

I came home from visiting friends a couple of days after Christmas to find my bil using my Mac as a steak knife. He was cutting his left-over prime rib on a ceramic plate with my knife.

Oy.

Michael

 
I have one of these too! I still should take my knives in for a professional

edge but this sharpener does a good job. I have the one that has 3 slots.

 
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