There is nothing better than starting to prep food and finding your knife is super sharp. It makes your task faster and more enjoyable. On the flip side, there is nothing worse than a dull knife. Fighting to get through your prep work, slogging to get uniform slices or dices, it makes every task harder. Here are some simple steps to keep your knives sharp.
- Buy a good quality knife. More expensive knives generally have a blade that is high carbon steel that will hold the edge longer. You don’t have to break the bank, there are plenty of $50 chef knifes that could hold their own against a $300 knife. For a budget friendly option, I like Mercer knives Renaissance series.
- Store it properly. Knives should be stored in a knife block or drawer storage that separates each knife. A magnetic wall strip is also acceptable. The goal is to have the blade protected and not in a jumble with other knives.
- Use a cutting board made from wood. Choosing glass, titanium, ceramic, or even bamboo will dull your knives due to the hardness of the surface. Plastic cutting boards, while soft and not damaging to your knives, can introduce microplastics to your food.
- Keep it sharp by using a honing rod. This is key. You may have a honing rod if you bought a set of knives. If not, you can get one that is made of ceramic that is the most forgiving. Look for videos online to show you how to use this. Each time you use your knife, after you clean and dry the knife, run it over the honing rod a few times to get the blade back in alignment and smooth off any rough spots. A honing rod will not sharpen your knives, it will just help to keep it sharp.
- Get it professionally sharpened every 6 months to 1 year. You can attempt to sharpen your knife at home but unless you have a professional-grade sharpener and some skill, you can actually make your knife worse. Most kitchen or hardware stores will sharpen one knife for free. Let the professionals do their job. How often you need to do this depends on usage obviously. I cook and use my knifes most days and have them sharpened about every 6 months.
Don’t miss another great blog: Subscribe Now