Jul 13 2012
The Cutting Edge
It’s often said that a sharp knife is a safe knife because a dull knife causes you to exert more pressure and increases the change of slippage. The reality is that most homeowners and everyday cooks have plenty of knives but no knife sharpening tools; the result is lots of knives that are dull or do not hold an edge. The prospect of starting a knife and cutlery sharpening regimen can be daunting, especially if you are not especially mechanically inclined.
One option is to look into finding a professional knife sharpening service – there may be a cutlery store in your area but if not there are services which operate by mail order. When you think about the effort and cost involved in either of these options, the prospect of sharpening your own knives can suddenly become more attractive plus you will never be without the knives you need when you need them.
You may even have a sharpening steel or sharpening rod which came with the knife set you won. They are referred to as sharpening steels even though they may be made of ceramic or coated with a fine diamond dust. Look online for instructional videos on how to sharpen knives with a sharpening steel.
If a sharpening steel seems like too much of a challenge then you may prefer a sharpening device designed so that you simply pull the knife through it – there are many knife sharpeners designed this way and they typically consist of two crossed diamond or ceramic rods. The design is such that you can only pull the blade through; this helps to eliminate the possibility of harming or changing the blade edge.
