Thursday, August 02, 2007
Three Tips for Preserving Your Knife's Edge
Sharpening knives isn't a horrible task, but who wants to do it any more than necessary? So I've got a few suggestions that will help keep the edge around, at least a little longer:
- Don't chop. Slice. Many recipes call for chopped this, that, or the other thing. But chopping doesn't mean that you have to take that beautiful knife edge and swing it in a wacking arc down to the hard cutting surface below. Instead of bouncing the blade off the surface, slice through the food. You can still get large chunks while retaining control (and it's a heck of a lot safer, as well).
- Use a blade guard. If you store blades in a drawer, put guards on them. You've got a range of choices that run from the hinged cover that locks into place to a strip of plastic that fits on the edge side of the blade. When things rattle as you open and close drawers, you won't be dulling the instruments.
- Careful when you pile your cuttings. After you've cut up an ingredient, how do you get it from the cutting board to wherever it needs to go? If you slide the knife blade along to push the food, stop now, because you're quickly dulling the edge. You can just flip the knife over so that its back is down. Then use that unnecessary part to do the pushing.
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Do you have any thoughts on the effect of chopping surfaces on helping maintain knife sharpness? Except for bread, when I use a wooden board, I use synthetic (polypropylene???) boards most of the time. Some of them seem to have a forgiving, yielding surface that I have persuaded myself is kinder to the knives. Your opinion?
Claire @ http://culinary-colorado.blogspot.com
Claire @ http://culinary-colorado.blogspot.com
Supposedly polyethylene or polypropylene cutting surfaces don't dull knives as quickly as tougher ones, but then the nicks and cuts you leave can harbor bacteria. A good hardwood cutting board with edge or end grain up is supposed to resist knife cuts, but even here you can get cuts. You can sand a wooden surface smooth again, however you do need to oil them periodically and keep them out of prolonged contact with water.
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