Cooking Knives

[Thief]

Alright, the feel I'm getting here is that the knife isn't as important as the sharpening. I already have a few knives, maybe they just aren't sharp enough.

Who can give me the 101 about sharpening? I tried youtubing a few videos but all I find is people who have expensive, non-accessible for the regular guy tools to sharpen their knives.

I do have this, KitchenAid Knife Sharpener | Canadian Tire

Get a stone having two sides of different grit.
Typical hardware store.

The stone should be firmly fixed (if a vice is used, squeeze very lightly)
Some stones can sit on table top with a piece of rubber underneath.

Most stones need a smear of oil or the steel will fill the grit.
The stone will stop cutting if debris is allowed to show.
If the work goes well a wet smear of gray will appear.

Set yourself comfy and take hold of the handle with your preferred grip.
The fingertips of your other hand on the back of the blade.....the edge of course is away from you.

Point first....stroke the blade forward pushing on the edge, to the handle.
It maybe needful to push slightly across the stone.
The main flat of the blade does NOT touch the stone.

The stroke is very similar to peeling a surface cut from a soft material.
It won't feel that way...but...the movement is identical.
As if to remove the top layer of the stone.....

SWITCH hands.
Point to handle....push away.

Your first consideration is the width of the edge.
For a kitchen knife, one eighth of an inch is all you need.
If you see less than that you are holding the knife too high as you push.
If you see scratches on the main flat, you are holding the knife too low.

Some blades have a lot of curve.
Your forward stroke will need be 'swung' to keep the edge uniform.

if the blade is already in bad shape, start on the coarse side of the stone.
It will cut quickly and the edge will feel rough.
Hopefully you learn quick as the coarse side will change your knife, quick.

The smoother side will make the edge slick to feel.
Be careful.

Check what you are doing now and then by feeling the edge with ONLY your fingerprint.
You have ten times the number of nerve endings in your fingerprint as compared to any other portion of your skin.

Place your print on the main flat.
Run your skin OVER the edge...........NOT DOWN THE LENGTH!
What you are feeling for is an upturned burr.
If the edge feels turned up....stroke THAT side on the smooth stone.
Go lightly on the smooth side.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Alright, the feel I'm getting here is that the knife isn't as important as the sharpening. I already have a few knives, maybe they just aren't sharp enough.

Who can give me the 101 about sharpening? I tried youtubing a few videos but all I find is people who have expensive, non-accessible for the regular guy tools to sharpen their knives.

I do have this, KitchenAid Knife Sharpener | Canadian Tire

In addition to single items (a strop, two Japanese whetstones, two diamond blocks of different grits, etc.) I currently own four different sharpening sets, one of which is electric. Of these, the most expensive is my Edge Pro. I barely use it, I don't use one system I own at all, and I rely mostly on Spyderco's Sharpmaker. This is because It not only provides ideal angles for you but also four different "levels" of sharpening. When I wish to go beyond it I can use a strop or a very fine grit stone, and when I am asked to re-tool/shape an abused blade I can use the diamond rods you can purchase from Spyderco or more frequently the rough grit stones from my Edge Pro system.

It took me some time to be capable of relying on my own experience when it comes to angles, types of stones/grits/rod v. stones/etc. rather than a system, and after years and years of not only sharpening but forging blades I still mainly use Spyderco's system for most purposes.

You want an easily used, forgiving, and intuitive system if you aren't very familiar with sharpening. I recommend the Sharpmaker because it is almost as good as the really professional systems but significantly cheaper. However, the most important point is that you use a system (whether of your own design or pre-packaged) that sharpens at the proper angles given the knife and that doesn't strip too much off of the edge as so many diamond sharpeners do. A single stone/rod is never adequate.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Get one of these they are cheap as chips
3pc 6" DIAMOND WHETSTONE SHARPENING STONE, KNIFE SHARPENER | eBay

Then Keep the edge in order with a fine kitchen steel.

 

[roger1440]

Here is a picture of my kitchen I had taken about 6 years ago. Take note on how I store my knives. I think my paring knive was in the sink at the time.

http://roger1440.netii.net/images/knives.jpg

 

[roger1440]

$100-150.
I like the chef's knife, and the santoku knife.
I use them at least 3 times a week.

I’m assuming that is Canadian dollars. $100 - $150 Canadian Dollars would translate to $89.41 - $134.11 American Dollars. I would recommend Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star Starter Knife Set. It would fit comfortably within your budget. The set costs US $100. It comes with an 8-inch Chef's Knife, 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife and a 4-inch Paring Knife. Usually the Chef’s knife alone would cost about US $100. This is a darn good price for this set. I would buy them, but I already have them. I have been using them for around 30 years. The 5-inch Serrated Utility knife is perfect for tomatoes.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star Starter Knife Set, 3-piece | cutleryandmore.com

In addition to this knife set I would suggest Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star 10 - inch Sharpening Steel. The price is about US $50. A sharpening steel realigns the cutting edge of a knife. When a sharp knife begins to get dull the first thing that happens is that the cutting edge begins to bend. The purpose of the sharpening steel is to put the cutting edge back into its original position. When a knife gets duller the cutting edge is worn down. A device that grinds the steel is then needed to resharpen the edge. Several types of methods are available to grind the cutting edge. I’ll get to that in another post.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star Deluxe Sharpening Steel, 10-inch | cutleryandmore.com

With proper care and maintenance knifes should last a life time. To avoid damage to your hands and knifes they should not be placed into the sink. When stored they should be placed into the plastic sleeves they came in when purchased or use a magnet bar.

 

[dantech]

I’m assuming that is Canadian dollars. $100 - $150 Canadian Dollars would translate to $89.41 - $134.11 American Dollars. I would recommend Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star Starter Knife Set. It would fit comfortably within your budget. The set costs US $100. It comes with an 8-inch Chef's Knife, 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife and a 4-inch Paring Knife. Usually the Chef’s knife alone would cost about US $100. This is a darn good price for this set. I would buy them, but I already have them. I have been using them for around 30 years. The 5-inch Serrated Utility knife is perfect for tomatoes.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star Starter Knife Set, 3-piece | cutleryandmore.com

In addition to this knife set I would suggest Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star 10 - inch Sharpening Steel. The price is about US $50. A sharpening steel realigns the cutting edge of a knife. When a sharp knife begins to get dull the first thing that happens is that the cutting edge begins to bend. The purpose of the sharpening steel is to put the cutting edge back into its original position. When a knife gets duller the cutting edge is worn down. A device that grinds the steel is then needed to resharpen the edge. Several types of methods are available to grind the cutting edge. I’ll get to that in another post.

Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star Deluxe Sharpening Steel, 10-inch | cutleryandmore.com

With proper care and maintenance knifes should last a life time. To avoid damage to your hands and knifes they should not be placed into the sink. When stored they should be placed into the plastic sleeves they came in when purchased or use a magnet bar.

I really like the look and feel of J.A Henckels. I think this is what I'm going to go for, but I would like to have a Santoku knife with that.

 

[roger1440]

Did you ever decide on a knife set?

 

[The Neo Nerd]

What do you guys think of ice hardened knives?

 

[roger1440]

After I saw this video I thought of this thread

 

[Ouroboros]

I'm a big time knife guy and also cook a lot...only use Victorinox kitchen knives. Really affordable and easy to get on Amazon or elsewhere. I do almost everything with a chef's knife just like this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000638D32?pc_redir=1411424825&robot_redir=1

Also have a few paring knives, bread knife, "utility", etc. all Victorinox.

They're great. I have a set as well for my BBQ.