Sharpening stones and steels and knives. Three things that belong together.
Chefs are measured by many metrics. Some fair, some not.
All chefs, and cooks too, are measured by knife skills.
Aside from a pleasant aesthetic, proper knife skills also create a uniformity for cooking. Oddly shaped onions or potatoes in your soup do have a poor aesthetic, but they are also clunky to eat, may not be cooked uniformly and convey sloppiness.
Skill and time with the knife are the only real ways to get uniformity. But, when the tool is dull, even the best of knife skills can only do so much.
That’s why a sharp knife is so important. Smooth, efficient slicing makes the food better.
Knives and stones come in a dizzying quantity of sizes and prices and uses. A slicer just for smoked fish or a knife only for cheese. Those who use them to the frequency they are necessary appreciate them. I have a smoked fish knife and it was worth all I paid just to slice smoked salmon so thin you could read the paper through each slice.
Not everyone has such a need.
The basics are a French knife, a steel to hone the edge and a sharpening stone to make the edge sharp.
This is similar to the French knife I use. This one is shorter. I like a long blade for better cutting. A heft is important to me and in this knife, I like the weight. Maybe the best feature is it has no heal.
Price can sometimes be an issue. If you plan to use your knife mostly every day, then you get what you pay for. In my career I’ve purchased two French knives, on in 1983 and on in 2000. Quality lasts.
[amazon_link asins=’B00004XS0T’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’us-1′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9ada5be9-820c-11e8-9761-0db3e4a374be’]
Sharpening Stones
In the olden days when I was a cook, the only options were oil stones.
[amazon_link asins=’B000XK4MYW’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’us-1′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d6aeaf5a-8210-11e8-bd2b-1dc78e040a00′]
Today I see an old technology has come into popularity: the whetstone. The principle difference is the lubricant is water instead of oil.
Whetstones come in a variety of grains ranging from very coarse, 250, to very fine, 6000. If you need just to resharpen your knife, and not work out knicks or chips, 1000 and 6000 should do nicely.
That is my new sharpening stone, the two sided one. Boy, I did love that three sided beast, but at home, it’s too much.
Here’s a video link to show how to sharpen a knife on a whetstone.
[amazon_link asins=’B01FZZUL30,B01KT9US30,B001DT1X9O,B018WF88R6′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’us-1′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f1806102-8210-11e8-8c9c-45a033faef53′]
Sharpening steel, or a honing rod
Steels are used to hone an edge which is still pretty sharp, but has developed very tiny burrs on the side of the blade making it cut less efficiently. The lines in the steel remove those burrs, returning the blade to almost knew.
A steel is intended for frequent use. I prefer a longer steel to accommodate the longer blades of my knives.
Between uses, wipe the surface of a sharpening steel with 00 steel wool to remove the tiny bits of metal and apply a light coat of mineral oil to protect the metal and also help wick away those metal bits the next time you hone your blade.
[amazon_link asins=’B000MD9IL2,B076K35QG1′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’us-1′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’944c4013-8211-11e8-b8ce-5bb55e58f407′]
Some sharpening steels are coated with a fine dust of diamonds. These actually do remove metal. They do sharpen a blade, are not a replacement for a stone, and work well. I have one, but have used it so much the diamond grit is gone and is now not really functional. Perhaps that is the best argument against them: they do lose their grit where a classic sharpening steel will last much longer.
[amazon_link asins=’B06W9J9RTN,B06X6J3279′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’us-1′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f6216a60-8211-11e8-8034-99e3f7789ce5′]
See more at my affiliate Kerekes Kitchen & Restaurant Supply. They have a lot, including more knives and pots and pans.