Hands down, the most important kitchen tool in your cooking arsenal is a good quality kitchen knife. It’s the first thing I grab when I’m preparing a meal. Any recipe that calls for chopping, slicing and dicing requires a good sharp knife. How many times have you struggled to slice a tomato with a dull knife? Did you know that you have a higher risk of cutting yourself with a dull knife than you do with a sharp knife? It’s true!
We all have that one knife, our favorite that we reach for over and over. You may have several knives in your arsenal but we all have that one knife that is most comfortable to use and fits your hand the best. I have a set of very expensive Henkles knives that I received as a wedding gift over 38 years ago that cut like a dream. But to be honest they aren’t the knives that I usually reach for first. Instead I typically reach for my favorite knife, my trusty old workhorse, a vintage ten inch “Old Homestead” chef’s knife.
It fits my hand comfortably, the wood handle is smooth and timeworn from decades of constant use and the entire knife is beautifully balanced. I like the longer ten inch blade versus the shorter, eight inch blade that is more common with a chef’s knife. Over the years this knife has become like an extension of my arm and makes the chore of chopping, slicing and dicing a dream.
TIP: Always hand wash your knives with warm soapy water. NEVER, EVER, EVER wash them in your dish washer!
Over the years I’ve purchased several varieties of knife sharpeners, and while they do work the sharpness of the blade doesn’t seem to last very long and you constantly have to run the blade though the sharpener. I remember growing up my father would sharpen his favorite knife on a whetstone out in the garage at his work bench. He would spend a considerable amount of time sharpening that knife but he only needed to do it once every few months. That knife was always wickedly sharp and cut through tomatoes like nobodies business!
When I first met my husband he worked at a restaurant as the carver and I remember watching him sharpen his knifes on a whetstone as well. Management wanted him to slice the roast beef so thin you could see light coming through each slice. You need a very sharp knife to cut roast beef into slices that thin.
When we were at the Fair this summer I spotted a whetstone at a very reasonable price ($16.00) and decided to purchase it. Look for a whetstone that has both a coarse side and a fine side like this one.
That following weekend I got to work, and to be quite honest, my first attempt produced less than stellar results. That’s when my husband stepped in to provide a few, very important, and helpful pointers.
First, make sure to give yourself plenty of time. Sharpening a knife properly takes a bit of time. Just know it will take much longer than running the blade through a sharpener a few times and calling it good. It took me a little over 30 minutes to get a good sharp edge on my knife blade. If you take your time you will end up with a wickedly sharp knife and be well rewarded for your time and effort…I promise!!!
Second, it’s important to apply the right amount of consistent pressure while sharpening the blade, not too much or too little. Optimally you want to apply between 4 to 5 pounds of consistent pressure when sharpening the blade. An easy way to know what that amount of pressure feels like is to get out a digital kitchen scale and apply pressure until you get the feel for what applying 4 to 5 pounds of pressure feels like.
The third thing to keep in mind is the angle at which you are holding the blade of the knife against the the whetstone. The blade should be held at a 10 degree angle to the whetstone.
FYI: This process is not recommended for sharpening serrated edged knives.
SUPPLIES:
- Dull knife
- Digital kitchen scale
- Coarse and fine, Whetstone
- Water
- Dish rag or paper towels
- Sheet of paper
- Knife steel
Start by submerging the whetstone in a sink full of water and allow it to soak for 10-15 minutes.
Place a folded dish rag or several folded paper towels on your work surface. This will prevent the stone from moving and shifting as you sharpen the blade. Remove the whetstone from the water and place it on the dishrag or paper towels, coarse side facing up, sort edge of the stone facing you. Dribble some more water onto the surface of the whetstone to moisten the entire surface.
Place the blade onto the far end of the stone at a 10 degree angle and pull the blade toward you, starting at the end of the blade that’s closest to the handle and moving the blade to the tip as you pull it towards you.
Repeat this process over and over and over, keeping the blade at a 10 degree angle and applying consistent pressure with each pass. After a few minutes you will start to notice a shiny edge along the length of the blade.
Once you have a nice edge on the first side, turn the blade over and repeat the process on the other side.
Once you have a good edge on both sides of the blade, turn over the whetstone to the “fine” side and repeat the process. Add another dribble of water to the stone to keep it good and wet. Keep running the knife blade over the stone until you have a really sharp edge.
The quickest and easiest way to determine if your knife is really good and sharp is to do the paper test. Hold a sheet of paper in your left hand and try to cut through the edge of the sheet of paper. If the blade catches, rips the paper or cuts a jagged edge, your knife isn’t sharp enough…back to the whetstone for more passes to get that sharp knife. If the knife blade cuts through the paper like butter and produces a clean cut you are done. Well almost…there’s just one more quick little step.
Once you have a nice sharp edge on your knife, run the blade along a knife steel to finish. Hold the knife blade at a 10 degree angle to the steel. It only needs about three or four passes on each side and doesn’t require as much pressure. Just glide the knife edge gently along the length of the steel.
Congratulations! You are now ready to tackle some serious slicing, dicing, and chopping! You will be amazed at how much easier this task is when you are using a good sharp knife! Be sure to run your knife over the steel each time you pull it out to use it. This will maintain that razor sharp edge in between whetstone sharpening. Depending on how often you use your knives you will only need to sharpen your knifes with a whetstone once every 3-4 months.
HAPPY CHOPPING!!!
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John 6:35
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