Hi all. I'm new here and this is my first post. I somehow arrived here thanks to my iPhone and the bigoven app. I'm a fair home cook. My main interests other than preparing food are high performance Japanese knives, extreme sharpening, cutting boards, and induction cooktops. I have quite a bit of knowledge on all except the cooktops.
Dear Buzz,
I have a knife story, which I'll bore you with, and I'm hoping you will decide to have pity on me and offer some advice about how to properly sharpen these latest additions to my kitchen.
Before these knives i would have flatly stated I was a very capable knife-sharpener. I have several stones, one of which has been in my family many years. I know how to use it well, am good at putting edges on all of the mediocre-grade knives I've ever owned (the macy's varieties) and on my various friends knives and utensils. I use a few drops of olive oil on my favorite stone, which is roughly 10" long and a couple of inches deep and wide. I use both hands to slowly and smoothly brush the edge of the knife along the stone, often I don't even need to use the rougher side because I sharpen often.
Now, the latest additions. For my son's birthday, he asked me to buy him some "good knives." He is 28, single, and an excellent cook. Most people would call him a chef, but he says he knows some chefs (he's in the restaurant industry in Santa Barbara, CA) and therefore he does not class himself in their leagues.
My point is, he wanted real, working knives. I went to my fav resource (google) and got busy researching chef knives. I ended up falling into purchasing a 5-pc started set of Italian Sanelli knives off ebay for a pittance >> $150. They are awesome! They came and were so perfectly balanced I could not believe it. I had never held such magnificent knives. I sent them off to my son quickly before I could talk myself into keeping them.
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The very evening I mailed them, I attended my monthly quilt group meeting, which is a rotating potluck at different member's houses. This evening it was hosted by a new member, a retired couple, who have been married 30+ years. When I arrived the neighbor's cows were roaming the entire area and all available bodies in the neighborhood (except our group of 'visitors') were out rounding up the live beef.
As a result of this fact, since her husband was not home to assist, I volunteered for and received the job of cooking the hamburgers and getting the grill managed. In the process I asked for a knife and she handed me a knife which I was delighted to realize was a Sanelli. She told me she and her husband had been given the knife by friends as a wedding present 30 years ago, and the guy who offered the gift was a working chef at the time. The knife was WONDERFUL.
Because of these chance coincidences, I decided I definitely needed some Sanelli for myself. I went back to ebay and posted to receive notifications of auctions as they occurred. A month ago I won myself a set of used knives. They are no where near as old as my quilting friend's knife, however they need help. They are wonderful to hold, very balanced, very light. The problem is that although they are "sharp" they are not the razor-edge I experienced on the new set I got for my son, or the 30+ knife belonging to my friend.
After this long diatribe you have probably realized I need help re-creating the original wonderful edge. Currently, they cut fine when I draw them across the item, they are technically sharp, but they do not have the straight-down cutting ability I experienced with the knives properly sharpened.
Do you have advice or are you completely disgusted ?? LOL
Your help is anticipated and much appreciated.
Ann - those are a lot of words to express "How do I get my knives sharp?" Your knives come from the factory with a bevel angle of 22 to 25 degrees per side. The steel from which they are made can handle approximately 15 degrees per side (30 degree included angle), and this what you need to have truly sharp knives. To get an idea of the geometry, the next time you're at a Macy's, Sur La Table, etc. check out the Shun knives. The reason is that all Shuns come with 16 degree bevels and you can study them to learn your goal in creating your own edges.
Whoa! This forum software sucks. Hyperlinking is a PITA and I don't even see a way to post pictures. What's with that?
This might prove helpful. I was thrilled to discover that Jaden is a member of our Big Oven family too. http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/11/16/how-to-sharpen-your-knives/ Anne
[edited November-26-2008]
I'd never heard of steamykitchen before. Coincidentally, Chad Ward, author of "An Edge In The Kitchen", who is referenced in the above posted steamykitchen url is an online acquaintance at a knife specific forum in which I participate daily. It's mostly about Japanese knives and contains a lot of information on sharpening because they have different geometry which must be understood in order to sharpen correctly.
Good for you, Ann. Food prep becomes more fun when the blade slices effortlessly. It's a little more safe as well providing one pays attention to where the edge is relative to your fingers.
I had a similar experience with a chef knife i picked up in a yard sale. I was advised to get a sharpening kit from Lansky, which I've used sucessfully for some time now. I find it vastly less time consuming to use the bracket sharpener to get a 20 degree edge on my kitchen knives.
i'm starting to look into getting some more knives like the one mentioned, which is a Russell. Any thoughts on them? Or the Sanelli? I need to keep it on the rather inexpensive side.
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