A Former Culinary School Instructor Shared Some Tips To Maintain Knives

Knives are the most essential kitchen utensils. Without this tool, it’s very difficult to make delicious dishes. Professional chefs even recommend each person to have several types of knives according to their respective functions. However, as expensive or as good as any knife you have, if not treated properly the quality of the resulting food will not be maximized. Dave Arnold, the former instructor at L’Academie de Cuisine Culinary School, said that a good knife must always be in sharp condition. “The knife must always be sharpened to maintain sharpness,” said Arnold. Additionally, before we continue, if you’re interested in Japanese knives, we suggest you read some Kamikoto reviews here.

Here are some important things you should know about sharpening techniques and the right way to care for a knife so that it lasts for a long time:

Understand how a knife works

Most knives are sharpened to an angle of 30 to 40 degrees, Arnold said. But over time, the very thin edge of the blade will suffer some damage. The edges or blades will become blunt compared to when you first bought it. If left unchecked, the texture of the blade will become more curved and difficult to use. Therefore, when you sharpen a knife you should do it carefully and slowly to restore its sharpness.

Know when a knife needs to be sharpened

A sharp knife will certainly make the cooking process more efficient. It will be easier for you to slice food without needing to do a lot of pressure that can reduce a chef’s calmness. Arnold recommends using tomatoes, lemons, peppers, carrots, and onions to test whether the knife you are using needs to be sharpened again.

Sharpen your knife carefully

Arnold suggested to re-align the blades that are bent very carefully. Special sharpening tools such as high-quality steel are needed to restore the function of the blade as it was originally. The technique is not arbitrary. Move the tip of the blade slowly at an angle of 15-20 degrees along with the steel. Then make a push and pull motion three times on each side of the blade.