It seems that there’s a lot of conflicting information and beliefs out there regarding knife sharpening….What’s recommended and what makes sense for the home chef?
Well first the critical distinction is home chef…If you’re a professional knocking out hundreds of meals you’re at an entirely different level than the home chef. One is about production, getting food plated and to the diners with maximum speed and quality..as for the home chef..well, we don’t dawdle but also don’t mind keeping things at a pace where cooking is an enjoyable thing.
So in the video below Alton Brown gives some solid advice…and if your knives are a mess and very dull you should consider getting them professionally sharpened as dull knives really are dangerous. However, in the real world my knives have a good edge and they keep a good edge by just hitting them with a small sharpening stone quickly after each use…no leather strop or anything taking a lot of time or effort. Just some basic and quick maintenance. Are my knives perfectly sharp and ready for a Manhattan Restaurant Kitchen?…absolutely not. Do they do the job for a guy preparing a dinner for two?..very well thank you. You see, there’s no need to chop a carrot with blurring speed as you’d probably cut your finger off anyway. And when you’re serving two and not two hundred the extra minute of chopping doesn’t make a difference. So maybe using a sharpening stone to keep your knives sharp with little effort makes sense for you as well…
However, in case you want to learn how to take this to the next level, here’s Alton Brown…
