Abhinav Kumar Srivastava asked:

The kitchen is the most important part of any house and designing it with all needed accessories is also very important. There are countless accessories that you need in order to manage your kitchen and which are quite important for augmenting the utility. However, the knives are one of the most essential items. And for a successful chef this is much needed. You can not be a perfect kitchen king if you do not have the good quality knives which are not only good at working but also look good. As all the other stuff of the place needs special care and attention to be in perfect order, similarly, the knives also need some unique ways to improve their conditions. The shining knives with a sharpen edge can not only give you an alternative for good kitchen work but it will also allow you to portray a managed look. The knife sharpening steel is thus the name that helps you to maintain a knife in a better condition for long.

A knife sharpening steel is a piece of metal that can be used to sharpen the knives. This is also known as the honing steel on which you can rub your knife and as a result, the edges get sharpen. A blunt knife is not at all useful because of its blunt edge. All the people working in the kitchen need sharp knife not only for cutting the vegetables or fruits but for variety of functions. You will be simply amazed to see that how instantly a knife works if it is sharp. On the other hand a blunt knife gives you a lot of trouble while using it. You will have to devote extra time in order to use the blunt knife and the finishing that you can get through this is also not very good. The sharpen edges facilitate the fast and smoother cutting. Be it any kind of vegetables, meat, fruits and other stuff you can cut it easily through the sharp knife. So, this honing steel is vitally important accessory that you must have in your kitchen.

The knife sharpening steel is a good tool that not only sharpens the blades but also hones it. It does not remove the material qualities of the knife or the blade but it makes them smoother and easier while using. One should always keep a honing steel into the kitchen with a view to have healthy knives. Now you need not to struggle with the blunt blades anymore as this steel will give you an effective solution to get out of this problem. Hence you can also make it a part of your kitchen accessories that is valuable enough to give you instant cutting solutions.

Tony Grimes asked:




USING A SHARPENING STEEL

With a little practice, anyone can master the art of using the steel to keep your knives sharp.
The sharpening steel is a metal rod that consists of a slightly softer hardness factor than the knife blade. Sharpness is maintained by stroking the blade, at a 10 degree angle, over the rod on a regular basis. It is best to use the same brand of steel as your knives to avoid using the wrong steel.

When a knife is looked at under a microscope, the edge, even the edge of a fine edged knife, is made up of thousands of small teeth. After constant use, these are bent out of line and the blades become less effective for cutting properly. Stroking the knife on a sharpening steel does not put a new edge on a knife; it simply realigns the existing edge, increasing sharpness.
After a lot of use the steel becomes ineffective and some type of hone, or stone, is needed to put a new edge on a knife. After this is done the steel fine tunes the blade.

Easiest Method of Steeling for home using “Cutting Motion” and followed by “Reverse Cutting Motion”

Sharpening with “Cutting Motion”

Hold the sharpening steel in your left hand with the point of the steel firmly placed on a cutting board or table, the steel should now be vertical to the surface.

Hold the knife in your right hand , as if you were going to cut

Place the section of the blade closest to the knife handle against the sharpening steel just under the steel handle.

Angle the knife about 10 degrees from the sharpening rod.

With even pressure pull the knife handle toward you as you travel DOWN the steel, stroke the entire blade edge ending at the tip as you near the bottom of the steel.

Alternate from left to right sides of the steel rod about six times.

Sharpening with “Reverse Cutting Motion”

Put the point of the sharpening steel on a cutting board, or table, surface at a 90-degree angle.

Push the blade flat across the sharpening steel, moving in the opposite direction of normal cutting.

Place tip of knife on steel close to table, with even pressure push blade of knife as you move UP the steel.

Stroke the whole blade to the blade handle, you should end up near handle of steel.

Repeat the process on the other side of the knife-edge.

The sharpening steel should be used every time a knife is used. A professional meat cutter carries a steel at his side and uses it every few minutes to keep his knives sharp.

Use a scouring powder pad to clean and remove metal particles from the steel, do not use steel wool. Use even pressure with the scouring pad fro handle to tip. Rinse with clear water, dry the steel well and store in a dry place.

THE HONE

I recommend using a ceramic hone for home use, electric sharpeners and stones are a little more tricky to use.

Handle the hone with care, unlike a steel, it can break if dropped, or banged against a hard surface.

Any method for creating a new edge also increases wear on a knife,

A ceramic hone creates a new edge on a knife by removing metal from the knife blade.

After honing the knife, use a steel in order to realign the cutting teeth and provide a razor sharp edge.

If a knife is steeled regularly it should not need to be honed too often.

Clean your hone after each use with scouring cleanser and a sponge or cloth….No Soap of any kind!

Rinse with clear water and a wipe dry.

Caring for you knives, steels and hones pays dividends, dull knives cause accidents

Knives should be used only for cutting boneless meat, it should not be used as a chopper, this plays havoc with the edge, requiring frequent honing which reduces the life of the blade.

If you do a lot of chopping, buy a small cleaver.


Bud1%



@