beXnlog

Sharps

Q: What's the coolest thing in the world?

A: Sharpening knives in the old skool manner!

I must admit my poor knife collection was suffering from a severe bout of dullness. Some even had nicks from cutting who knows what, amongst the usual soft edges that mushed tomatoes instead of slicing them.

The knife sharpening tool i purchased years ago was a hand-held bar with two ceramic rods held at the correct angles to run knife blades across. This thing didn't work that well but it was better than nothing, plus my knives weren't in that bad a condition yet. But after years of chopping and slicing, my chef's knife was useless and the smaller knives had lost their original edges. I thought back to my mother's old sharpening stone and how i used to watch her as a kid, sharpening her knives on the stone with a little water. I had a few discussions with assorted people about sharpening stones and finally, just recently, bought a $2 stone from Chinatown.

This afternoon i spent a good amount of time sharpening all my kitchen knives. It took a few tries to get the angles correct, but overall it was a super-satisfying activity. I loved drawing the blades over the stone, the noise it made, the visual difference it gave the knives. When i tested them, they certainly stuck into my thumbnail instead of sliding off; not bad for a first attempt! I felt like i was in a 1980s knife commercial, slicing paper, tomatoes and canned goods with the utmost ease.

I'm encouraging everyone to get a real sharpening stone and get those baddies back to their usual selves!

posted by beXn @ 2:59 PM