Kitchen Knives

Ask any professional chef and the one thing they can't do without is their knives. Having a good, sharp knife is essential to food preparation but most of us never learn how to care for them. We may spend big bucks for a knife but if we don't care for them, you might as well have just bought a $20 knife. Not that there's anything wrong with that $20 knife but if you're going to buy an expensive one, by learning to take care of them properly, they can last a lifetime.


We've all seen those chefs using a honing steel, moving their knives quickly from one side to the other but do you know what they're doing? They're honing their knives, not sharpening them. If you looked at the blade of your knife under a microscope, you'll see that it's not straight but made of crissed-crossed metal teeth. Every time you use your knife, the teeth flattened and the honing steel will lift the teeth. Ideally you should hone your knife after every use but who does that? No me, so I've been told to hone it as often as you would fill up your gas tank. Click here to see a video on how to use a honing steel.

Sharpening is required when the teeth on the knife has been flatten completely and cannot not honed (lifted). When you sharpen a knife, you're actually removing that flattened teeth (metal edge) so you need to be careful and not sharpen too often. To sharpen, use a sharpening steel that is coated with industrial diamonds.

Note: Most knives are made at a 22-23 degree angle but some are made at a 16 degree angle. When honing or sharpening your knife, you want to maintain that same angle so check to see what angle your knife is before you hone away.