{"id":967,"date":"2017-02-05T03:40:06","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T10:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/to-the-point-knife-sharpening\/"},"modified":"2017-02-20T18:19:42","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T01:19:42","slug":"to-the-point-knife-sharpening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/articles\/to-the-point-knife-sharpening\/","title":{"rendered":"To the Point: Knife Sharpening"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knife Sharpening<\/h2>\n

& How to Make Your Knives Last<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am frugal, and I cannot afford to replace the knives we have \"Knifewhen they start to go dull.\u00a0 I am also clumsy and I run a much greater risk of losing an appendage if my knives are dull.\u00a0 It is true that sharp knives are safer than dull ones.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every knife dulls.\u00a0<\/strong> It does not matter what they say about it; some will keep the original edge longer than others, but the fact remains that every knife dulls.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Quality knives do not wear away the blade; the blade will actually begin to fold over onto itself.\u00a0 Less quality, sometimes the microscopic pieces of the knife actually break off! Generally it is better to sharpen your knives at home because many professional sharpeners use equipment that overheats the knife, which can cause metal breakage.\u00a0 This breakage is too small for you to actually see, but it occurs just the same.<\/p>\n

Sharpening Steel & Sharpening Stones<\/h2>\n

\"Knife<\/p>\n

Our set of knives came with what is known as a \u201csharpening steel\u201d.\u00a0 It turns out that this is controversial.\u00a0 All that I know is that it wasn\u2019t all that effective.\u00a0 It unfolds the metal.\u00a0 Since the folding of the metal is what dulls a knife, isn\u2019t unfolding the metal a good idea?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That metal has been weakened considerably and the next time you use the knife, it will simply re-fold again.\u00a0 Eventually, the metal with break off, just like anything that has been perforated and then folded time and again.\u00a0 True sharpening will remove the old worn edge to create a fresh, sharp edge.\u00a0<\/strong> This way you won\u2019t have the concern of microscopic metal knife shards landing in your food.<\/p>\n

A non-electric method is the old-fashioned sharpening stone, and it is excellent for long term self-reliance.\u00a0 However, you have to be a professional to get true symmetry on your knife if using a stone.\u00a0<\/strong> A non-electric knife sharpener should automatically have obvious cutting guides within it that will guarantee a perfectly symmetrical knife every time.\u00a0 Your knife must have that perfection or one side of the knife will fold much more quickly.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Cutting Boards Matter<\/h2>\n

Your cutting board has a lot to do with the longevity of your blades; if your board is too hard, such as many synthetic cutting boards, your knives will not wear well.\u00a0 Wood is softer and \u201cgives\u201d to the knife.\u00a0 Many people go with the aesthetics on this one\u2014we don\u2019t want our cutting boards so scarred, and sometimes choose the synthetics to avoid that very quality.<\/p>\n

Your knives prefer polyethylene, polypropylene, wood and other soft materials.\u00a0<\/strong> If you are worried about the sanitation of those cut marks, rub your board down with sea salt or use an essential oil known for its\u2019 anti-bacterial and antimicrobial properties; I like to use oregano essential oil for this purpose.\u00a0 It will kill anything!<\/p>\n

\t

\r\n\t\t When should a boy get a pocket knife?<\/b> Read this one. \t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/a><\/p>\n

How to Wash Knives<\/h2>\n

\"Dishwasher\"Wash your knives by hand.\u00a0<\/strong> I know this has been a point of family contention\u2014to use the dishwasher or not\u2014but it is dangerous for the tots yay-high and for the unsuspecting dish-un-loader (is that a real word?).\u00a0 But it goes beyond safety. The force of the water can dull the knives and can knock them against other dishes and the racks.\u00a0 Hard water and chemicals can leave spot stains that hand washing won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Basically, the point is that you do not simply want to refold the knife but reform it.\u00a0<\/strong> The successful ancient methods of this require a great deal of expertise.\u00a0 The good news is that commercially available knife sharpeners, both electric and non-electric, have come a very far way and will ultimately be cost-effective for the homemaker.\u00a0 It\u2019s much cheaper to maintain the knives you have than to purchase new ones every few years.\u00a0 Consider a knife sharpener a necessary kitchen utensil.<\/p>\n

\n

We don\u2019t sell knives but we\u2019ll tell you our personal preference\u2014Buck Knives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support Pantry Paratus by shopping our store:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

\"knife<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo Credits: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Knife on bread<\/a><\/h6>\n
Knife on tree trunk<\/a><\/h6>\n
\u00a0Dishwasher<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Knife Sharpening & How to Make Your Knives Last   I am frugal, and I cannot afford to replace the knives we have when they start to go dull.\u00a0 I am also clumsy and I run a much greater risk of losing an appendage if my knives are dull.\u00a0 It is true that sharp knives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[53,229,19],"tags":[697,696,682,600],"yst_prominent_words":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/knife-sharpening.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fvks-fB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}