It is astonishing to me the number of things that people hold true in their mind when it comes to their knives. You see, your knife is your most important tool in the kitchen! In the right hands a knife becomes an extension of the user to break down a primitive cut into sell-able cuts of beef. Or, better yet, your knife with so know how can keep you cooking in your kitchen and out of the emergency room with a need for stitches! I’m sure that these are only a scratch on the surface, and if you find that you’ve believed this myth know that I’m not trying to call you out or make you feel bad (cough – my wife). I hope that this only becomes a wake up call that there is a better way, and it only requires practice.
I mentioned my wife, as she will or did until recently in to one of these five, and know I won’t tell you which one. Amanda, has accused me of loving to chop and cut things up more than I love to cook. Which come to think about it, might have a lot of truth to it. I love to use my knives, and I don’t have a super expensive set (unless one of you manufactures want to give me a set to test). I really enjoy the technical skill that’s involved in making consistent sized cuts. So with out further delay the top 5 myths you most likely believe about knives.
#1 – I have a really expensive knife,
and that makes me a great cook
Having deep pocket makes you neither cool, nor a great cook. It will make life easier at some point, unless you really believe that you absolutely need every single widget and gadget that in a kitchen supply store. A knife is a tool, and if you think that owning a hammer will make you a carpenter, then your sadly mistaken. High quality, more expensive knives are great – but the reason they are expensive better be more than a name or a label on the side! Years ago I had coveted a Ken Onion knife that Shun produced because it looked really cool in the big box store, but when I had a chance to really hold one and get a feel of the weight I found that it didn’t fit me. Shun make great instruments (knives) and they come with a really nice price tag too. I have a few that I wouldn’t mind adding to my kit, if I had the resources but what I have works great for now! BTW – my daily use knife was $20 from Target.
#2 – Sharpening…
Don’t knives come sharpened already?
A knife does in fact come already sharpened, but its nature is to need re-sharpening at least once every three months. I know that it might come as a shock to you – a quality knife (depending upon) only needs a sharpening that infrequently. Often people confuse a dull blade with a blade that needs to be honed. A blade that’s edge has shifted to one side only needs to be brought back into alignment. This process is not sharpening, but HONING. Sharpening actually take material off of the blade and make a brand new edge in the place where one once was.
#3 – Rubbing the knife on that stick,
that’s just for show…
This is not an ego excessive, it’s not meant to make the chef or cook look cool, or have them feel important – although, I do rather enjoy the process. When you see someone “rub the knife on – that stick” you are watching them bring the blade back in to alignment. This is honing, (not sharpening – see above). When you do this, you are not removing any material from the knife’s edge, but instead making the edge alight so that you get a cleaner cut. Often a knife that feels dull – really just needs to be honed. There are rare exceptions to this, say when a knife has made contact with other metal causing a break in the blade.
So, what if you need to hone a knife and you don’t have a honing steal? Use the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup! I’ll be posting a video tip on this very soon!!!
#4 – I can use a steak knife for everything…
There is a tool for almost every job. Your dull steak knives that we go as a wedding gift is not it! I’ll also add, that because there is a tool for every application, you don’t have to own them all. However there are a few things that every kitchen should have. I have a feeling that I will cover this in an exhaustive post soon but in a nut shell you should have a Chef Knife, Paring Knife, and Bread Knife at the very least. With those three you can do almost every task that require a blade.
#5 – A dull knife is a safe knife.
Actually quite the opposite. A dull knife requires more effort and force to get the edge pushed through the flesh or vegetable your working on. The more force you have to exert the less control you have over the tool and the more opportunity you have for injury. You would not expect a surgeon to use a baseball bat to remove a cancer? So, why would you try to cut carrots with a baseball bat? Our tools in the kitchen should be precise as possible, consistent cuts lead to consistent cook times. Consistent cook times means you don’t have to raise and lower the temp while cooking!
I really hope that this help, I know that there are many, many other crazy knife myths if you have a favorite one that I didn’t cover – please let us know in the comments of this post!
Happy Cooking.