Independent, accurate and unbiased information about kitchen knives used for the preparation of food and how to sharpen them and keep them sharp

How to keep knives sharp for longer

There are about eight things to think about to keep kitchen knives sharp.

1Choose a knife with good steel

2Use different knives for different things

3Sharpen to the appropriate angle for each knife according to what you are going to use the knife for

4Hone and polish the cutting edge

5Use the right cutting boards

6Use a style of cutting to minimize the wear on the cutting edge cutting

7Wash the knives promptly

8Store the knives properly

1  Choose a good knife

Choosing a knife with good, high quality blade is the starting point to keeping a kitchen knife sharp for longer.  One with good steel or, for some food preparation purposes, use a ceramic knife. 

Read more about knife blades here >>>

2  Use different knives for different things

Every kitchen knife should be used for the purpose it was designed for.  The knife you use to slice tomatoes should not be the same knife you use to cut through a corn cob or to cut through the skin of a pumpkin.  Keeping different knives for different purposes will help keep them sharp longer.

Read more about different types of kitchen knives here >>>

3  Sharpen the blade to the appropriate angle for each knife according to what you are going to use the knife for

Different kitchen knives need different cutting angles.

Choosing the angle is a trade-off between sharpness of the cutting edge and durability.   The sharper the blade, the less durable it will be.

The angle is referred to here is the included angle, which is the angle between the two bevels.

The list gives an approximate guide to the best angles:

Chinese cleaver50 degrees

Table knife50 degrees

Heavy duty chefs knife 40 degrees

Utility knife 35 degrees   

Slicing knife      30 degrees   

Paring knife 25 degrees

Japanese vegetable knife18 degrees                   

4  Hone and polish the cutting edge

The very small teeth, or micro-serrations, at the tip of the cutting edge are blunted by the pressure they are subjected to in every cutting action.  The smaller the teeth, the less they will wear away, so honing or polishing the cutting edge will make the sharp edge last longer. 

Read more about polishing the cutting edge here >>>

5  Use the right cutting boards

Pushing the cutting edge against a cutting board is one of major sources of blunting a blade.  The best kind of cutting board is wood.  It has two advantages: being relatively soft it causes less damage to the cutting edge each time the knife is drawn across it, and natural wood has some natural anti-bacterial function. 

There are three kinds of wood cutting boards. The very best are the thick, end grain boards that are sometimes called ‘butcher blocks’. These have been cut from a have a checkerboard pattern.  Another popular type is the ‘long grain’ boards which consist of strips of wood glued together.  The simplest, and to some knife experts the best compromise, is a plain cutting board made from one plank of natural wood.

Disposable paper or cardboard cutting boards also do minimal damage to the cutting edge.

The cutting boards that do the most damage are the hardest: glass, marble and ceramic are the hardest. 

Plastic cutting boards are in harder than wood, but can be cleaned by soaking the whole board.

6  Use a style of cutting to minimize the wear on the cutting edge cutting

There are eight different cutting actions with a kitchen knife.  Each method has a different effect on the retention of the sharpness of the blade.

Pressing a knife cutting edge against a hard object causes the edge to lose some of its sharpness.  Cutting hard vegetables, such as pumpkin and corn, and bones will dull a sharp knife rapidly.  But, often, the most damage to a sharp kitchen knife is done when it is used with a cutting action that presses the cutting edge against a cutting board.

Kitchen knife cutting actions:

oPull slicing where the blade is pulled back and down across the food being cut: the middle section and the front of the cutting edge are in contact with the cutting board

oPush slicing where the blade is pushed forward and down as it cuts: the middle section and the back of the cutting edge are in contact with the cutting board

oSawing which involves alternating pull slicing and push slicing, as for example when using a bread knife: most of the cutting edge is in contact with the cutting board

oDicing where the knife is rocked up and down as the handle is lifted and lowered while the blade is pushed down: the middle section of the cutting edge is in frequent contact with the cutting board

oChopping where the knife is used as a miniature axe: the middle section of the cutting edge is in severe contact with the cutting board

oDraw slicing where the point of the blade is touching the cutting board and the blade is pulled back, as for example, in the action of drawing a vertical line with a pencil on a sheet of paper

oPeeling where a piece of food, such as an orange, is held in one hand and the knife is used in slicing action

oWhittling where a piece of food, such as a banana or pear, is held in one hand, and small slices or chips are cut off progressively

The last two actions do not involve any contact with the cutting board so do not cause any contact damage to the blade.   And since draw slicing only involves contact with the point the blade is not affected by contact with the hard surface of the board.

7  Wash the knives promptly after use

Washing kitchen knives promptly after they have been used is an important step in keeping the knives sharp.  A chemical reaction between some food particles and the fine micro-serrations at the cutting edge on a steel blade of a sharp knife can cause some corrosion.

Washing should be done by hand in warm soapy water.  A dishwasher can damage wooden handles and reduce the sharpness of a knife if the cutting edge is pushed against a hard object.  Knives should be dried promptly after they have been washed.

8  Store the knives properly

You can protect a knife’s cutting edge from accidental damage when it is not being used by storing it properly.  A wooden knife block is a good way to store a few knives conveniently.  Or you can use a magnetic knife rack. 

Knife blade shapes

Knife blades and their shapes or profiles

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade

Knife discussion

Knife and blade forum and huge archive

  http://www.bladeforums.com

About kitchen knives

Useful information about kitchen knives

  http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--1075/types-of-kitchen-knives.asp

Types of knives

Info about Western and Japanese kitchen knives

  http://japanesechef.com.au

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