Burning Questions: Knife Sharpening
Chip Sheen of Manpans fame.
Before we introduce you to the new advice column here at BehindTheKnife.com, Burning Questions, a little bookkeeping is in order.
Congratulations to Melissa of Longview, Texas, who won the g-Spout, and to Tracy in New Castle, Delaware, who won the highly-coveted Kuhn Rikon Silicone Tornado Whisk With Two-Toned Handle.
I’m going to start some Twitter-only giveaway contests this week with some comparably valuable tools, so head on over there to get a heads-up by following us: @BehindTheKnife.
Okay, now to the business at hand: Chip Sheen of Charleston Place and the inventor of the Sous Vide iPhone, has bravely offered to answer the first question from Jeanette Hurt of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who writes:
Dear BehindTheKnife.com: I’d love to know where to get my knives sharpened.
A: I use water stones to sharpen all of my professional knives. Some of the electric sharpeners do a decent job for non-professionals and home use, but they only work with knives with a 50/50 edge. Most Asian-made knives have either a 70/30 or 90/10 edge.
50/50 and 90/10 refer to the amount that the knife edge is sharpened on both sides. For example, all German knives are 50/50, that is, they’re sharpened to the same degree on both sides. My Japanese Misono knife is 70/30 so 70% of the edge is on one side while 30% is on the other. Japanese silver knives are usually 90/10: with 90% percent of the edge on one side, the theory is that it makes a smoother cut and doesn’t tear the flesh of delicate meats, which can mar the natural flavor.
I’ve never been a big fan of sending knives out, because you never know what you’re going to get back. Some services do a good job, but I’ve also seen some knives get destroyed that way. Oil stones work very well, but they’re a little messier because you lubricate them with oil instead of water. Two great websites to check out are sharpeningsupplies.com and korin.com, which is where I get my stones from.
My stones have four separate grits — degrees of coarseness — so I can get a nice polished professional edge. I use a step-up sharpening method where I begin with a coarse stone before finishing up with an almost baby-smooth stone.
The four grits are: A very coarse 220 grit for starting a whole new edge or for tools. 1000 grit is medium which is usually as low as you need to go unless your knife is totally dead. A 4000 grit stone smooths out some of the marks from the rougher stones, and the 8000 polishes the edge to a mirror finish, which makes the edge last longer.
Editor’s Note: Here’s an example of the graduated grit system Chip is describing. We’re currently working on a couple of knife sharpening videos so Chip can go into more detail.
Have a knotty question about the tools that professional chef use? Post it below or use our contact form, and we’ll consider featuring it in a future installment of Burning Questions.
