How can i sharpen my chef's knife?!
How can i sharpen my chef's knife?
i have nothing at home to sharpen it with. what can i use? what can i not use? it's so dull, it used to be so sharp but now it's not. =(
please help me. i am always cooking for my family and that knife is more than just a necessity. thanks for any help.
Answers:
most knife companies will sharpen thier knives for free, it just takes a while to send them and to get them back. A steel, is a tool just used to hone a knife not actually sharpen it, you should hone the knive everytime you use it. A sharpening stone works well, if you know how to use one. My advice would be take it a get it professionally sharpened. I take my 5 professional knives at a time and it takes about 10 mins and costs about 15 bucks and is well worth it
You will be best to wait until you can go purchase a good knife sharpener. Anything else you try to use will most likely ruin your knife.
one of those handy knife sharpener at the grocery store is the best tool you can use.
Another quick and easy way is to use the bottom of a ceramic bowl or cup as your sharpening stone. Flip the bowl over. While holding it in one hand, press and slide your knife forward against the bowl's bottom at a flat angle a number of times. Repeat for the other side of the knife. Wash the knife under running water afterwards
Ace
Buy a stone, or take it in to be sharpened. 20 degree angle on a stone, or pay a few bucks to get it sharpened, your choice!
In a emergency, which this doesn't seem to be, take another knife and run you primary knife along the back of the second. Now go to Wal-mart and purchase a steel knife sharpener for under $10. The first time you sharpen, 5 strokes on one edge, the 5 on the opposite edge. Next 3 strokes first side, and 3 the opposite. Then one time each side. If you really are in bad shape, repeat the program again.
It sounds like you don't want to buy the obvious answer. It you don't want to buy a knife sharpener, call the knife stores in your town, they'll probably sharpen it, for a smaller fee.
If you have a carbon steel knife( one that would rust if you do not dry it after getting wet) the best kind to have, draw the blade across the opening to a crockery pot/jar. If the knife is stainless steel you will need to have it sharpened by machine. Most stones will not do a good job stainless steel because of it's hardness. 15*-20* to the face of the sharpener is the perferred angle to sharpen at.
Kitchen shops and grocery stores do it around here. You just drop off the knife (at the grocery it's free!) and do your shopping. It's a lot better than trying to sharpen it yourself.
Buy a honing steel, and read the directions that come w/ it to use correctly.