Knife care 101: how to look after your knives

A quality knife is always an exciting addition to a kitchen set. It is an awesome new tool that you can use and show off to friends who also love getting in the kitchen. The knife, along with tongs, are one of the most important kitchen utensils, and therefore proper knife care is important to ensure its efficiency and longevity. Your knife won’t stay sharp forever, in fact it is blunted with every use!

So, whether you are practicing knife sharpening in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth or beyond, follow these tips to ensure that your knife stays sharp and effective with every use.

What you should do

• * Keep your knives dry and clean as possible between uses.

• * Use wooden cutting boards as these are better for knife edges. Cutting on hard surfaces like steel counters and stone blunten the edges of knives faster and also causes lasting damage to your knife.

• * Use sharpening stones to sharpen your knives. Japanese whetstone is the most effective way to keep your knives sharp between uses.

• * Maintain a consistent angle when you sharpen your knives. This may be difficult when just learning how to sharpen knives. However, it is vital to hold the knife blade at the same angle with every stroke and keep your angle low to ensure a smooth, sharp finish.

• * You should finish sharpening your knives on a fine grit stone. These polish the knife’s edge and will make your knife even sharper.

• * Once you have polished your edges on a fine grit stone, complete the process by honing your knife on a leather strop. Leather strops help knives reach the finest sharpness possible.

• * Strop and polish your knives regularly. Doing this will help you maintain the sharpness of your knives and will keep them sharp for each use.

What you shouldn’t do

• * Don’t sharpen your knife on a knife device or system. Attempting to sharpen your knife with a system will unevenly work the edge, will not get your knife as sharp as the whetstone and possibly scratch the edge.

• * Avoid belt sharpening knives. Sharpening your knives on a belt grinder will heat up the blade. This will change the molecular structure of the steel and damage the blade. Heating up a blade softens the knife's steel and it will be able to hold an edge as long. It will never achieve maximum sharpness this way.

• * If you are honing the knife on a steel rod, avoid slamming the blade against the rod. It is not a drumstick, and the steel rod is not a drum - they are designed to maintain the edges of softer steels like those found in knives. It is vital to use long, even strokes and maintain a consistent angle when sharpening. We recommend you hone your knife on a leather strap if the steel is stronger.

• * Don’t hack, saw or hard chop food if your knife isn’t supposed to do such jobs. You should always use your knife for the purpose it was designed for. Using the knife for the purpose it wasn’t designed for will only work to do things like soften the edges and this will lead to much more regular sharpening. Ensure you use your knives for the right application and you won’t have to sharpen them as regularly (unless you want to, of course!).

Knife sharpening, along with other cooking duties, is a skill that takes time to master. But once you have mastered the art of knife sharpening it makes cooking that much easier and more enjoyable!