They say you can tell a professional by their tools. This is especially true in the kitchen. There are so many cheap, new, poorly made and thought out and unnecessary kitchen gadgets and tools on the market promising that “You’ll cook like a pro,” that are just plain a waste of time. This is not to say that all of them are garbage. With the advent of new materials and designs, there are many that perform as promised. So how do we sort this out?
Start with the basics and remember anything that sounds too good to be true, most likely is! Never has this applied so much as in the case of kitchen knives. A good basic 10 inch kitchen knife starts at about$100.
Recently, Arch, a friend of mine stopped by our local coffee house. Upon seeing me he went back out to his car and came back in with a new set of knives from the local warehouse store. It had eight different kitchen knives and a set of eight more steak knives… all for $99! What a deal. I asked Arch why he was getting new knives, he said all of our knives are old and dull. I asked if he would bring them to coffee sometime so I could look at them and he said, I brought them to see if you knew someone that could use them (He’s like that). He pulls out a box that is full of the finest knives available.
I asked, “How long a go did you have these sharpened?”
He said, “We’ve never had them sharpened.”
Okay… this is how knives are meant to be used. Good knives come sharp and they have a long, round tool that comes with them. The tool is called steel; its purpose is to keep a sharp knife sharp for a longer period of time. In most residential kitchens the knives should be sharpened by a pro about once a year. Just look online for “Knife Sharpener” in your area.
Oh and my friend Arch had his wonderful knives sharpened. They are great and he took the “Deal” back.
Warmly
Mad Coyote Joe