According to an article on kitchen safety found at the site The Kitchn, a sharp kitchen knife causes fewer injuries than a dull one. A sharp knife is more efficient and quicker to use than a dull knife. A dull knife requires you to make more cuts to finish a job and with greater risk of slippage than with a sharp knife.
With safety and efficiency being high on my list of priorities in the kitchen, I want to keep all my knives sharp.
I used to ask my husband to sharpen my knives for me, but once I learned how easy it is to do, I now like to sharpen them myself.
When a knife starts to feel not quite as sharp as it should be, use a honing tool to put the sharp edge back.
Hold the honing tool perpendicular to hard surface like a cutting board with one hand, and with the other hand hold the knife at about a 15 degree angle to the honing tool and draw the edge of the blade across, first on one side and then the other. I didn’t have enough hands to hold the tool, the knife, and the camera all at once, but there is a great demonstration video at thekitchn.com on honing your knife.
Honing will put a sharp edge back on your knife, but after a knife has been used a lot, if the honing steel seems not to be getting the knife back to its top condition, it is probably time to use a stone.
Photo source Amazon.com
There are many different sizes and kinds of stones available for sharpening knives, but this is the kind of stone that I have on my wish list. It has a base with rubber feet to hold it in place and a reversible stone with a medium grit on one side and a finer grit on the opposite side. Thekitchn.com also has a second video to demo stoning your knife. You might want to practice with an older knife to get the hang of stoning, but it is very quick and easy once you have mastered the correct angle, pressure, and strokes.
Whether your knife is at the stage of needing to be honed or stoned, either process only takes a few minutes. By keeping your knife sharp, your chopping and slicing will go faster, and you will reduce your chances of a kitchen injury.
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I am terrible about keeping my knives sharp. Thanks for the reminder that I really need to do this soon!
Great post today Anita! I'm a freak with keeping my knives sharp! They work so much better like you said when at their best.
Oh, I need to do this too! Thanks for the handy instructions and the link. Happy Holidays to you! I'll be back as I am starting to get more "organized" in my daily routine which is freeing up more time actually. Once something is organized it takes much less time to maintain. I think I'll go back over all your weeks starting January 2013. Is that when you started last year? Take care!