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cleaneating.com 31
Everyone fusses over the newest
appliance or pretty ceramics,
but nothing gets more use in the
kitchen than a chef’s knife. When it’s
the right size and whisper sharp, a
knife can be a joy to work with — but
if it’s dull or outmatched by the task
at hand, things can get messy or
downright dangerous really quickly.
Here’s what you need to know to get
the right knife and keep it just as
sharp as the day you bought it.
UNDERSTANDING
KNIFE TYPES
It’s easy to get dazzled by the variety
when you’re standing in front of a
display of knives, but they’re broken
into two basic types: German and
Japanese. Though there are some
general differences in how they’re
manufactured (German knives are
traditionally made from molten steel
poured into molds, while Japanese
knives are forged from different
layers of metal), most knives are
made with steel, and both are great
for home cooks.
A few things set these dependable
chefs’ knives apart. If you look at the
blade of a German knife, it tends to
be curved, making it easier to rock
the knife when you’re chopping,
and the pointy tip can be helpful for
scoring and deboning. The cutting
edge is at a slightly shallower angle
than a Japanese knife, which makes
the chef’s knife more durable but
less precise. These knives are also
made with a softer type of steel than
Japanese knives, so they need to
be sharpened more frequently (but
take on a sharp edge when they do).
They also tend to be heavier, which
is useful when you need a little more
leverage with heavy jobs, but that heft
can be tiring if you’re going through a
big batch of veggies.
In general, Japanese knives are
thinner, harder and lighter than their
German counterparts. While not all
Japanese blades are in the Santoku
shape (which means “three virtues”
in Japanese, alluding to the things
it does best: dicing, chopping and
mincing), many of them are. They’re
easy to spot: The cutting edge of
the blade is either straight or nearly
straight, and the top of the blade
curves down to the cutting edge
instead of coming to a point. It often
has very shallow ridges along one
side of the blade (called a Granton
edge), which help keep food from
sticking to it. The cutting edge of the
blade is angled more steeply than a
German blade, which means it can
make more exact cuts, but that also
makes it prone to chip, so don’t use
it for, say, cutting through bones.
Bottom line: If you’re not sure
which one is best for you, go to a
knife store and trying holding a few
different ones. “A knife should feel
like an extension of your arm,” says
Taylor Erkkinen, founder and chief
FUHDWLYHRIāFHURI7KH%URRNO\Q
Kitchen, A Radical Cooking School. It
should feel well-balanced and have
a pleasant heft to it, but above all,
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After all, you’re going to spend a lot
of time together.HONE IN
No matter what type of knife you
have, to keep it in tip-top shape,
you need to hone it periodically.
Honing is the process of knocking
the sharp edge of the knife back
into alignment (as opposed to
sharpening, which grinds down
the metal to create a fresh point).
As you use the knife, the sharp
edge inevitably gets ever so slightly
bent — not so much that you can seeit with the naked eye, but enough
that you might notice your knife
catching on the edge of foods or
taking more effort to use. Luckily,
all it takes is a few swipes with a
honing steel to knock the edge
straight again.
Everyone should have a classic
steel, sometimes known as a
butcher’s steel, and you should
use it every day. The blade is round,
with a bit of texture. A diamond steel
(which, as its name suggests, has
diamond dust on the exterior) hones
and gently sharpens at the same
time, so it will extend the amount
of time between sharpenings. That
said, you should only use it about
once a month to avoid wearing out
your knife.
You use both types of steels in a
similar manner: Start by holding the
steel vertically so the tip touches
your work surface. For a German
knife, hold the blade at a 20° angle
to the steel, and for a Japanese knife,
hold the blade at a 15° angle. (TakeGERMAN STYLE
JAPANESE SANTOKU
Granton Edge
Curved Shape
Flatter Shape