This time, I would like everyone to sharpen their knives and experience the fun of sharpening and the comfort of cooking with a sharpened knife.
We looked back on how we learned to sharpen, even though we had never used a whetstone, and summarized only the important points.
Please feel free to read at your own pace.
Let's take a look at why knives don't cut in the first place.
A sharp knife has a rounded cross section, and if you zoom in on the surface of the cutting edge, you will see that it is straight rather than jagged.
On the other hand, a new knife or a well-sharpened knife has a finely jagged edge.
This jaggedness is important when cutting food with a knife, and the jagged edges of the blade cut into the food by cutting into it.
When cutting something hard or hitting a cutting board, the jagged edges of the blade gradually become crushed, making it difficult to cut.
If you enjoy cooking all the time, it is ideal to sharpen once a month.
This way, you can enjoy cooking without feeling stressed about cutting the ingredients.
Well, first of all, it is important to know your knife when sharpening it.
There are three points to check before sharpening your knife.
- Checking the material of the knife
- shape of cutting edge
- Condition of the cutting edge
First, check the material of the knife, to put it very simply, whether it is a ceramic knife or not.
As mentioned in the article [ What kind of knife do you want to sharpen ? ], standard knives are made of steel or stainless steel, so they can be sharpened with a whetstone, but ceramic knives are very hard, so they are not compatible with whetstones. It is difficult to sharpen. If you have a ceramic knife, we recommend a diamond whetstone.
Next, pay attention to the shape of the cutting edge. Look carefully at the front and back of the knife.
If the blade is on both the front and back at the same angle, it is a double-edged knife, and if the blade is only on the front side, it is a single-edged knife.
( Be careful not to get injured by the edge of the blade .)
The sharpening process differs slightly depending on the difference between double-edged and single-edged blades.
What about the condition of the cutting edge? The important thing here is to look for chips.
If there are large chips, use a coarse whetstone, and if there are no noticeable chips, use a medium whetstone.
( I have written more details in the previous [ How to choose a whetstone ] )
Once you have confirmed the material of the knife, the shape of the edge, and the condition of the edge, it's time to actually sharpen the knife.
First, soak the whetstone in water.
Prepare a container that can fit the whetstone completely ( one that does not have anything other than oil or water attached to it ) and place the whetstone in it. Add water so that the top of the whetstone comes out about 5mm above the water surface.
The whetstone has small invisible pores ( holes ) through which water is sucked up.
Once the water has been completely absorbed by the whetstone, remove it from the container. The estimated time up to this point is about 5 minutes.
*Depending on the grain size and manufacturing method of the whetstone, some whetstones may not absorb water using the above method. In that case, completely immerse the entire whetstone in water.
Before using a typical whetstone like this, soak it in water. The water contained at this time prevents the heat generated by the friction of the knife from accumulating, and also makes the knife slippery.
However, please note that some whetstones are used while being sprayed with water rather than being immersed in water.
Prepare the following items.
enough space
Be careful of your surroundings as you will be using a knife.
Wet cloth (something you don’t mind getting dirty)
Spread a wet cloth on a flat surface and place the whetstone on top. The wet cloth works to prevent the whetstone from moving when sharpening the knife. Some whetstones have a whetstone stand attached to them, but the non-slip rubber attached to the stand may not be enough to make it unstable, so in that case, it is better to place a wet cloth on the surface.
Container with water or sprayer
The knife is sharpened while pouring water on it, so it's convenient to have it on hand.
As an example, let's sharpen a commonly used double-edged Santoku knife using a medium whetstone.
Grip the knife as shown in the photo. Then, place the knife on the whetstone at an angle of about 45 to 60 degrees.
At this time, the trick is to place your thumb on the jaw of the blade, making it easier to fix the angle at which the blade hits the whetstone.
Lift the back (ridge) of the knife slightly while keeping the blade in contact with the whetstone, as if only the tip is touching the whetstone. The ideal angle to lift it is about 15 degrees, so that two 10 yen coins can fit between them.
Slide the knife back and forth on the whetstone, being careful not to move the angle of the knife as much as possible.
Be careful not to use too much force at this time. It is difficult to sharpen the entire knife at once, so sharpen it in three parts as shown in the illustration. Sharpen each part about 20 times.
By adjusting the number of times you sharpen, you can sharpen perfectly.
You can tell whether a knife has been sharpened well by looking at whether there are ``burrs'' on the blade. Trace the blade with your finger as shown in the illustration, and if there is a catch, it is a "kaeri".
*Please be careful not to get injured.
If this ``burr'' is formed, it is proof that the sharpening was done well. On the other hand, if there are no burrs, please sharpen again.
However, if you use a high-grained (fine-grained) whetstone such as a finishing whetstone, it may be difficult to notice the burrs.
When sharpening the other side, the sharpening process is the same, just change the direction of the knife blade.
After sharpening the other side, check to see if there are any burrs.
If the burrs are well formed, the sharpening is complete. Finally, place the side of the blade with the burr on the whetstone and sharpen it two or three times to remove the burr.
Wash the sharpened knife thoroughly with a neutral detergent, drain it, and store it.
Wash the whetstone with water without using detergent, dry it in the shade, and then put it away. (It will take about 2 days to completely dry)
About revisions
"Resurfacing" refers to the process of scraping off the protruding parts of the surface of the whetstone to return it to a flat state.
The reason why this "refinishing" is necessary is to use the knife and whetstone with care.
When sharpening a knife, if the whetstone is not flat, it will inevitably lose its shape and make it difficult to sharpen the blade properly. In addition, resurfacing not only allows the knife to be sharpened in its best condition, but also extends the life of the whetstone itself.
After you finish using the whetstone, you should also resurface it as part of its maintenance.
How was it.
Both whetstones and knives are profound, so if you get down to it, there are many more factors involved, but first of all, let's enjoy knife sharpening without thinking about the difficulties.
I hope this article will be of help to those who are interested in knife sharpening.
【summary】
We looked back at how we learned to sharpen, even though we had never used a whetstone, and summarized the important points.
Please feel free to read at your own pace.
Let's take a look at why knives don't cut in the first place.
The serrations are important for cutting food with a knife, and the serrations on the edge of the blade cut into the food by cutting into it. When cutting something hard or hitting a cutting board, the jagged edges of the blade gradually become crushed, making it difficult to cut.
If you enjoy cooking all the time, it is ideal to sharpen once a month.
This way, you can enjoy cooking without feeling stressed about cutting the ingredients.
When sharpening a knife, it is important to know your knife.
There are three points to check before sharpening your knife.
- Checking the material of the knife
- shape of cutting edge
- Condition of the cutting edge
Once you have confirmed the above three points, let's actually sharpen the knife.
