Glide through cooking with a cutting-edge knife and taking care of it

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For all the cooking aficionado, a nice kitchen knife is a necessity, though it may cost a bit much, the easy chopping experience it offers makes it totally worthwhile.

A good kitchen knife not only make your chopping faster and easier, but also makes it safer. People may not realise, but a dull knife can be dangerous as they tend to bounce and change directions when being used for cutting. Moreover, dull knives are frustrating to use.

You also need to understand that a good meal is only possible when you have a good knife. You must be wondering, how is that possible? Well, until the ingredients are properly chopped, they may not cook the way they are supposed to be cooked in a particular recipe. It is therefore important to keep the knives sharp and clean, and treat them with utmost care. However, before you take a plunge and buy a sharp knife, here is a list of a few things that need to be kept in mind.

1. Wash your knives with hands and don’t dunk them into dishwasher as it is bound to damage the blade.
2. Wash them under running water as dunking them in a sink full of soapy water increasing the chances of you getting hurt while trying to retrieve them.
3. Use a wooden or a composite cutting board to retain the sharpness and angle of the knife.
4. Keep them dry, free from mildew and store them properly.

Whether you are a professional chef or a homemaker, you inevitably must sharpen the knives because they will get dull with use – that is, unless you have a self-sharpening knife. You can learn more about these at knivesadvice if they are something you are unfamiliar with.

Knife sharpening involves removing a miniscule amount of material from the blade. Longevity of knife depends on the amount of material removed. The less the material removed more will be the life of the knife. The knife sharpener must create a consistent edge to be more effective because consistency means durability. Durability, in turn means that you have to sharpen less frequently, thereby extending the life of the blade.

The best knife sharpener will eventually be those which can work with a large range of knives and blade angles and which won’t damage the material of the blade by heating the metal. Many say that the best electric knife sharpener on the market is the 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect.

For sharpening the knives, one could use the services of professionals at www.knifeista.com or get a knife sharpener from the market. Some prefer sharpening by hand held sharpeners as they give the best results, but it needs some skill and practice.

Manual sharpeners do not hurt the blades because of the less heat generated. They are adjustable, so they will work equally well on both normal and serrated knives. The ability to work with knives both large and small is an added advantage. Electric sharpeners are the next best option but more popular as well. They are comparatively faster than the manual sharpeners and can work on a variety of angles. On the flip side the speed of the machine may damage the temper of the blade.

Which sharpening system will suit you best depends on the sort of knives you will be sharpening, the budget you will be spending, and whether you are looking for speed or accuracy. If you want the job done even if it is slow and you are tight on budget, then preference should be given to manual sharpeners. When deciding about the sharpener for your knife, keep in mind about protecting the temper of the blade; creating a consistent edge; matching the existing angle.