Comment Re:Non-geeky? Don't think so Len... (Score 2, Informative) 142
Sorry to dismiss point 2):
Knife hardness == edge retaining
It's not difficult to get any decent steel knife sharp as a razor. Any knife sharpener can do it. The trick is to have a blade that will retain that sharpness for a while. A very cheap knife will lose its sharpness after slicing the first half of a cucumber, better knives last for cutting half a dozen steaks out of raw meat and professional knives need only one re-sharpening per cooking session. If you seldomly prepare larger meals, any _decent_ knife is enough, no matter what the ads are telling. If you earn a living preparing meals, it's an entirely different matter, though. You'd probably go crazy with knives and sharpening stones through the course of a day :)
One more thing for households:
-do not clean your good knives in a dishwasher, stainless steel cannot retain edges well enough, so good knives are invariably more prone to stains.
-rinse immediately after using them, especially after cutting fruits. A sharp edge is an infinitely thin part of metal that is not really resistant to even mild acids. Avoid spilling Coca Cola on them for the same reason :). Using different knives for meat, vegetables and fruits is recommended: meat needs sharpness and doesn't contain acids to eat away the blade - fruits may or may not need incredible sharpness, so you could do with a more stain-resistant knife (less sharp) or a smaller knife made of less resistant steel (sharp but cheap = expendable)
-don't store them in a drawer or box, use a magnetic holding bar mounted on a wall or a wooden "quiver" instead. Many hard tools with vulnerable edges thrown together damage each other when their container is moved. ,
-don't sharpen them too much, but sharpen them regularly. The sharp edge isn't simply sheared off through usage, it's folded to the side instead. A sharpening stone brings it up again and hones off wear. If you don't sharpen it, microscopic cracks form and increase edge corrosion plus you need more force driving the knife through the material, increasing shear stress on the folded edge, eventually tearing off parts of it.
Knife hardness == edge retaining
It's not difficult to get any decent steel knife sharp as a razor. Any knife sharpener can do it. The trick is to have a blade that will retain that sharpness for a while. A very cheap knife will lose its sharpness after slicing the first half of a cucumber, better knives last for cutting half a dozen steaks out of raw meat and professional knives need only one re-sharpening per cooking session. If you seldomly prepare larger meals, any _decent_ knife is enough, no matter what the ads are telling. If you earn a living preparing meals, it's an entirely different matter, though. You'd probably go crazy with knives and sharpening stones through the course of a day
One more thing for households:
-do not clean your good knives in a dishwasher, stainless steel cannot retain edges well enough, so good knives are invariably more prone to stains.
-rinse immediately after using them, especially after cutting fruits. A sharp edge is an infinitely thin part of metal that is not really resistant to even mild acids. Avoid spilling Coca Cola on them for the same reason
-don't store them in a drawer or box, use a magnetic holding bar mounted on a wall or a wooden "quiver" instead. Many hard tools with vulnerable edges thrown together damage each other when their container is moved. ,
-don't sharpen them too much, but sharpen them regularly. The sharp edge isn't simply sheared off through usage, it's folded to the side instead. A sharpening stone brings it up again and hones off wear. If you don't sharpen it, microscopic cracks form and increase edge corrosion plus you need more force driving the knife through the material, increasing shear stress on the folded edge, eventually tearing off parts of it.
