Help me become a kitchen knife geek
July 26, 2022 5:36 AM Subscribe
I'm a home cook with decent knife skills looking to expand my hobby by learning how to sharpen quality knives using whetstones. Looking for resources about both whetstone sharpening and purchasing and using quality knives. I'm thinking YouTube channels, websites of kitchen knife enthusiasts, books, etc.
I've been a decent cook for about ten years now. When I got started, I purchased a Victorinox stamped chef's knife and have maintained it using a Chef's Choice electric sharpener. To be honest, this works 100% perfectly for all my cooking needs, but lately I've been looking to invest in forged blades and other quality knives just for fun. But I think it would be bad to sharpen these knives in an electric grinder, so I think it's finally time to learn how to sharpen with whetstones.
What resources can you share with me about whetstone sharpening? I know that J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has me covered for the most part, but I'm sure there are other things I should be checking out.
I'd also be interested in resources that are not focused on sharpening. I don't necessarily need lessons on how to use the knives, but something like a video of someone discussing the different kinds of Japanese blades would be great.
I've been a decent cook for about ten years now. When I got started, I purchased a Victorinox stamped chef's knife and have maintained it using a Chef's Choice electric sharpener. To be honest, this works 100% perfectly for all my cooking needs, but lately I've been looking to invest in forged blades and other quality knives just for fun. But I think it would be bad to sharpen these knives in an electric grinder, so I think it's finally time to learn how to sharpen with whetstones.
What resources can you share with me about whetstone sharpening? I know that J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has me covered for the most part, but I'm sure there are other things I should be checking out.
I'd also be interested in resources that are not focused on sharpening. I don't necessarily need lessons on how to use the knives, but something like a video of someone discussing the different kinds of Japanese blades would be great.
Knifewear - has a few stores across Canada, and the excellent YouTube channel linked here, with many videos about sharpening, knife types, and knife skills. I recently did their in-person sharpening and skills classes and learned a whole lot. (And ended up buying a basic whetstone set, and a lovely low-end nakiri!)
Note that knife geekdom can get expensive very quickly! They have many very beautiful Japanese knives that run into the thousands of dollars, and once you start looking at specialist stones, cutting boards etc, the sky is the limit!
posted by valleys at 7:29 AM on July 26, 2022
Note that knife geekdom can get expensive very quickly! They have many very beautiful Japanese knives that run into the thousands of dollars, and once you start looking at specialist stones, cutting boards etc, the sky is the limit!
posted by valleys at 7:29 AM on July 26, 2022
If you are on Instagram I highly highly recommend following Bernal cutlery an SF knife shop that is VERY serious about their blades and sharpening. Also really really nice folks.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:29 AM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:29 AM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
I found that for my at-home purposes, freehand sharpening was a pain because I never had to do it frequently enough to really get the hang of it. I felt like I was learning to do it all over again every time. YMMV here!
I've recently been using a guided rod sharpening system (a cheap "ruixin pro" from aliexpress, but there are many others) with diamond plates. This hits a sweet spot of minimum stuffing around soaking and flattening stones, and not having to relearn freehand technique every time. Plus I find the angle setting to be really instructional about how sharpening actually works, and have worked out what knives sharpened at different angles feel like to cut with (and how durable they are). It's a fiddly system to get set up the first couple of times, but I vastly prefer it to doing things freehand.
posted by Jobst at 8:32 AM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've recently been using a guided rod sharpening system (a cheap "ruixin pro" from aliexpress, but there are many others) with diamond plates. This hits a sweet spot of minimum stuffing around soaking and flattening stones, and not having to relearn freehand technique every time. Plus I find the angle setting to be really instructional about how sharpening actually works, and have worked out what knives sharpened at different angles feel like to cut with (and how durable they are). It's a fiddly system to get set up the first couple of times, but I vastly prefer it to doing things freehand.
posted by Jobst at 8:32 AM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Like Jobst, I wanted to avoid the freehand stuff. I really like Spyderco's sharpeners. To this day they ship with an instructional DVD/coaster. But they are also on youtube.
posted by moonmoth at 9:33 AM on July 26, 2022
posted by moonmoth at 9:33 AM on July 26, 2022
Epicurious: Knife maker explains difference between Chef's knives
America's Test Kitchen: Knives Up, Get to know your knife collection
Joshua Weissman on how to sharpen your kitchen knife like a master sharpener
The entire Burrfection Channel all about knives and sharpening
And for fun, Project Farm: Which Knife Sharpener is the Best? Let's find out!
posted by kschang at 9:55 AM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
America's Test Kitchen: Knives Up, Get to know your knife collection
Joshua Weissman on how to sharpen your kitchen knife like a master sharpener
The entire Burrfection Channel all about knives and sharpening
And for fun, Project Farm: Which Knife Sharpener is the Best? Let's find out!
posted by kschang at 9:55 AM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
If learning by reading is your thing, Chad Ward's "Knife Maintenance and Sharpening" on the eGullet Forums (archive.org link that still includes the pics) is a classic. He subsequently put a book out with the same information, An Edge in the Kitchen (~18 bucks used on Amazon). Either way it's a great how-to that also includes plenty of background details.
As proof I can tell you that my knives easily pass the push-cut and tomato-slice tests. Highly recommended by me!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:08 AM on July 26, 2022
As proof I can tell you that my knives easily pass the push-cut and tomato-slice tests. Highly recommended by me!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:08 AM on July 26, 2022
my knives easily pass the push-cut and tomato-slice tests.
On reflection, I feel I should mention that I wasn't intending to be show-offy. Those two tests are passable by any properly-sharpened knife; I was able to manage that pretty quickly after I started learning to sharpen knives. They don't require some sort of Ultimate Sharpness achievable only through years of study and training and meditation and such!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:58 AM on July 26, 2022
On reflection, I feel I should mention that I wasn't intending to be show-offy. Those two tests are passable by any properly-sharpened knife; I was able to manage that pretty quickly after I started learning to sharpen knives. They don't require some sort of Ultimate Sharpness achievable only through years of study and training and meditation and such!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:58 AM on July 26, 2022
I'll add that if you live anywhere somewhat populous there is likely a professional that will treat your nice knives with the care and attention that they deserve. If is nice to know how to do this yourself but it can be nicer to let a professional work their magic every once in awhile.
posted by mmascolino at 8:50 PM on July 26, 2022
posted by mmascolino at 8:50 PM on July 26, 2022
Bob Kramer is a master blade smith with good videos on youtube. He has partnered with a lot of the major manufacturers, as well as making super high end custom stuff. Tony Bourdain showcased him in a series called Raw Craft.
posted by jenquat at 9:09 PM on July 26, 2022
posted by jenquat at 9:09 PM on July 26, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by okonomichiyaki at 6:09 AM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]