The knife is, hands down, the most important tool in the kitchen
(well, besides the cook, of course). And new knife technology seems
to arrive frequently, whether it's Ginsu or Santoku knives from
Japan, or new styles from Henckel. But all that technology (and
price) won't do a lot of good if the knives aren't sharp.
The Kitchn had a two-part series recently on what
everyone should know about knives. In What is
Sharp? Bob Kramer demonstrates 5 ways to tell if your
knife is sharp enough. There's a video demonstrating how to:
- Cut the tops off of carrots while they are being held, without
the use of a cutting surface
- Cut through paper
- Slice through a rolled up magazine page
- Easily slice a tomato
- Bite into the papery skin of an onion, without sliding
If, as is likely, your knives aren't sharp, in part 2 of the
series Kramer has two videos on how to
hone and stone your knives. And remember, not only will
sharp knives make kitchen prep work that much easier, but safer as
well.
