An Ancient Trade
When I was young every town had a person with a hand cart who travelled the streets to sharpen objects such as knives for the general public. These traders were highly professional and everybody used them.
In England this work used to be done by tinkers, who mended any kind of kitchen object. The word comes from the method the tinker used to re-line copper pots when they got scratched. Copper can be quite dangerous if it gets into the food chain. These tradesmen used to line the copper pots with tin to make them safe again. The few that have survived almost always have an electric fly wheel that rotates rather than a whet stone.
Nowadays these people have largely disappeared. You might perhaps still find them in poorer countries on the street corner, just as you will find shoe shiners.
These days every household needs to buy a knife sharpener. However there is a definite art to sharpening your kitchen utensils to prevent them from getting blunt.
A chef’s knife has often got a sharp and thin blade and the cutting angle is, therefore, also thin. The reason for this is that you want your cutting work in the kitchen to be fast and the sharper the angle to less you have to repeat the angle of the cut.
With hunting knives, for instance you want the cutting edge to be much thicker as you need a stronger edge to go through much tougher materials such as bone and skin.
Knives are produced by manufacturers with the edge sharpened to get the maximum efficiency and durability in mind. It is logical, therefore, to pay particular attention to the edge of the knife before you start sharpening it. It will not do at all to create a new cutting edge. Your utensil will become less effective if you attempt to do this.
In order to use the modern sharpeners, especially the electric variety, you must pull your knife through the spinning blades just like the manual ones. If you leave your knife in one position in these machines you will ruin your knife forever.
Depending on what type of cutlery you have whether Japanese or European, you will have to purchase a sharpener that is compatible with your utensils so that you will not ruin the angle of the cutting edge. In using either the manual or the electric grinder, you should not put any pressure on the knife you are sharpening as you run it through the machine.
I have quite a hatred for any sharp knife, but in the kitchen you can hurt yourself more with a blunt knife than a sharp one. I leave the cutting of vegetables and meat to my husband as he is not so afraid of sharp objects.
If you are in any doubt on how to use these gadgets, then you should ask your retailer for advice. You can either go to your high street retailer or ask the on-line shop via e-mail.
For any further information about the knife sharpener or any other kitchen gadget to make life easier please consult at http://smithsofloughton.com/.
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