When you use the same knives all the time for food preparation, you don't notice when they get dull. Then, when you buy a new knife, you may be surprised at how well it performs. Sharp knives are better and safer to use. What you may not realize is that you can have your knives sharpened professionally so they retain their best qualities. Here are some things to know.
A Sharp Knife Is Safer To Use
A sharp knife is certainly better to cut with, especially when cutting things like tomatoes that get crushed if the blade is dull. A sharp knife is safer, too, since you don't have to use force or pressure to slice through many foods. Instead, you can rely on the sharpness of the blade to do the cutting. That means there's less chance of the knife slipping and causing an injury.
Knife Sharpening Is Different Than Honing
You might have a sharpening tool at home you use occasionally to make your blades sharper, but these instruments hone the blades rather than sharpen them. Honing is beneficial, too, but it's something that should be done between sharpenings. When you have your knife sharpened by a professional, the process is done on machinery that maintains the bevel of the blade while cutting away part of the steel and creating a new sharp edge. It's even possible to have your favorite knife restored when it has a chip in the blade when you have it sharpened.
Honing doesn't usually remove any of the old steel; the process just realigns the blade so it becomes a little sharper. You can hone your knives right before using them, but you'll still want to have them sharpened by a professional to keep the blade edge sharp.
There Are Different Ways To Get Knives Sharpened
You can get your knives sharpened no matter where you live since it's possible to mail your knives off to a sharpening company. However, there may also be local shops that sharpen knives. You may need to drop off your knives and pick them up another day, or you might make an appointment and have your knives sharpened while you wait. Some communities even have a mobile knife sharpener and can bring their van to your house to do the work.
You might think it costs a lot of money to have a knife sharpened, but that isn't necessarily the case. The charge is usually by the inch, and since kitchen knives are fairly small, it doesn't cost much money. The cost is worth it, and you may only need your knives sharpened once in a while. It all depends on how you use your knives and how often you use them. If you cook with a knife every day, then you may need to get it sharpened every few months.
For more information, contact a company like Sharp Steel.