Gravy
Bronze Squire
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Very cool. I don't think Alton Brown would be happy with it though, it's not a multi-tasker.
Gravy's Cooking Thread
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Once a year, hire a professional to do it (unless you want to learn to do it yourself, but for something you're doing once a year it is barely worth it). Shun actually offers free sharpening if you buy their knives, send your knives in and they sharpen them and send them back. Hone your knife with a steel every time you use it.
Gravy
Bronze Squire
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This is good advice, not once a month you damn heathen Elurin!
I'm usually about an every other time honer, though.
Hekotat - some supermarkets around here offer sharpening service (even free sometimes), and some of the big outdoor retailers do as well. (Bass Pro, etc.)
Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Late to the coleslaw party, but this one was posted a while back by me. Love it since it's not mayo based, and the vinegars work really well with other dishes you serve with it (bbq pulled pork/beef sandiwches?).My late grandmother has made this vinegar based coleslaw for as long as I can remember. No idea where she got it, or if she made it herself, but I love it, especially over a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.
Help yourself bro's...
Straight from the decades old, faded note card in my grandmothers writing...
Slice or shred one head of cabbage, green bell pepper, onion or scallions, and a small jar of pimentos - drained. (for clarification I use 1 large green bell pepper, and however much onion you like. I've made it without either one, and it's been good still as well)
In a small saucepan: Mix 3/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp dry mustard (the powdered yellow mustard stuff), 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp celery seed and 1/2 tsp mustard seed.
Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and allow it to cool down to room temp. (I do the sauce first for this reason so it's cooling while I do other stuff) After cooled, add 1/2 cup salad oil (veg oil, olive oil, don't matter), stir, and then pour over cabbage mixture.
Cover tightly and refrigerate!
You can eat it right away, however it's much better after chilling, and letting the sauce break down the cabbage mixture a bit. I usually make this at night, and then let it chill over night, and it's so amazing the next day.
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I have a nice sharpener from Henkels with ceramic discs that gets a good edge going. I hone my knives every time I get them out to cook.
And to the original question to me - I used the mandolin. I have a $40 jobbie that does pretty well, and has many different blades. It is a right pain in the ass to clean up, though.
And to the original question to me - I used the mandolin. I have a $40 jobbie that does pretty well, and has many different blades. It is a right pain in the ass to clean up, though.
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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yea the reason why many say send to a pro to sharpen is cuz it's a learning process. Even alton brown on his knife episode said to send it out to a pro, pro's usually charge per inch, as in they don't charge per knife but by how many combined inches they have to sharpen.
like i've said before if you plan on doing it yourself, you have to at least keep a consistent angle, i go so far as to have an angle measure tool
AccuRemote Digital Electronic Magnetic Angle Gage Level / Protractor / Bevel Gauge - Angle Finder - Amazon.com
imo, there are 2 obstacles to obtaining a good edge.
proper consistent angle
time (as in the time it takes to shave)
proper consistent angle can be had, with a jig of some sort (i linked one earlier) where it keeps the knife in place and has guides sharpening the stone. (i have this system as well, i find it a bit unwieldy)
or you can try to hold your knife super still. usually there are 2 ways to measure freehand knife sharping.
1. hold the knife 90degrees/ perpendicular to the stone. then go half way to 45degrees, then go again half of that and you're at 22 degrees.
2. or take two quarters, lay them on the stone and use that as a guide.
there's also another way, which is to hold the knife perpendicular again, except you swipe up and down (holding your knife 90) against already angled rods, the popular option for this is this
Amazon.com : Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker Knife Sharpener 204MF : Sports Outdoors
i like this one, but it's getting on the expensive side for some ppl.
there's a cheaper option, that has shorter sticks, and includes a mini diamond stone, but is limited in angles (to a 20 only)
Amazon.com: Smiths CCD4 3 IN 1 Field Sharpening System: Home Improvement
i find this very compact and if i ever go outdoors i'm bringing this with me. (it used to sit out on my kitchen counter for quick touch ups since it was so small, if you get this, whatever you do, do NOT use the carbide "v" cutter, while it can shape a badly damaged knife it will take off tons of steel)
the next obstacle is time, truthfully to sharpen knives by hand (baring a wheel grinder, etc) you need to go up in grits, basically you're using larger particles to sharpen your knives and you should progress down in particle size (this means up in number) or grit.
you'll either see company standards of course/fine/extra fine or in grit sizes 200/800/1000/6000 etc or even micron particle size.
of course this is also affect by the type of sharpeners (stone/oil/water or ceramic or diamond embedded)
i did have one of these
Amazon.com: Furi Rachael Ray Ozitech Diamond Fingers Pro Knife Sharpener: Kitchen Dining
when i didn't know about sharpening and i remember it doing a decent enough job, at least my knives weren't dull, i wouldn't be able to "try it out" again since my previous one was used so much the diamonds wore off, but this is the sharpener i give to friends as a sharpener any idiot can use and will get decent results.
there used to be a knife sheath + sharpener in one that i would give to friends, that way, whenever they put the knife away in the sheath and take it out, it gets sharpened.
lately i've been looking at
Amazon.com: Warthog V-Sharp Classic II Knife Sharpener WHS01: Knife Sharpeners: Kitchen Dining
to give as a knife sharpener to family, when i have time i'll buy one to test out and see how idiot proof it is.
like i've said before if you plan on doing it yourself, you have to at least keep a consistent angle, i go so far as to have an angle measure tool
AccuRemote Digital Electronic Magnetic Angle Gage Level / Protractor / Bevel Gauge - Angle Finder - Amazon.com
imo, there are 2 obstacles to obtaining a good edge.
proper consistent angle
time (as in the time it takes to shave)
proper consistent angle can be had, with a jig of some sort (i linked one earlier) where it keeps the knife in place and has guides sharpening the stone. (i have this system as well, i find it a bit unwieldy)
or you can try to hold your knife super still. usually there are 2 ways to measure freehand knife sharping.
1. hold the knife 90degrees/ perpendicular to the stone. then go half way to 45degrees, then go again half of that and you're at 22 degrees.
2. or take two quarters, lay them on the stone and use that as a guide.
there's also another way, which is to hold the knife perpendicular again, except you swipe up and down (holding your knife 90) against already angled rods, the popular option for this is this
Amazon.com : Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker Knife Sharpener 204MF : Sports Outdoors
i like this one, but it's getting on the expensive side for some ppl.
there's a cheaper option, that has shorter sticks, and includes a mini diamond stone, but is limited in angles (to a 20 only)
Amazon.com: Smiths CCD4 3 IN 1 Field Sharpening System: Home Improvement
i find this very compact and if i ever go outdoors i'm bringing this with me. (it used to sit out on my kitchen counter for quick touch ups since it was so small, if you get this, whatever you do, do NOT use the carbide "v" cutter, while it can shape a badly damaged knife it will take off tons of steel)
the next obstacle is time, truthfully to sharpen knives by hand (baring a wheel grinder, etc) you need to go up in grits, basically you're using larger particles to sharpen your knives and you should progress down in particle size (this means up in number) or grit.
you'll either see company standards of course/fine/extra fine or in grit sizes 200/800/1000/6000 etc or even micron particle size.
of course this is also affect by the type of sharpeners (stone/oil/water or ceramic or diamond embedded)
i did have one of these
Amazon.com: Furi Rachael Ray Ozitech Diamond Fingers Pro Knife Sharpener: Kitchen Dining
when i didn't know about sharpening and i remember it doing a decent enough job, at least my knives weren't dull, i wouldn't be able to "try it out" again since my previous one was used so much the diamonds wore off, but this is the sharpener i give to friends as a sharpener any idiot can use and will get decent results.
there used to be a knife sheath + sharpener in one that i would give to friends, that way, whenever they put the knife away in the sheath and take it out, it gets sharpened.
lately i've been looking at
Amazon.com: Warthog V-Sharp Classic II Knife Sharpener WHS01: Knife Sharpeners: Kitchen Dining
to give as a knife sharpener to family, when i have time i'll buy one to test out and see how idiot proof it is.
Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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What's an average price for knife sharpening? I have a $120 Kitchen-Aid knife set that I don't mind, but they are all dull. Worth it to sharpen? Or would it probably cost more than the whole cheap set cost?
Also, my mother has grown up using Cutco knives. She loves them, and the ones I've used are really good as well. But I guess most chefs will hate them before they are riveted. The cool thing is they have a life time sharpening warranty. My mom always keeps an eye out at yard sales for them, because you can send them back and have them all refinished/sharpened for free.
Also, my mother has grown up using Cutco knives. She loves them, and the ones I've used are really good as well. But I guess most chefs will hate them before they are riveted. The cool thing is they have a life time sharpening warranty. My mom always keeps an eye out at yard sales for them, because you can send them back and have them all refinished/sharpened for free.
Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Northwestern Cutlery is pretty respected in the Chicago restaurant scene... knife sharpening starts at $3.50 per.
http://www.nwcutlery.com/sharpeningservices.html
http://www.nwcutlery.com/sharpeningservices.html
It varies. Sometimes you can get it done free at local hardware stores, etc., they offer it as a thing to bring in business. At the high end it'd be $10 per knife (which you should never pay), $2-5 is reasonable and pretty standard.
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Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
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Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,112
- 11,642
Thanks guys for the input, I'll check some of the higher chain stores around here because my knives suck dick currently.
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How far ahead can I make it? Also, I don't have a mandolin so there's no way I'm going to julienne them. Think I can shave the carrots, or should I just chop them?
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I did the inside out grilled cheese last night with cheddar inside and shredded parmesan on the outside... It was good but I burned the outside cheese so some of the bites were terrible.
Also used 900 grain bread because that's all we had. Butter in the pan is something I always forget about and usually end up leaving the butter outside the fridge for like 10 minutes before spreading and it's still terrible.
Also used 900 grain bread because that's all we had. Butter in the pan is something I always forget about and usually end up leaving the butter outside the fridge for like 10 minutes before spreading and it's still terrible.
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
- 8,157
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Lot of butter in the pan is key, it evenly coats the bread nicely, much better than trying to spread it on the bread beforehand. I melt the butter, put the 2 pieces of bread in and move them around the whole pan to soak up all the butter. And definitely don't try to cook the sandwich any higher than about medium heat, don't want to burn that cheese. Also(obviously) make sure you are using a teflon/non-stick pan