Using a Honing Steel:

So you have chosen a knife. Its balance and beauty hand-picked by, you for you! So many recipes and so little time but what if it gets dull? How do you keep it sharp?

One wise chef told me very early in my career, “James a sharp knife doesn’t cut you a dull one does,” and you know what its true. I have had more accidents using my knife when it was dull than when it was sharp! When the knife is dull, you have to exert more pressure to cut through a vegetable or cut of meat, really force it to make a path through. A sharp knife easily finds a path through without too much pressure thereby creating less of a chance to slip and cut you badly. A honing steel will help to do this. In knife skills classes I always say to anyone thinking of purchasing a knife, “It's very important that if you are purchasing a knife to purchase a honing steel at the same time." For every hour to two hours of slicing, dicing, cutting and mincing the knives, the fine sharp edge begins to roll and create the feel of a dull knife. To maintain the edge, you should hone your knife a few times on each side of the knife's cutting edge to bring it back up to true every couple of hours. A Steel is used only to maintain a knives sharp edge; it is not used to sharpen. Once a knife is dull and it does not become sharp again after honing, it will have to be professionally sharpened.

How to use the steel:

1. Hold the honing steel in your hand, and place the end on work surface at the edge of a counter using a damp cloth as support.
2. Place the heel of the knife on the edge of the steel, at a 22° angle. To find 22° set your knife at 90°. The go to the halfway point for 45° and then half again to get 22°.
3. Gently pass the knife blade along the steel, maintaining the 22° angle. This should be done on both sides and even amount of passes repeat a few times, for each side of the blade.

Now you have a great sharp-edged knife. Have a great time in the kitchen.

Yours in food prepared with a sharp knife,
Chef James