Modern-day kitchens are filled with all kinds of accessories, all intended to make things less taxing for the chef. From garlic presses to pepper mills, most of them are designed for the cutting of foodstuffs in various ways. Of course, the most definitive cook's tool of all, the knife, is the primary way of preparing food, and has existed for millenia. Preparing ingredients with knives doesn't need to be hard work once a few easy techniques are mastered, but one thing above everthing else is essential : the knife edge must be kept as sharp as possible.

Why? There are a few reasons.

To start with, there are safety considerations. Somewhat paradoxically, keener knives are safer knives. Dulled knives are tougher to control when chopping and slicing, and can easily slip off the ingredient you're working with, potentially hurting your other hand.

Next, sharper blades make neater cuts in your ingredients, without bruising or crushing them. For salads, would you prefer nice thin slices of tomato, or crude bruised and smashed clods? Sharp blades give you greater control over how finely or thickly you chop your food.

Finally, a sharp knife will stay in good condition for a longer period, as unsharpened knives are more prone to being damaged. Once completely dulled, a knife is hard to sharpen up again without wholly regrinding it, while an already sharp knife can be kept in perfect condition by regular use of a domestic knife sharpener or more advanced steel.

Article provided by Kitchen Gear Cookshop where you can browse a range of knife sharpeners and steels.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 9:14 am and is filed under Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.