Knife Sharpening: Kitchen Knife Sharpening: How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade

Knife Sharpening

 

This week once again the subject is on Knife Sharpening. As I stated before I have been taking requests as of late and the one's that I get the most are for Knife Sharpening. So this weeks Knife Sharpening video will discuss Kitchen Knife Sharpening.

and the subject of How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade. There is always a bone of contention when it comes to How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade. The fact of the matter is that the best way is on a standing grinder rig outfitted with a medium bristle bronze brush wheel. The bronze is softer than the steel of the knife but hard enough to straighten a rolled edge without scratching the surface of the serrated blade. The bronze wheel will also not damage or deform the scallops or teeth of the serrated blade.

Well, fact of the matter is that not everyone has a standing grinder in their homes to do Kitchen Knife Sharpening with. The other side of the story is that many people use their serrated knives for chores other than what they are meant for and in that case the edge will not stay as sharp as long. In most cases when it comes to Knife Sharpening and especially Kitchen Knife Sharpening the most difficult knife in the kitchen to sharpen is the serrated blade. Now there are many gimmicky gadgets on the market that say they will sharpen a serrated knife but, the fact of the matter is that these gadgets will also deform the scallops and teeth of your serrated kitchen knives.

I have said it before Knife Sharpening is a matter of practice and Kitchen Knife Sharpening is easier than you think. So How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade? Do you happen to have that standing grinder in your garage? If so great! Go get a medium bristle bronze wheel and I will show you How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade using it. If you are like the rest of us and don't happen to have a standing grinder then read on!

Some of the gadgets out there being sold for serrated Knife Sharpening are called "rat tail" files. These are conical tapered files made of carbide or diamond coated. The trick to using them is that you are supposed to meet the gauge of the scallops of your serrated knife and then either work the file up and down or use a twisting motion to sharpen the scallop and teeth of your serrated knife. (See Video) This is not Knife Sharpening! This is not How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife Blade! As many of you have seen me do in other Knife Sharpening videos I go through a range of grits or meshes when I do Kitchen Knife Sharpening or any Knife Sharpening chore for that matter. So if you have to use these "rat tail" files and you have to go through a range of grits how long do you think it will take to sharpen just one knife? I will tell you how long.........FOREVER!

The "rat tail" file is just one way of not doing proper Knife Sharpening. There are other systems out there like guided Knife Sharpening systems or pivot driven Knife Sharpening systems that use triangular stones or ceramics that they say will allow you to do Kitchen Knife Sharpening of your serrated blades. They will and do work to some extent but will shorten the life span of your serrated knife blades.


In reality no matter what system you choose to do Knife Sharpening on serrated blades the fact remains that in time the teeth of the blade will round out and the scallops of the blade will deform. How quickly that happens is dependent on how you sharpen your serrated blades. I have come up with a way that is fairly gentle to the serrated knife  and will allow the blade to remain functional much, much longer than if you used a Knife Sharpening gadget or Kitchen Knife Sharpening system. I use a MAC Knives white or black ceramic honing rod or a Spyderco ultra fine ceramic stone as well as my version of strop I call my "poor mans" strop. (See Video) If I feel like it I will also use my surgical black Arkansas stone for a final polish of the blade. (See Video) Is my system the "perfect" system? No! But it is very gentle to the knife and will allow you to have it for more years than if you used a "rat tail", pivot, or guided Knife Sharpening system.(See Video) I hope you enjoy the video!

Knife Sharpening How To Sharpen Knives In The Field

Knife Sharpening

 

 

 

Hi Everyone! This week I am going to be talking about Knife Sharpening again! I am going to be talking about How To Sharpen Knives In The Field. I have been taking requests from readers and Youtube channel subscribers lately and have been getting requests for more Knife Sharpening! So here were are. I was contacted by a United Stated Marine two weeks ago and he asked me how I would perform Knife Sharpening in the field on a knife like a Ka-Bar or any knife in the field? He told me he was using this little gadget with two tungsten carbide bits in it for Knife Sharpening.

Well, I am not really a big fan of these little pocket sized gadgets for Knife Sharpening and I would not want to be using one of them long term if someone asked me How To Sharpen Knives In The Field! You see the issue with the little carbide sharpener for Knife Sharpening is that they will work but, they will only work for a limited amount of time. You see these carbide sharpeners only work on the primary cutting edge of your knife and do nothing for the "back bevel" or "secondary edge" of your knife. Since the carbide is harder than most steels eventually your primary cutting edge will be gone because the carbide can actually tear/rip metal from your edge. That is what it's doing in the first place.

Knife Sharpening is easier to learn than most people think and it's just a matter of practice! So the little carbide is good in the short term for Knife Sharpening but terrible in the long run and for elongated stretches in the field. Another consideration for Knife Sharpening in the field I explained is that you don't want to carry a heavy stone in your pack or even a Knife Sharpening rig of some kind that takes time to assemble and disassemble. This is not a good idea is the shooting starts!

So this Marine asked me how I would perform Knife Sharpening in the field? He told me that he was not looking for the "razors" edge as that is not an effective style of edge for a soldiers field knife but, he did want to know how I would make a "workable" edge on my field knife.

Well, the fact of the matter is that the way I do Knife Sharpening in the field is basically the same way I do Knife Sharpening at home. I use DMT Diafolds. These small folding diamond plates are small in size and lightweight. I carry my DMT Diafolds in combo's of  220/325 mesh /grit and 600/1200 mesh/grit.

The DMT Diafold 220/325 for a blade that is really dull and/or rounded. This grit/mesh combo will allow you to begin the Knife Sharpening process and shape and form your basic edge. The DMT Diafold 600/1200 will allow you to thin and refine your knifes edge into something that is workable and quite sharp in the field.

I will also say that if you wish to refine and polish your edge even further when Knife Sharpening in the field then there is always the DMT Diafold 1200/8000 mesh as well that will allow you to get super polish if you want it. I use it at times just for one or two light strokes to refine a working edge in the field when camping. So in answer the the Marines question this is how I perform Knife Sharpening in the field. I have made this video to show everyone how to do it the way I do and I hope you enjoy this video! Next week I will be doing my own way of how to sharpen serrated knives at home. I hope you stay tuned to watch that one as well!




 

Knife Sharpening: How To Sharpen A Large Curved Blade A Butchers Knife

Knife Sharpening: Butchers Knife

 

This week I am doing a Knife Sharpening video on a large curved butchers knife by request of a Youtube subscriber of mine from England. He sent me a personal message last week telling me that he works in a carvery in England. In other words he is a butcher. He asked me how I would sharpen a large curved bladed butchers knife like that found in a Scimitar style of butcher knife. His contention was that it would not be an effective way to sharpen the curved blade using the Japanese style of sharpening stroke that I did in a previous video as the Japanese style of stroke might end up flattening the "belly" of the scimitar knife.

My subscriber is right to an extent in that using the Japanese style of sharpening stroke can and will flatten out the belly of his blade if not done correctly. So in thinking about the subject I decided to do a video for him on how to sharp a butchers knife.

In Knife Sharpening there are many ways to sharpen a knife and not all of them are the correct way. Knife sharpening takes time and patience and when working with something like a curved butchers knife the chore of Knife Sharpening takes even more patience to get it right.

When it comes to large knives one must consider having sharpening stones that are long enough and wide enough to provide enough "real estate" to perform the knife sharpening chore efficiently! A Butchers Knife that is large and curved demands a bit more attention to detail when performing the Knife Sharpening chore. I usually sharpen my larger knives at twenty degrees. I find this angle to be optimal and strong enough to last. I know other people that just have to have their knives sharpening at 15 degrees or better and that is a razors edge. The fact of the matter is that 15 degrees or less will not hold up to any amount of long term useage in the kitchen or in the field of butchering.

In this Knife Sharpening video I will be using My own DMT diamond plates at 220. 325, 600 and 1200 grit/mesh respectively. I will also be using my Spyderco Ceramic finishing stones at fine(roughly 1800 to 2000 grit) and ultra fine(2200 +++) Spyderco does not give the grit information on these stones so it is a bit of guess work but one you see how they work you get a good idea of the grits for these excellent ceramic sharpening stones. I will then go to my surgical black arkansas stone to put a final polish on this butchers knife and then I will be finished. So sit back and enjoy the video!






 

Salad Recipes? Cottage Cheese? Cottage Cheese Vegetable Summer Salad

Salad Recipes: Cottage Cheese

 

 

 

This week I am going to make one of my Mom's Salad Recipes! Yup! That's right, I'm not going to cook anything this week. I'm not even going to touch the stove! This week I am going to make one of my Mom's Salad Recipes and it's going to be made with Cottage Cheese!

Cottage Cheese you say! Yup! Cottage Cheese! See I was looking for something easy and tasty to do this week because to tell the truth when you run a foodie blog week after week after week there are times when it can just grind on you. I mean in a whole world of food how could someone like me hit a block in the road? It happens sometimes and you just want to take it easy for a week or two and do something simple, easy and yet delicious!

For this reason I went to my Mom this last week and talked to here about Salad Recipes! I have done Salad Recipes before as you all know but most of them take some form of cooking to accomplish. I truly didn't feel like "cooking" today so I wanted a salad.

My Mom thought about it as the conversation progressed and she landed on one of her Salad Recipes made with Cottage Cheese! I mean when I think of standard American or European Salad Recipes I am thinking of green leaves and stuff like that.

Nope! Mom told me that back when she was a child here mother would make a Cottage Cheese summer salad with vegetables that was cold and refreshing. Here mom would either serve here Cottage Cheese vegetable salad plain on the plate or in a bowl, or she would stuff veggies with it.

My mother and I both did some research online this week and truly didn't find anything close to what her mom used to make her. So I thought that since this was one of my mom's favorite Salad Recipes that I would give it a go! I mean I LOVE Cottage Cheese don't you? It's a really versatile food.

So this week it's Salad Recipes! I am going to make a Cottage Cheese vegetable summer salad and I am going to stuff it into a bell pepper, a tomato and some button mushrooms and a cucumber. This salad recipe is going to have lots of crunch with the additions of cucumber, radish, scallion, walnuts, peeled celery, and the freshness of cilantro to boot! So go ahead and kick back and enjoy the video and enjoy the Cottage Cheese vegetable summer salad! One of my favorite Salad Recipes!


[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:30]