Chef knife care

[RugerNurse]

Question for all you chefs out there. I have an Opinel chef knife that my wife uses ALOT. She is a fantastic cook and makes 90% of everything from scratch at home. So the knife get used heavily. Sometimes there will be little flat spots along the edge. I’ve mentioned not cutting on ceramic plates we have or putting the knife in the sink but they still show up.
I can get a very keen edge on it off the 300grit then a few passes on the 600 and some light passes on the ceramic rods on the sharpmaker. The edge is probably 15-17° I don’t really know I just followed the factory angle. Any tips to help strengthen the edge? Does using the ceramic rod make a microbevel?

[vivi]

two options:

- give it a thicker edge, using 20 degrees per side.

- teach everyone to treat it better, and be able to get away with a thinner edge

I run 10dps edges on my soft kiwi knives and they can go 3-4 months between any sort of touch up. They only get used on cutting boards, hand washed only as soon as the cutting tasks are complete, and I use other knives if I'm cutting aroune bone.

[Scandi Grind]

Agreed, there are pretty much only two ways to reduce unwanted deformation of the edge; avoid what is stressing the edge, or make the edge stronger. Making the edge stronger would pretty much just mean increasing the overall edge angle, or adding a micro-bevel at a more obtuse angle. Obviously this will come at the cost of some cutting performance.

Alternatively you may be able to locate the cause of the edge deformation and avoid it, allowing you to keep the current geometry. It might be difficult to identify the problem though without paying a lot of attention to how your wife is cutting, and what ingredients, until you can locate what exactly is causing the deformation. What are her typical cutting styles? Does she typically rock cut, push/pull, chop, or a combination? If she rocks then a slight twisting motion during this cut can cause edges to chip or roll, especially on the last third of the blade from what I have seen. Although some people really have a talent for chopping, I have a hard time chopping without dulling an edge much faster than using a push/pull cut, so I avoid chopping most of the time. Also scraping food off of the cutting board with the edge should be avoided as this is a frequent cause of premature edge wear. For scraping the spine should be used.

Then there are ingredients. Sometimes it is just one unsuspecting ingredient that causes a problem. For example some herb stems are actually somewhat rough on edges, so if your wife minces a lot of herbs this could be the culprit. That is an example where rock cutting and the ingredient could be contributing. Other ingredients to watch out for are things that are very hard, like butternut squash. These can be cut effectively even with very thin knives without damage, but require a level of finesse that I don't possess. Frozen food and bones can often cause chips and rolls.

While I don't know your wifes level of knife skill, none of this is to criticize whatever technique she may be using, there are many ways to effectively use a knife in the kitchen. However if you can locate the source of the damage it might be a simple change of technique that solves the problem if that is something she is inclined to try. Otherwise basically just increase the edge angle slowly until it seems to stabilize. If you have to go past 18 dps, then I would say you likely have a technique/ingredient problem somewhere. If you can't figure out the cause at that point and it is still happening, I'd just sharpen out any deformation at whatever your typical interval is, maybe even go back to the thinner edge and just don't worry about the occasional flat spots. In the end dulling is a natural part of knife use, so if it cuts fine between sharpening intervals, don't worry too much about visible dulling, just sharpen it back up and your wife will be good to go. This is largely how I treat the typical knife block that the rest of my family uses at my house. Sharpen to a tough 18 dps, let them drive it like they stole it, then remove the damage whenever needed.

[Ankerson]

Could stay with the same edge angle and just put a 20 degree per side micro bevel on it with a ceramic like a Sharpmaker.

That will toughen it up for you.

Stay around 600 grit or so, like Sharpmaker brown rods give or take.

[Doc Dan]

Buy her a cleaver?

[ChrisinHove]

Could stay with the same edge angle and just put a 20 degree per side micro bevel on it with a ceramic like a Sharpmaker.

That will toughen it up for you.

Stay around 600 grit or so, like Sharpmaker brown rods give or take.

That’s what I do. The edges last well, now.