I've been watching a lot of Murray Carter videos and chefs' videos in an attempt to educate myself about the honing & maintenance of kitchen knives. (My GF so far is very pleased with the results). One thing still confuses me; the use of steel rods.

Most chefs seem to agree that butcher steel (the kind with grooves, or texture) is more destructive than helpful. They recommend using "meatpacker" or "slick" steel (smooth & polished) before each use of the knife.

So why do they use steel, while we use leather?

I happen to have a very hard, highly polished steel rod on hand. It seems to do the same thing that leather stropping does, but far more aggressively. I tried steeling one knife, and stropping another on a leather belt laid flat on the counter. The steel seems to produce a slightly "grabbier" edge. But the leather isn't half bad, either.

So why don't any chefs use leather instead of steel? Is the steel better? Or is there a fear that microbes from meat will end up contaminating the leather? Or is it an accident of history? Conversely, why don't we steel our razors instead of stropping them? (I'm actually afraid to try this for fear of chipping a blade--maybe that's the reason).

Should I look for another steel on ebay to keep at her house?