Thread: Kitchen knives too sharp

Our largest supermarket Albert Heijn is giving customers so called cutlery stamps. For every 10 euros you spend in one of their shops you get one stamp. For every 50 stamps you can buy fancy cutlery at a discount for use in the kitchen and the dining room. As it happens the kitchen knives are so sharp that they cause injury to clumsy users. Some even go the A & E dept of their local hospital for treatment. It has even been on the national news here and in Flanders.

Crazy world we live in.

I want to say that I'm surprised, no way, those must be some wicked knives. But, I can't.

There's a saying, dunno where it started, but an old co-worker (in customer service) would say all the time.

"You can't fix stupid."

I sharpen my kitchen knives on my 325 D8C DMT. I don't like them any sharper than that. They cut what I need to cut, the edges last fairly long, and in case of a 'mistake' I won't cut myself as badly as I would if they were 'razor' sharp. I know the old caveat that a dull knife makes a worse wound than a sharp one, but I think that applies more to intentional cutting than to slight miscues that are unintentional. YMMV.

They had a similar deal on Henckels knives here and they are not too sharp as I have not cut myself on them yet. When they get a little dull a few swipes on the steel and they are good to go. Like Jimmy, I only need my kitchen knives sharp enough to do the job not razor sharp.

Bob

I like mine as sharp as I can get them otherwise they tend to slip, that's when I cut myself

I stop at 1000 grit on an Edge Pro and that is plenty sharp enough.

That's about as far as I go as well, maybe a few passes on an Ark translucent after the 1k

Originally Posted by Utopian

I stop at 1000 grit on an Edge Pro and that is plenty sharp enough.

The level of sharpness or polish should be somewhat dependent on what you are going to cut with it. Just like a razor, the more polished it is the more delicate it is. Cutting meat and fish? Its best to have a very sharp, very polished edge. Chopping onions? A little bite in the edge is not exactly a bad thing.

I'm actually horrifically terrible at sharpening knives, never can get the bevel even. I bought a "Food Network" branded 2-stage sharpening thingie. I can feel you guys cringing, I know, I know. But it keeps my 8" Henckels sharp enough to easily cut a soft tomato and that's all I need.

This is great timing. I was planning on taking my wife's Japanese-style kitchen knives to my DMT 325 this week. Can anyone recommend a kitchen knife sharpening video?