Questions tagged [knives]
182 questions
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Do honing steels wear out?
We have a knife set that's approximately 15 years old, and as we were honing a knife tonight, a question arose. Do honing steels get worn down over the years? Should they be replaced? If so, how often?
Martha F.
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What is this freaky knife for?
It's long and skinny, like a bread knife. It doesn't show well in the photo, but there's a tiny fine serration on the edge of one of those pointy things…? I've asked the 2 chefs I know, and neither one of them even had a guess!
Very Amateur
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Metal dust/shavings in food from knife wear?
I've been wondering about this for a while, since getting interested in knife sharpening.
When using a knife, it will get duller. One (the primary) reason being that you "bend" the edge. You fix this using a honing steel.
After a while though, you…
NiklasJ
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What is the benefit of using a Mezzaluna Knife over a traditional knife
These seem popular in many modern knife sets, and I have seen them used (somewhat clumsily) in Europe.
I have briefly tried some before, but couldn't see the benefit of it. But then again no one seemed to know how to use it correctly
Does anyone…
TFD
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What tasks require or work best with a knife point?
Most kitchen knives have pointed tips. I can imagine trying to improve safety (e.g. if they're accidentally dropped) by rounding the tip. For example, a paring knife might look like the one on the right instead of the one on the left:
But I wonder…
Daron
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Why not air-dry knives?
I've read that one should hand-wash knives, and I mostly buy that. I've also seen advice that one should dry them immediately and put them away.
Why shouldn't knives air-dry? Aside from the unsightly water stains, is there any downside to letting…
Goodbye Stack Exchange
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What should I look for in a new kitchen knife set?
We've had the same knives for a very long time now, and we need a new set. What should I look for (or avoid) in a new kitchen knife set?
CyberSkull
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When is a Utility Knife to be preferred over a Chef's or a Paring knife?
A Utility knife is a kitchen knife that is midway in size between a Chef's knife and a Paring knife.
Although I own a Utility knife, I don't believe that I have ever used it except when my Chef's knife was unavailable. I took a look around to see…
Chris Steinbach
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Can I sharpen a knife with sandpaper?
So I was thinking, instead of purchasing a dedicated (and expensive) whetstone with limited coarse(ness?) range, why not use patches of sandpaper in increasing grit numbers (getting finer), stretched on some small flat surface? This way I can have…
ysap
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Can you hone a knife properly by using another knife?
I recall seeing this in movies. Can it be called the poor man's steel?
Curry
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What are the advantages of a Santoku over a French Chef's Knife?
When it comes to general cooking knives the santoku and french chef's are generally the ones most often mentioned. Is the style of use very different? The only real difference I'm aware of is that you can use a "rocking" motion with the french…
Ryan Elkins
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Storing knives: wood block or magnetic stripe?
What's better for storing your knives? Wood block or magnetic stripe? And why?
Fczbkk
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What to use to cut things on non stick surfaces?
I had brought brownies baked in a non-stick pan to a potluck. My friend used a metal knife to cut the brownies and scratched up my pan. I plan to bring a non-stick safe knife in the future to save my other non-stick pans from getting scratched…
Classified
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Who originated the dangerous avocado-pitting technique?
There are several reasonable and safe ways to pit an avocado.
There is, however, one very popular (at least in the USA) and unsafe way: digging the pit out with the point of a knife. I see people injuring themselves this way so frequently on social…
FuzzyChef
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