Growing up, I was the designated daughter to cut the ingredients for my mom’s cooking. In Tagalog, we call this process of cutting, “gayat“. I was never fond of this chore because it would take a long time. It took awhile because I was using a dull knife. Even so, I didn’t like sharp knives because I was scared of them. I was scared that I would cut myself. Little did I know, a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife.

A dull knife could easily slip off the food and land on your finger. I once hurt myself from using one. I freaked out and had my friend frantically grab a band-aid; It wasn’t a major cut. I was just overreacting, but it was still pretty scary!

Fast forward to today, I have grown more comfortable with using knives. I’ve learned that a sharp knife is not only safer, it could also dramatically speed up the process of cooking. And to those who don’t like to cook, believe it or not, a sharp knife could make cooking enjoyable! A sharp knife could be so fun to use, you might get attached to it. Hence, some chefs prefer only their personal knife to use. They even bring it along wherever they go.

After learning the importance of a sharp knife, I felt the need to get my knife professionally sharpened. I had never done it before since I got my knife (and that was five years ago). My boyfriend Chris found a professional sharpening service called Bernal Cutlery San Francisco. Bernal Cutlery specializes in Japanese whet stone sharpening, which is better than dry grinders because dry grinders remove too much steel off the blade.

The service was top-notch. I even got a loaner knife while they were working on mine. The staff was also kind enough to share with us their techniques in keeping knives sharp.

BERNAL CUTLERY’S TOP 5 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR KNIVES SHARP:

1. Use the knife only for its intended purpose. Just because you have a sharp knife, it doesn’t mean you could cut anything you want with it. Don’t force or pry. If your knife doesn’t cut easily, then it might not be right tool for the job. Forcing it could easily dull your knife, and you might hurt yourself in the process.

2. Never put your knife in the dishwasher. Even if it says “dishwasher-safe”, you could prolong the sharpness of your knife by hand washing it.

3. Don’t scrape with the edge of the knife. Flip and use the spine of the knife to scrape and move the food around or off the cutting board.

4. Avoid using plastic, bamboo, and glass cutting board. The best surface for your knife are wooden cutting boards (except bamboo) because they are soft and gentle on your knife’s edge.

5. Only hone the blade when it needs it. Don’t go to a honing steel as a matter of habit. Gently feel the blade with your fingertips motioning away from the blade. When you motion into the blade, the knife will always feel sharp even when it’s not. If the blade is smooth on one side and rough on the other, then you’ll know it needs to be sharpened with a honing steel.

Here’s another knife advice which came from reddit member, Volundarkvioa:

Best way to tell if your knife is sharp: Take a piece of paper, hold it with one hand and try to get it to remain flat. Drag the knife down. If it easily cuts the paper, your knife is sharp. If it doesn’t cut, even with a sawing motion, you need to hone your edge. After honing, if it still doesn’t cut the paper, you need to get your knives sharpened. When honing, hold the knife between a 15 and 20 degree angle. Best way to figure out this angle is using a full matchbook. Then drag the knife from the bottom of the edge to the tip of the blade. Do this anywhere between 5-20 times on each side (just make sure to do equal amounts on both sides).

After I got my knife back, I couldn’t be any happier to get back to cutting. I was slicing tomatoes like a ninja. No more dreading the “gayat“. And no more dreading of getting cut.

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