How do chef's/barbers do it?

Interesting comments. In reality what happens in most restaurants is the same as what happens in most home kitchens - knives are misunderstood and mistreated. However, there are chefs that use some very expensive knives and they either take the time to learn how to maintain them or else use a reputable service (ie not usually one that operates off the back of a truck). I subscribe to another forum where the whole chef knife & sharpening thing is almost a religion - it all depends on your perspective and priorities

There are many different tools and techniques for sharpening knives but this one from KSF will show you the simplest (and possibly the cheapest) way to put a convex edge on a knife. If you don't know what a convex edge is or its benefits you owe it to yourself to find out

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/pages/Sharpening-Videos
 
curious2003 said:
how do professional chef's sharpen?

I do not have any clue so this might be a question that many know the answer to but I noticed something at Chinese restaurants where they have the takeout section where they usually chop BBQ things up...they seem to only use a steel rod. Doesn't seem like they sharpen their knives at all in the kitchen. Don't even see any sharpeners. Next time I go to a Chinese restaurant I might ask about that...

Also what do barbers do to get those razor's in shape? Free hand stones then stropping on leather?
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There's a program that was on The History channel called "The World's Sharpest" and they interviewed a barber. He said that they mostly strop, but every once in a while would use a very fine hard stone. I think he said it was some kind of Arkansas, I remember it was black and glossy.

I know two chefs, and they sharpen their knives at home. When you see them steeling the knife, it's to keep it sharp, not to sharpen it. It would waste too much time to sharpen a knife in the middle of a busy night. Both of them use benchstones.
 
"Before you try any of that you should try learning how to put a convex edge on a knife."

Sharpening is result specific. Mouse pad and diamond grit, leather and aluminum oxide, synthetic stones, EdgePro, natural stones.. method doesn't matter when it gets to the cutting part. It do or it don't.

I'm addicted to quality natural stones, and use them in combinations that most folks don't. I've spent more on stones than knives, repeatedly, and the only thing I've proven for sure is 'doodlebugs' (gadgets that claim perfection for novices) aren't the most cost effective method.

They WORK ok, they're just sub-optimal.

Telling someone to copy a particular sharpening style ignores the results when *they* do it. I'd recommend anyone with time to spare learn to sharpen freehand, but that doesn't give them the hundreds of hours of practice they'll need.

A ceramic rod on a handle is frequently useful for touch ups, especially on softer steel knives. A 'packer' (totally smooth) steel, ie meatpackers/butchers type, is excellent for removing fine wire edge fragments, and a boron silicate rod likewise.

My theory is: using bench stones is near optimal use of your time. Esoteric tricks, tools, and tweaks, however fun, are rarely necessary
 
MelancholyMutt said:
My family has been in the Chinese restaurant business for 40 years...

The thing is, The health departments in almost every state in the US will not allow carbon steel knives to be used in restaurants and food processing plants.

Yes, there is a lot of chopping and some slicing, but I have yet to see one chinese chef who knows how to sharpen a knife... a sushi chef... yes... those knives need to be razor sharp, but Chinese... not one...
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Ive worked in the public health field for 25+ years in several states and have never heard or seen a reg concerning stainless vs carbon knives. Much less an outright ban on them.--KV
 
There is a whole industry of professional knife sharpeners who sharpen the knives for chefs. When Carl George retired, authorities initially reported a small earthquake, but subsequent investigation showed that it was actually just the collected pained outcry of all of Portland's chefs.

Many professional chefs are quite skilled at freehand sharpening because they do their own knives. Most professional culinary schools teach it as an important part of their curiculum.
 
you have to remember that chefs knives are used more than most knives. I use mine anywhere from 2 to 6 hours a day. I have a ceramic rod for honing or touching up the edge. And then once a week or so I have a Spyderco Sharpmaker I use to do a real sharpening.
 
i have seen knife f^&ked up from those guys in vans who do the sharpening.

im a chef and my knifes get hit with a diamond steel about once or twice a week and with my f-dick grooved flat steel every time i pick it up, i would never let anyone hone or sharpen my knifes but me.. and i have a saying i tell all new kitchen hands "you put my knifes in the dishwasher and ill put them in YOU"
 
MelancholyMutt said:
The thing is, The health departments in almost every state in the US will not allow carbon steel knives to be used in restaurants and food processing plants.
Click to expand...

Source?

www.korin.com arguably the best place to shop for japanese style chefs knives, a store in NY where a lot of the top chefs in NYC will go to buy knives and have theirs sharpened, sells Carbon Steel knives.

I have never heard of the health dept regulations stating that carbon steal can't be used.
 
>>>>chef for 24 years here.
In the UK chefs have their own knives, here in Canada the cooks generally use house knives which are Ground down daily and the cheaper the better.

I have always used german blades and still have 5 knives from 20 years ago still going strong.
As far as sharpening once or twice a week on a waterstone and then a steel after every job to straighten the edges.
Kitchen knives are used 8-10 hours a day and used hard so its better to buy quality if you can, also NEVER let anyone else use or sharpen your knives!

This has transitioned nicely into my new knife hobby in recent years.
 
curious2003 said:
how do professional chef's sharpen?

I do not have any clue so this might be a question that many know the answer to but I noticed something at Chinese restaurants where they have the takeout section where they usually chop BBQ things up...they seem to only use a steel rod. Doesn't seem like they sharpen their knives at all in the kitchen. Don't even see any sharpeners. Next time I go to a Chinese restaurant I might ask about that...

Also what do barbers do to get those razor's in shape? Free hand stones then stropping on leather?
Click to expand...


I hone my knives on a good steel (usually Forschner or Dick) when its time to sharpen I use a Dexter 3 Way.
:thumbup:
 
I worked one summer as a tongue dropper on the kill floor of a slaughterhouse. I used a knife 8 hours a day, five days a week. We were provided inexpensive working knives (think Old Hickory) with the design dependent on the place on the line. I used a curved blade, skinning profile. Carried two or three in an aluminum bucket type sheath. Before the shift, I'd hit them a lick on the company sander, which held the knife in the correct aspect to maintain the edge bevel. I could maintain the edge with a steel for most of an 8-hour shift. Mostly soft tissue, but occasionally I'd hit a jawbone or my steel mesh glove and change knives. Some guys never got the hang of using the steel, and worked all day with a dull knife. I watched and learned from the old pros, including a guy in the blood pit who could hit the carotid arteries on a hanging beef with one swipe and not get blood on his knife.
 
cheftothestars said:
>>>>chef for 24 years here.
In the UK chefs have their own knives, here in Canada the cooks generally use house knives which are Ground down daily and the cheaper the better.

I have always used german blades and still have 5 knives from 20 years ago still going strong.
As far as sharpening once or twice a week on a waterstone and then a steel after every job to straighten the edges.
Kitchen knives are used 8-10 hours a day and used hard so its better to buy quality if you can, also NEVER let anyone else use or sharpen your knives!

This has transitioned nicely into my new knife hobby in recent years.
Click to expand...

The old Messermeieter line can't be beat, I agree with you about German Steel. Another thing that kills me in the kitchen is cooks that are afraid of 10"+ knives. Even in culinary school I used a 12" Forschner with my own kit, all my knives stay rolled and with me in the office until needed.

2x a week on a wetstone is some serious action btw. Your gonna have steak knives at the end of the year :p
 
My Uncle John is a barber with his own shop , he's been a barber longer than I can recall and I'm 43.
He has not had a straight razor in his shop for decades, as a kid I vaguely remember a sterilization beaker for razors and such but nothing was ever in it. In other words the old barber using a straight razor thing has been out of vogue for a long , long time.
( not saying there arent barbers who use those just that there are nowhere near as many as 'back in the day' ).

As far as chefs go , I know one professional chef here in my city who used to work with me , he didnt have the time nor the patience to sit and razor hone his knives every week or so.

What I'm saying is IMO the old image of the barber or cook/chef spending time keeping their instruments sharp is just that , an image of days gone past.
A good chef does not bother with the menial task of keeping knives sharp , he pays a professional to do that work.


Tostig
 
i have had to fix knives or scissors screwed up by the "van sharpeners". its always a good idea to check out their work before letting someone like that sharpen anything. i carried knives or scissors that i could demonstrate with so the person seen what i could do.

i used to sharpen knives for restaurants and grocery stores and scissors for barber shops/beauty salons in my area for years on the paper wheels. everybody was pleased with my work and since i cant travel far anymore, most of the same people come to the house.

a buddy who worked for a slaughter house never trusted his knives to be sharpened by anyone but me.
 
Tostig said:
A good chef does not bother with the menial task of keeping knives sharp , he pays a professional to do that work.


Tostig
Click to expand...

good to great chefs do bother, it's the poor chefs that don't. We know it is not a menial task to keep a sharp blade but a necessity.

There are very few people I would trust sharpening my chefs knives for me and I keep mine scary sharp (so I've been told).
 
viva la said:
good to great chefs do bother, it's the poor chefs that don't. We know it is not a menial task to keep a sharp blade but a necessity.

There are very few people I would trust sharpening my chefs knives for me and I keep mine scary sharp (so I've been told).
Click to expand...


I don't let anyone sharpen my knives, they don't touch them, they don't mess with them not even the KM's or Sous's under me.

Great point Viva
 
When I worked as a cook in a hotel I had two sets of knives, the junky ones that I would exchange every week for a sharp one (the hotel had a service) and my good knives. The junky ones were used for aggressive chopping (doing veg prep for banquets and chopping lobsters) and the good ones for finer work or lower volumes. All of us cooks steeled our blades religiously so even the junky blade maintained a sharp edge. I would sharpen the good blades quite infrequently (every three months or so) on a stone.
 
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