#knife-sharpener

[dariodosdias]

[wonderingabouttravel]

New Post has been published on WONDERING ABOUT

New Post has been published on http://www.wonderingabout.travel/knife-sharpener/

A knife-sharpener that works!

How to restore your Manliness

I’ve always viewed Knife-sharpeners as the Snake Oil of Kitchen gadgets but I fail stunningly in the manliness department when it comes to sharpening our beautiful set of 12 Wusthof Classics that have their leading edge reduced to the sharpness of a butter knife over the last 10 years.

The only success I ever had was with a sharpening stone and then keeping up the pitiful only-just-sharp edge with a steel.  I accept that the fault is with the artisan, not the tools.

But also over that same 10 years, I have increased the pile of disappointment that languishes in the back of the kitchen drawer as a graveyard of knife-sharpening gadgets.  I’ve tried crossed-rollers, discs and various other things that are akin to medieval testicular torture tools.

I finally faced reality and stopped buying these in moments when optimism overtook scepticism, usually fuelled by desperation; so it was with a very cynical sideways glance that I greeted Siubhan’s presentation of the latest addition to the kitchen graveyard, the Anysharp.  Even the name set me on edge.

I’ll admit that it’s a well-built little toy that feels robust and the suction-cup grabs the ceramic hob well.  But I was neither disappointed nor felt vindicated when Siubhan’s attempts to sharpen the knives failed in much the same way as any other.

But, in a moment of boredom a couple of weeks later, I gave it a go. The trick, I found, was not to read the manual and just go for it because the manual says NOT to apply much pressure.  But I went at it like the gorilla that I am and pushed down on that 8″ blade from back to front until small bits of swarf could easily be coming away from the knife edge where it met the cutting V of the Anysharp.

I didn’t care much as we had just identified a local knife sharpener to us and we planned to drop the full set off with him in the next fortnight and I thought that he would be able to remedy my ham-fisted butchering.

But then the miracle happened and the knife that came away from the diminutive device was SHARP.  Yes, Sharp!  I had to try it on a cherry tomato just to see and Wowza!!! Thin slices and everything, just like the guy in the video says.

  The edge was a bit rough from my efforts so I returned to the Anysharp and took it a bit easier this time and after another few minutes, I now had a more refined edge to our favourite knife, the Wustof Classic 20cm Kitchen Knife and we were back in business!

An hour or so later and I had done about 15 knives all to a standard that would impress my alpha male metrosexual buddies.

Manliness has been restored!

[was-a-mistake]

Knife-sharpener was a mistake.