Service gives sharpener the edge
The rise of TV cooking shows over the last decade or so has resulted in home cooks improving their skills in the kitchen and investing in all sorts of new gadgets. However, the one gadget that never goes out of fashion is a good quality chef’s knife – and that is where the sharpening service Andrew Smith provides becomes invaluable.
One thing I insist on when I’m cooking is a decent knife to use, and over the years I have built up a nice little collection designed for different purposes. Some of these knives are quite expensive, but not to the level of professional chefs, who often spend hundreds of dollars on a single knife.
We have also tried all sorts of expensive gadgets to sharpen our knives, but at the end of the day I prefer to use the simple steel to hone them.
However, as I discovered while talking with Andrew, honing a knife doesn’t ensure the correct bevel on the blade for the intended purpose – it just keeps the knife edge in a usable condition.
Last week I sat down with Andrew, a few knives, some fruit and vegetables and a chopping board so he could show me the difference a properly sharpened knife makes.
The first thing he told me is that we should never use blunt knives, because you need to use more pressure to cut things, and using more pressure can lead to knives slipping and cuts to fingers. A sharp knife will cut things easily with minimum effort, and it will cut much more accurately.
Andrew says that what he does is generally described as sharpening, ‘‘but for chefs and others who work in food preparation for a living, it is better described as re-profiling. Once the knife has a new bevel, it will stay sharp for a lot longer and is much easier to keep smooth with a steel’’.
While Andrew has a background in environmental science, he has also worked for Consumer New Zealand testing whiteware and equipment, including knives.
He had been sharpening knives as a hobby for a few years, and his knowledge encouraged Consumer to do a knife test, including knife durability.
Andrew’s interest in sharpening knives started with his own knives and then for a few friends as a hobby, using a whetstone.
‘‘There is a real art to using a stone to sharpen something, so I bought an expensive jig out of the United States so I could be a lot more accurate in creating different bevels on different knives,’’ he told me.
‘‘A friend who owned the Chocolate Fish cafe in Wellington dropped into home one day to see what I was doing, and I ended up sharpening their knives.
‘‘This was the start of a part-time business, and I was sharpening professional knives for a range of restaurants in Wellington.’’
About four years ago, Andrew moved to Nelson with his partner and two children. They bought a section at Braemar Eco Village, where he says it is like living in the country but in town, so for them it is the perfect place to bring up the children.
The only downside is that there is not much demand in Nelson for Andrew’s specialist skills in environmental science.
By the time of the move, he had 11 years’ experience working with top restaurants and chefs, so he decided to restart his knife sharpening service here, grow the business and make it a fulltime job by picking up clients in different areas, including sharpening scissors for hairdressers, and setting up his rather expensive jig at markets around Nelson.
‘‘I walked the streets and talked to chefs but didn’t get much uptake because everyone is too busy,’’ Andrew says. ‘‘But when a chef goes to Southern Hospitality, who sell a huge range of knives, they recommended me.
‘‘Once there is a recommendation, they come to me. It is the same with salon scissors.
‘‘At the high end, scissors are $1000 plus for one pair, and chef’s knives can be many hundreds of dollars, so it takes a huge amount of trust to hand over what is a special piece of equipment to me.
‘‘I sharpen by hand, so have a lot of control over how much metal I take off.
‘‘It is much more precise than using a grinder, and I use a mixture of synthetic whetstones and diamond plates as well as a variety of polishes on different things.
‘‘For example, once the blade is sharpened, I polish the edge to keep refining it. I even put polish on balsa wood and use that to achieve a premium finish on the edges.’’
There is a lot to reshaping a knife or scissor blade. It’s not just sliding it over a stone and then giving it back to the owner.
So what do you need to think about when you are buying a knife for home?
‘‘The western steels used in good knives are all similar and range from good-quality to high-quality but have pretty much the same characteristics,’’ Andrew says.
‘‘There was a time when the sign of a good knife was it was forged, but these days stamped knives are every bit as good. If you know what to choose, you can get a modestly priced knife that will perform beautifully.
‘‘The next step is knives made with Japanese steel. They tend to be lighter, can be sharper and stay sharp for longer.
‘‘A reasonable entry-level Japanese steel knife will set you back about $150, but it will far outperform the very best western steel knife.’’
We are talking about proper knives here, not cheap $10 ones. Proper knives start at about $80-$90.
Andrew says that if you are considering buying decent kitchen knives, pay as much as you can afford for three: a serrated bread knife, a mediumsized chef’s knife, and a paring knife. ‘‘That will cover 99 per cent of what people use them for in the kitchen.’’
When it comes to looking after your knives, never put your good knives in the dishwasher – it will blunt them and damage the handles, especially wooden and plastic handles.
There are a few things to remember when sharpening your knives at home, and for a description of how to use a steel properly, check out Andrew’s tips and tricks on my website (toptastes.co.nz).
You can take your knives to Andrew at the Wednesday Farmers’ Market, Nelson Saturday Market or Isel Park Market. He will generally sharpen them while you are shopping, or contact him to make arrangements for him to collect them or for you to drop them off.
He may also be able to rescue the favourite knife you have damaged in one way or another. Find him on Facebook @sharpnelson.
‘‘If you know what to choose, you can get a modestly priced knife that will perform beautifully.’’