New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

This is a forum for discussion on professional kitchen knives and accessories. This forum is sponsored by Due Buoi.

Moderators: natcherly, The Motley Crew

Forum rules
There are a few things you should know before posting in these forums. If you are a new user, please click here and read carefully. Thanks a lot!
Post Reply
stevehelium
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:41 pm

New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by stevehelium »

Hi everyone! I've been looking about and didn't find an answer to a very basic question.

I recently took the dive into professional kitchen knives for my kitchen. I picked up two Wusthof knives here in Japan (a bit more expensive here!) and, while I am very pleased with them, I find that then tend to stick to the food when I use them, so I was wondering if knives fresh out of the box need to be touched up a bit.

So it's a simple one: should I take these to a knife shop and have them sharpened?

I appreciate any advice!
Cheers,
stephen
User avatar
natcherly
Connoisseur dei Coltelli
Posts: 6336
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:59 pm
Location: Baghdad by the Bay

Re: New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by natcherly »

I am not clear on what the problem here is, especially when framed in the context of sharpening. If I use a knife to cut through for example cheddar cheese, the blade may tend to stick as I cut, but that stickiness would not be resolved by sharpening the blade. What am I missing?
chefjbs
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:22 am

Re: New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by chefjbs »

Just wondering why you would buy a wushtof in japan?? they make some of the best chef knives in the world. I'm sure you could find a nice western sytle knife that would blow your wushtof away.
User avatar
Viking45
Posts: 7795
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:07 am

Re: New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by Viking45 »

chefjbs wrote:Just wondering why you would buy a wushtof in japan?? they make some of the best chef knives in the world. I'm sure you could find a nice western sytle knife that would blow your wushtof away.
First of all- The Japanese probably make the finest culinary knives in the world.
However the Wusthof knives of Germany are very high quality knives.

I believe the subject of "sharpening" is not the issue here. Just as a bayonet has a "blood groove" some culinary knives have these little flutes or grooves in the blade.(sorry,don't know the correct terms for these indentations)
They allow air in so that food such as meat and cheese do not stick to the blade.
Image

My solution is certainly not scientific but works- I simply wet the blade :idea:
Dubsy
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:44 pm

Re: New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by Dubsy »

as said by just about everyone else, sharpening doesnt help with sticky-ness. i assume you mean like when you dice an onion, and make the lengthwise cuts and just use kind of an up and down motion, the little onion semi-slices come up and make things look weird. the simplest solution ive found to this (and its definately not the safest) is just to work faster. the less the blade stays still, the less opportunity something has to stick.

also, most knives come kinda dull. this can be deceiving with some japanese brands like Misono and Tojiro because they highly polish their edges, so their edges fade fast. so i would recommend getting them sharpened soon after buying them.
ninanaira
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:27 am

Re: New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by ninanaira »

Hi, Stevehelium, first you have to check the products reviews before buying a new one. If its new one then you didn't need to sharp. Recently I bought a new one Victorinox Swiss Army Bundle Kitchen Knife 705, after getting the accurate reviews of this product from http://pro-meat-grinder.com/best-kitchen-knives/ this site. Its blade is very sharpened and works brilliantly.
User avatar
busbusci
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:43 am

Re: New Knives - do you need to sharpen?

Post by busbusci »

There is no point tbh. Use it, hone it regularly, and when it needs it, sharpen it.
Post Reply