SC - Thickeners

[DianaFiona@aol.com]

On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 Seton1355 at aol.com wrote:

> I have started to look for some good knives for my kitchen.  Can anyone 
> suggest some knives that they like and why.  What should I look for in a 
> quality knife?  serrated vs non?

Get a serrated knife. One serrated knife, for bread and stuff. Get real
knives for everything else. There is two ways to sharpen the serrated
ones AFAIK; either use a special tool and sharpen each serration
individually, or just sharpen the non-serrated side of the blade (which
works after a fashion, even if not ideal). Non-serrated is the way to go
for any real use.

For knife-nut view you might want to pop into rec.knives (a newsgroup)
and have a look at their FAQ or ask there. I think the FAQ is on the
web, and have lots of info on things like sharpening.

My advice is to go to a good kitchen supply store and ask to feel some
good knives. Things to look for is how they feel in the hand and if your
knuckles go free of the board when you are chopping. Some like the light
style, like the horribly overpriced Global, while others like a heftier
feel. 

I am sure that the pros can rattle of a few brands that are worth
looking at, so I'll leave that to them.

Oh, another thing. Depending on your style you might not need a great
set of 42 different knives, but rather just a couple. I find I almost
invariably reach for a certain knife (a largish Sabatier chefs knife). 

Store them properly. I use a wooden knife block where they are resting
on their sides and a wooden magnetic strip (i.e. magnets embedded in the
wood). We went through sharpening here a few weeks ago, but I tend to
use the steel and ceramic rod frequently, and do the full Arkansas thing
every now and then. It is easy to tell when I have done the latter; my
left forearm is bald in patches, and there are more black lines on my
left thumbnail than usual. Yes, you can shave with my axe, did you need
to ask?

Before someone asks; one way to test the edge of a knife is to place it
against your nail (with the plane of the blade perpendicular to the
plane of the nail) and pulling it along its entire lenght as if cutting
the nail. If it "drags" the knife is sharp, if you get blood and agony
you didn't press it lightly (keep it "barely touching", with virtually
no pressure). If you get a black line you did not wipe the metal and
stone dust of the edge before testing. 

The big advantage of this method is that you can tell exactly where you
need more work, since you test the entire lenght of the blade. The black
will wash off, but the slight scoring will only go away when the nail
has grown sufficently for you to cut that bit off. As if anyone cared.

/UlfR

- -- 
Par Leijonhufvud                                      parlei at algonet.se
Socialism is all about sharing other people's wealth.
                -- Joe Zeff