This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
When should I change my knife?
I already spoke to you in a previous post about knives, those without which nothing is possible (or almost) in the kitchen, so I'm going to come back to them a bit and try to answer the question "When should I change my knife?
15 K 4.7/5 (15 reviews)
Last modified on: November 2nd 2017
When should I change my knife?
You may remember how important it is to pay a lot of money for your knives, and to choose models with a stainless steel blade, a handle made of a composite material often called "plastic", etc. This is still true, and I dwell a little on the blade, which being made of steel, with time dulls, sharpens and must therefore be regularly sharpened. This is always true, and I dwell a little on the blade, which being steel, with time dulls, de-sharpens and must therefore be regularly sharpened.
The best way to do this is to use a sharpener, and in an elegant gesture (but unfortunately not easy to catch) you sharpen the blade again. To make a long story short, you should always have razor-sharp knives, it's always much more pleasant to cook with.
Let's come back to this knife sharpening, it turns out that in the gesture of sharpening, one naturally accentuates one's effort on the middle-lower part of the knife blade, and therefore it is there that the wear will be the fastest. This wear can be seen over time, it creates in the blade of the knife, very slowly, a small hollow, a slight curvature, which you can see on this photo (red arrow):
This hollow, if visible, is a sign that your knife is at the end of its life in "kitchen" mode: You will find it difficult to sharpen it, more and more, so it will cut less well, and will not be ideal for cooking.
To make a comparison, see these 2 knives side by side:
The top one is new, the bottom one has lived well, note the hollow of the blade at the bottom, and the nice rounding of the top one.
It's time to change the bottom one, of course you shouldn't throw it away, but use it for something else than cooking (garden, DIY, ?) or recycle it.
Well, it's not always easy, we are often attached to our tools, that we have well in hand, but it is necessary to take the step, the old knives even if they have a sentimental value, can become a brake to your good cooking.
To sum up: When the blade of your knife starts to get hollow, it is time to think about changing it.
The best way to do this is to use a sharpener, and in an elegant gesture (but unfortunately not easy to catch) you sharpen the blade again. To make a long story short, you should always have razor-sharp knives, it's always much more pleasant to cook with.
Let's come back to this knife sharpening, it turns out that in the gesture of sharpening, one naturally accentuates one's effort on the middle-lower part of the knife blade, and therefore it is there that the wear will be the fastest. This wear can be seen over time, it creates in the blade of the knife, very slowly, a small hollow, a slight curvature, which you can see on this photo (red arrow):
This hollow, if visible, is a sign that your knife is at the end of its life in "kitchen" mode: You will find it difficult to sharpen it, more and more, so it will cut less well, and will not be ideal for cooking.
To make a comparison, see these 2 knives side by side:
The top one is new, the bottom one has lived well, note the hollow of the blade at the bottom, and the nice rounding of the top one.
It's time to change the bottom one, of course you shouldn't throw it away, but use it for something else than cooking (garden, DIY, ?) or recycle it.
Well, it's not always easy, we are often attached to our tools, that we have well in hand, but it is necessary to take the step, the old knives even if they have a sentimental value, can become a brake to your good cooking.
To sum up: When the blade of your knife starts to get hollow, it is time to think about changing it.
Lasts posts
Butter vs. grease
We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?December 1st 20251,2945
Getting out of the fridge early
Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?November 24th 20251,2455
Who's making the croissants?
When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...November 23th 20251,127
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20253,0995
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20257,7773
Other pages you may also like
Raising (or leavening) agents
When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...June 16th 202157 K4.8
Thermal inertia or "out of the fire"
When you're cooking, you need a lot of heat to cook, and most of the time it's on the fire, literally if you're on gas, more indirectly if you're not. An expression that comes up quite often is "Off the heat", but what does it really mean?December 12th 202011 K4.6
The 3 kinds of meringue
Meringue – what could be simpler? Just beaten egg whites with sugar added. This makes a fairly stiff mixture which can then be cooked in a cool oven to create those lovely, light confections. But in the world of professional patisserie, meringue comes in three different kinds. Even if the...June 14th 201365 K4.5
Coarsely chopped herbs
Although we are in the middle of winter as I write these lines, you should not hesitate to make salads at this time, it is actually quite simple, rather fast, and so pleasant. A while ago, I already told you that a salad is a salad, but a salad with herbs is immediately something much better:...January 9th 202115 K4.9
The beautiful story of the croissants
As you may have already noticed, cooking, baking and pastry-making are full of stories or legends, usually very romantic, about this or that product or recipe. This is often the case for named recipes, for example tarte tatin, peach melba, paris-brest and many others, but it also applies to very...October 10th 201820 K5
Post a comment or question
Follow this page (as 3 people already do)
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.