The blog of cooking-ez.com

When should I change my knife?


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?
11K 4.7/5 based on 15 reviews
Grade this page:

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):

used knife



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:

worn knife vs. new knife



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
The different cooking modes
The different cooking modes
In cooking, cooking means bringing food into contact with a source of heat, to transform it: improving its taste, and sometimes its texture. This contact with the heat source can be achieved in a number of ways: these are the cooking methods, and let's take a look at the main ones.
4975 July 24th 2024
Clean your mixer easily
Clean your mixer easily
If you use a "bowl" or "blender" mixer, as opposed to a plunger, you've probably noticed that it's a bit of a hassle to clean it after use. And yet, with a simple trick, it can be done very quickly. See how here.
1,8455 June 26th 2024
Preserving egg yolks
Preserving egg yolks
If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
2,3265 June 18th 2024
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
When you prepare a dish using an ingredient that has been preserved in fat, for example a springtime mixed salad with tuna in oil or sun-dried tomatoes, you're probably going to make a french dressing (vinaigrette) next. In that case, why not use the preserved oil from the tuna or tomatoes?
2,4665 June 5th 2024
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Nowadays, it's fairly easy to find what professionals use as piping bags, i.e. disposable or "single-use" plastic ones. They're practical, functional and inexpensive, but disposable? That's debatable...
3,8675 May 28th 2024
Other pages you may also like
The skin side of the fish first?
The skin side of the fish first?
When it comes to cooking fresh fish, if it's filleted with its skin on and you're planning to pan-fry it in a little olive oil, for example, you might ask yourself the following question: Which side, skin or flesh, should come into contact with the pan first?
19K4.4 February 13th 2021
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
54K 24.2 June 21th 2017
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
If you are using sausages in a recipe, you may have already asked yourself the question: Should you prick it before cooking it, or not? You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not". Let's try to untangle all this.
42K4.1 September 29th 2018
Sugar syrups
Sugar syrups
In cooking, and especially in pastry, we often use sugar syrups, a simple mixture of water and sugar in varying proportions. Here is a presentation of their differences. .
6,6404.8 January 17th 2023
Coarsely chopped herbs
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:...
8,4344.9 January 9th 2021
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
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.
I am not a leaving thing
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.

Back to top of page