Back by popular demand: The KitchenArts Knife Sharpening Event will be held Friday, Feburary 26th from 5 to 8pm. Learn how to keep your knives sharp. Bring your dull knives and your sharpening gear; we'll be focusing on what works for you (and what doesn't), improving your technique and making recommendations. Wine and cheese will be served!

BONUS: KitchenArts owner Owen Mack will sharpen your knives while you wait for free (and repair any broken tips or dings). Want a refresher on steel use in the meantime? Check out the video below (from back in 2005 at our old location).

Posted by Owen on 3 Feb 2010 | Permalink | Comments

Continuing my series of knife chats, this time a bit on the difference between forged and stamped knives. Knife manufacturers always make a big deal about their steel, but there's less discussion of how the edges are ground. Are forged knives worth the extra $$? Watch the video! (ps sorry for the shaky camera, I tried a new shooting technique on this one that wasn't so great...)

Posted by Owen on 9 Jul 2009 | Permalink | Comments

KitchenArts owner Owen Mack appears today on DailyGrommet.com talking about the Mac Pro Santoku (one of our fave knives). Check it out! Click thru to the Grommet site for more info, or buy it here.

Posted by Owen on 19 Jun 2009 | Permalink | Comments

Imp't knives #2 and #3: paring knives and serrated knives. These two knives (plus a chef knife) will do 95% of your food prep. Other knives are for very specific purposes: boning, carving, etc. So the answer to the "Do I need a set of knives?" question is: No. Not a "full" set anyway.

A good general purpose paring knife has a 3.5" blade. My faves are the Wusthof Classic ($39.99) and the red handled Forschner ($5.95). My favorite serrated knife is also a Forschner: #40547 goes for $29.95. Wusthof makes these knives in a few sizes. The 8" (as seen in the video) is really too short and narrow. Get the 9" or 10" instead.

Coming up next: The difference (besides $$) between forged and stamped knives. Is the $$ worth it? What makes a knife good anyway?

Posted by Owen on 11 Jun 2009 | Permalink | Comments

The #1 most important knife to have is an 8" chef knife. Not a 6", and definitely not a slicer with a narrow blade. Watch this video and find out why. The #2 most important knife is a paring knife. More on that later.

Our favorite 8" chef knife remains the Wusthof Classic. It's been our favorite ever since we opened in 1980. This knife is the benchmark, the gold standard. $119.99 in our web store (and in our real store too!) A less expensive alternative is the Forschner Fibrox for $29.95. I'll get into the differences in a day or two. What's your favorite chef knife? Drop a comment and let me know!

Posted by Owen on 10 Jun 2009 | Permalink | Comments

Here at KitchenArts people often want our opinion on knives, as in "What are the most important knives to have?" and "Do I need a set of knives?" or perhaps "I only have $50, what should I get?" and then there's "This chef knife is $120, this one's $29. What's the difference?"

Over the next couple of days I'll answer these questions, with the knives above as examples: The three knives on top are Forschner Fibrox, the ones below are Wusthof Classics. Stay tuned! And leave a comment if you have a question.

Posted by Owen on 9 Jun 2009 | Permalink | Comments

We're kicking off our monthly event series with a knife sharpening event. Come by our new location between 6:30 and 8:30 on Thurday, June 18th and learn how to keep your knives sharp. Bring your dull knives and your sharpening gear; we'll be focusing on what works for you (and what doesn't), improving your technique and making recommendations. Wine and cheese will be served!

Posted by Owen on 2 Jun 2009 | Permalink | Comments

I just came across Bruce Tretter's site Gotta Eat, Can't Cook. He's a self-taught cook out in Westborough Mass. who has started up a cooking basics channel including video demonstrations and tips. In the vid above he talks about hand held or "draw through" knife sharpening. Good advice,and good chopping technique! The white sharpener in his vid is an EZ-Sharp, one of my favorites because ANYBODY can make almost any knife sharp in moments...but Bruce rightly warns against overuse of carbide sharpeners like the EZ-Sharp. They'll wear your knife down quickly if you're not sparing! Regardless, it's the best selling sharpener here at KitchenArts. We carry them in black only, $14.95.

Posted by Owen on 24 Feb 2009 | Permalink | Comments

clipped from store.kitchenarts.biz The MAC pro series is fully forged and made in Japan of top-grade steel...but what really sets MACs apart is the way they're ground. These knives have the thinnest edge of any knife in the store. Easy to sharpen, wonderful to use, we love them. However with thinness comes fragility--don't pry apart your frozen burgers with these! This Santoku with Granton Edge (the dimples) is the most popular knife in the series.

Posted by Owen on 25 Nov 2008 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Owen on 11 Jun 2007 | Permalink | Comments

1) Honing. This is what a steel does (see video above). Honing does not remove metal from the edge of the knife, but rather aligns and maintains the thin edge that is there. If there is in fact not a thin edge on your knife (due to wear, dishwashers, or damage) no amount of steeling will make the knife sharp. Steels don't wear out! (Unless perhaps you work in a commercial kitchen... ) If 15 or 20 passes over the steel doesn't work, it's time to grind on a new thin edge.

My favorite steel for the money (and the one I'm using in the video) is Forschner's 12" medium model, available for $27.95 from our web store.

2a) Home Grinding. All the sharpening machines and gadgets out there are for grinding a new edge; some are aggressive, some are not. Aggressive gadgets (usually with carbide steel components) sharpen quickly but remove a lot of metal, mild gadgets (usually ceramic or diamond) leave a cleaner edge but take forever to work if the knife is really dull. All require a bit of elbow grease, and all of them will eventually deform the knife by changing the shape of the blade. This is particularly a problem with chef knives.

2b) Professional Grinding. Saves you the elbow grease, and also maintains the proper shape (curve) of the blade.

So...I recommend using a steel in combination with some cheap and simple home sharpener. My own favorite is the EZ Sharp ($14.95 in our online shop). When those stop working, or start deforming your blades, or become too labor intensive for you, then get them professionally ground. Pro grinding will put a thin edge back on the knife that you can then maintain yourself for awhile. (We also reshape blades and fix nicks and bent/broken tips).

If you'd like us to grind your knives, bring them in or ship them to us with a note including your name, address and phone number. Once your knives have been received we will turn them around overnight (unless I'm on vacation...) and call you for credit card payment.

Happy sharpening!

$3 short knives (under 5.5")
$4 long knives (over 5.5")
$5 serrated knives (all sizes)
$6 scissors
$3-$8 repairs (bent/broken tips, gouges and dings, etc)

Send them to:
KitchenArts
215 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
617-266-8701

Posted by Owen on 4 Jun 2007 | Permalink | Comments