Hi RD,
Just management of my batterie. My hard steel knives can be maintained by stropping with green compound for a very long time–and I do it regularly for relaxation as an off task while working on my computer. I have a ceramic hone for hard steel, but I don’t use the knives enough to need it. Stropping has actually refined my edge.
My soft steel knives take too long to sharpen up with stropping without some honing first–even if I use a coarser compound.
Well that might explain my divorce !
Hi RD,
I do some collaborative catering, and have helped schools develop instructional material for a trade school and a University.
You’ve definitely gone out on a limb.
Honing knives in the kitchen at home, and honing knives as part of food preparation in restaurants is an established best practice.
I have no idea who sets knife use best practices for a slaughterhouse.
No. No, Ray I haven’t. It was sarcasm.
That’s irrelevant Ray. Our discussion was knives, edges, and steeling.
Hi RD,
Thanks for an interesting discussion.
It was fun.
Ray
Glad to help you, Ray.
I have to say… this thread is entertaining as hell. Some of the things are so ridiculous that they make me laugh.
However, it is completely useless as a guide for knife safety. (I cannot imagine to send a novice / new cook to read this thread to learn about knife safety…).
Hi Chem,
Would you like to share your own home cook kitchen knife safety protocols and best practices?
Ray
Do you have a sheath attached to your monitor?
Yeah, I almost feel dumber. That’s sayin’ something. used to have an amazing pull through, but couldn’t replace it when it failed. Used a stone since youth, so went back to that and stuck with it.
Either way, keep it simple. Claw, kids. Remember what Baron von Raschke taught you…CLAW!
Hi bbqboy,
What monitor? The only knife sheath that I have is a leather one for my Xinzuo gyuto deba, but I don’t use it–the deba has it’s own magnetic slot.
Ray
In Mwaukee, Reggie “dah Crusher” Lisowski, was our local wrestling hero. He’s from my home town, South Milwaukee, and grew up on the same street as my dad. So, we’d see him in the grocery store, and he’d speak normally, not all raspy and yelling. Hey, that’s when wrestling was real.
Age 20 or so, I went to a church festival in S. Milwaukee, and they had the ring set up. No shit, Baron von Raschke (this is like 1989!), went on for a few minutes, tagged off, back in, got thumped for a minute, then slapped that coconut crunchin’ claw on that poor bastid, who’d dare step in with him. OVER! My pals and I were hooting and hollerin’.
In college he was a national champion. Legit wrestler. Good man. Wrestled with Gable. Legend.
Dah Crusher, though. Greatest of all.
Kenny Sodbuster Jay! Bless his heart. Sodbuster. Bad ass.
Uh, yeah; claw, kids, claw. Kids starting should find their zen mode, and start slowly. Enjoy your accuracy and control. To my memory, we’ve never had an accident in our meats lab, save for a nick or two. 23 years of meats lab. It’s the saw that’ll hurt you. The slicer, you focus. Get your breathing right, and focus.
I love someone else who speaks middle of the countryese.
I don’t even need to translate.
Was it on Sunday mornings by you? Never saw a kid want to get to church so early as my 5 your old self.
My kids use a pull through with Dexters. They seem to cut well. I’ve eaten many a sausage made with them. They’re good about wiping blades, staying clean.
Love subbing for that class. Nobody talks. Once you cut, you shaddap.
Saturday night
We had that, too, Little Bear, I remember. Rufus R Jones, LOL. The freight train. Saw him live, along with BvR, Vamfiro Verpo (wild bull of the pampas), Super Destroyer(1), dah Crusher, Nick Bockwinkle, Verne Gagne, the high flyers, Mad Dog Vachon (who I met in his bar in Omaha). Little guys opened up.
Our deal was the local ones, Sunday morning. Ivan Potski, eating a huge kielbasa, was a local hero, here. Long johns. Crusher always carried an empty half barrel when interviewed. My grandpa loved pro wrestling and took me. I’ve wrestled, non-professionally, ever since. Coached for quite some time. Love the actual sport.
Ray, in prepping for a typical meal:
-Do you start with your knives sharpened, honed, and ready to go?
-How many do you typically feed?
-Do you have to bone, trim, or cut a good bit of toughs proteins, stuff with good bits of fat, bone, etc.?
-What else do you typically prep, like vegetables, etc.?
-Do you use regular hardwood boards or other types of boards?
No need to answer, but unless there is some aspect that is really aberrant, if your Wusthof needs mid-prep honing, Wusthof is not as good as you thought it was. I assure you my Sab 10" is quite soft and can prep for a dozen including breaking down big cuts of meat, like a chuck for BB, complete with mushrooms, pearl onions, fatback, julienned carrots, new potatoes, salad, and everything else, including parsley.
Agreed. My cheap Kiwis, if sharpened, are good for two weeks, at least unless I feed a population. I’m about to feed 30 or so next Wednesday, in a housekeeping cottage kitchen. I feed 4 regularly in summer. I just got through separating chicken thighs from legs. Flawless. Ham joint, no worries. I sharpen ahead, and have yet to be let down.
Hi Vecchiouomo,
I’ve posted pictures of my entire setup for knives–including the boards–on several threads already–and talked about them. I’ve also detailed all the knives that I have.
I still work on various projects full time, so cooking is not always the leisure activity that I’d like.
I almost never have a typical meal–except breakfast–and that almost never involves the type of prepping we’re talking about. Half the week, I’m away on various projects–eating out, but the other half, I’m cooking a major evening meal. Even when I’m away, I do prep salads to come back to, and prepare other vegetables for steaming–or roasting when I have time to prepare my meals. One group of meals I organize as a series are pasta dishes–and that starts with enough sauce for four meals. The sauce is always different, and I go through a whole series of steps to make it. Then, I have spaghetti, gnocci, and whatever other pasta I decide to cook.
Other meals are grouped around seafood, supported by my roasted veggies: salmon, sardines, and New England clam chowder are featured.
I have a whole series of lighter lunch meals: soup and sandwich, noodles, beans.
When Dr.l H. and I meet at my house, we do our academic work, review knives, and share a meal together. That, most recently was when i prepared some meat dishes that I’ve described here.
When I’m exhausted from projects–which is often–I grab a frozen dinner and stick it in the microwave–and warm up some soup, or a vegetable–like the French green beans I’m about to steam–or spinach–or asparagus.
I’m always eating fresh fruit: bananas every day, berries, apples–just feasted on Ranier cherries.
1/3 the time I eat alone, 1/3 with a friend, and 1/3 with a group where i bring something.
My Wusthof precision is by my side next to the computer all the time-and gets used on most everything–and I love it. When it was discontinued, I bought 3 or 4, kept two: one is my reference knife to test against all my other knives. The other is my companion. I even took it on a trip. It’s the one that I hone whenever it needs honing, and strop to super sharpness.
