Telling about a common acquaintance’s household that struck her, a friend told me that in his kitchen, “everything is electric, even knives.”. It’s unusual, indeed! You must admit that most of us still cut food the old-fashioned way with ordinary knives when we rely on electricity for heating, cooling and chopping. What the technology of the XXI century offers us and what are the electric knives?
Consultant: C. Smirnov, CEO of Chief
Don’t be stupid: we’ll sharpen and open everything
Electric knives, if they need sharpening, then very rare and professional preferably in a workshop or service center , but almost all mechanical knives, even the sharpest, after some time of active use begin to “dulit”.
You can grind them the old-fashioned way by hand, if you know how, or you can call for help from electricity and buy an electric cutter.
How “self-sharpening” knives are sharpened? The blades of such knives are heterogeneous. The hard but brittle steel core is sandwiched between soft layers that give the blade flexibility and extend its life.
Interestingly, in this case, one purchase kills two birds with one stone: manufacturers increasingly offer a universal device – an electric knife sharpening plus an electric can opener.
The logic of the manufacturer is persuasive: If you want to sharpen your knives easily, you belong to the beautiful half of mankind. It’s not fitting that beautiful women open cans in the same way as they sharpen their knives…
The choice of these devices “2 in 1” is large enough – here and CO 600 from Kenwood, which opens everything from cans to bottles and sharpens knives, and Tefal 8536, characterized by the smooth lines of the body, with a magnetic cap holder and two slots for different angles of sharpening, and strict ascetic GVE1 from Krups, which rotates opened cans on a circle.
It is possible to find an electric cutter without an opener if you want to, but you will have to spend a lot of time and effort. In the American market one can only count them on the fingers of one hand.
There are several models of Graef from the simplest – two sharpening steps, to three steps Trizor-Plus 120 , MSS 2990 from Clatronic allows to sharpen not only knives with serrated blade and trapezoid blade, but also scissors and… screwdrivers , and professional sharpener Chef’s choice, which range presented by models for both professional kitchen and household use.
Working elements of the sharpener Chef’s choice are coated with 100% diamond abrasive that allows to make sharp not only traditional metal knives, but also zirconium ceramic knives, and a patented system of magnetic guides independently controls the desired sharpening angle.
They can be used for sharpening both European with a double-sided sharpening and Asian with a single-sided sharpening and special geometry of the blade knives.
In addition, such high-quality universal devices are also suitable for camping, hunting, pocket, carving knives, hatchets, scissors and even fishing hooks.
Angles, knives and principles
The simplest electric knife sharpeners are focused on making the universal knives sharp. Two angles of sharpening may be necessary if you have an arsenal of special knives in your kitchen: meat knives, bread knives, etc.d.
Why is it difficult to sharpen at a very sharp angle?? Sharpening angle – half. That is, when they say “sharpening angle”, they mean the general angle. For example, if 20˚ is required, the blade must form an angle of 10˚ with the “stone” first on one side and then on the other side .
And these are not “two identical, just different in color,” but functionally different items. For example, the blade of a meat knife is thicker than that of a bread knife and is sharpened at an overall angle of 40˚, while a bread knife should have a sharpening angle of 20˚.
Which knife to choose, with what angle of sharpening depends on the delicacy of the task at hand. Sharpening vegetables and dealing with fillets requires a fine approach sharpening angle – 10˚-20˚ .
A common angle of just over 20˚ is common with multi-purpose chef knives. Starting at 25˚, have carving knives, with heavy duty knives approaching 40˚.
In order to make the knife sharp, it is enough to insert it into one of the slots of the electric sharpening machine, first from one side, then from the other side. Ease of communication with the cutter is complemented by the ease of replacing the sharpening disc.
The “pitfalls” of a cutter knife
Uncomplicated, single-level electric coffee cutters are not capable of “overhauling” tableware.
Usually, if the sharpening angle is to be restored, coarse-grained abrasives are used, the edge is restored with medium-grained abrasives, and the finer-grained stones are used for finishing.
Can I wash my knives in the dishwasher?? Dishwasher knives are not “dishwasher friendly”, no matter how much the manufacturers insist on it. The cutting part doesn’t like high temperatures.
Only those modern devices that have three degrees of sharpening they can straighten, sharpen and bring the cutting edge , as well as enthusiastic people for whom this is a pleasant pastime are capable of such sharpening.
If you received a simple device, then after the appearance of serrations on the blade, the tools of home cooks are better to be sharpened in the workshop.
Scissors, unfortunately, are timeless. After several years of use the grinding element wears out. Can be replaced at a service center or sharpening shop.
