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Farmers market welcome an age-old trade To help you chop with confidence August 1, 2019 | Photo courtesy Ganasboyz Last year our 150ish summer intern Brynn Sibley investigated the growing presence of knife sharpeners offering their services at farmers markets around the area. Several requests have been made to reprint her fascinating report, so it is my pleasure to share it with our readers once again. Returning from her junior year abroad, Brynn brought back a chef’s knife from the famed Paris kitchen supply store E. Dehillerin as a gift for her mother. An institution for almost two hundred years, E. Dehillerin is the perfect place to find any shape of pan or manual kitchen appliance. Brynn loved the feeling that she was stepping back in time, as the elderly French salesmen guided her in her knife choice. Selecting a knife is such a personal experience, from the material of the handle to the type of metal chosen for the blade, and—when properly cared for—it should be an item to treasure for generations. Here’s the dish. As humans, we’ve been using knives since almost the dawn of civilization, and studies show that we developed a way to keep them sharp about 75,000 years ago. But knife sharpening as we know it today can actually be traced to northern Italy, with the itinerant knife grinder known as moletas. With waves of other Italians, the first moleta arrived in the United States—in New York—in 1886, and over the years, hundreds of others of these specially trained immigrants joined him and then moved to other parts of the country. As they had in Italy, the moletas often fought over their territory. The Knife Grinders Association was founded in 1930 to help define routes and keep everyone happy. Almost every big city in the United States had at least one moleta on the street corner, who could be identified by a floppy hat and pedal-operated grinding wheel mounted on a wheelbarrow. By 1910, moletas were successful enough to own horse-drawn carts, and eventually moved into trucks. Today, the moletas have in part been replaced by knife sharpeners at local farmers markets, and we spoke with some who regularly work in the tri-state area. Why bother sharpening? It may seem counterintuitive, but a sharp knife is a safe knife. You can sharpen at home, but 150ish recommends leaving this process to the professionals. Some sharpeners may use equipment that’s called a grinder and others a whetstone. Neil Jacob of Neil’s Sharpening Service (Pennsylvania and New Jersey) warns, “if you see sparks run away,” meaning if the machine has sparks and a mechanical noise, it will do harm to the knife. He favors just the whetstone, a process he finds meditative, that removes very little of the blade and makes a nice, sharp edge. However, if your local knife sharpener has a grinder, do not fear. The ideal grinder can remove a very small amount of the metal—and some use a combination of the two. Margery Cohen of Samurai Sharpening (Chelsea Market in New York) uses a whetstone for all knives; the dullest are put on the grinder first, but everything is finished by hand on the stone. Grinders can be helpful to reshape the tip of the knife and to redefine the dullest of dull blades. Between sharpeners, there was a slight disagreement about the benefits of using a sharpening steel, often called a “steel” or “rod” with a process called honing. Jack Martin of Jack Knife Sharpening (New York) thinks that few people hone properly and can leave small metal shavings on the blade that could end up in that evening’s dinner. That said, it is worthwhile to take the time to understand the benefits of the honing process as it’s essential to proper knife care: Honing is the process of straightening an already sharp blade using a sharpening steel or rod. Why do this? On a microscopic level, the edge will be knocked from side to side each time the knife is used. The blade will dull a lot quicker if not honed after each use (or at least every five uses). Warren Glazer of Nice and Sharp Sharpening Services (New Jersey) mentions that regular use of a steel can extend the life of the sharp blade as much as 60 percent. To hone properly, it’s best to place the tip of the steel on the countertop and hold the knife in your hand—the way you would hold a knife when cutting something. Then draw the knife along the steel from the heel to the tip in one smooth movement at a 20ish-degree angle for Western (as opposed to Asian) knives. To see this technique in action, Good Housekeeping offers this great video of master bladesmith Bob Kramer as he demonstrates this method. Note that the type of knife may dictate the angle the blade needs to be sharpened. You can learn more about knife sharpening theory here. All the knife sharpeners we spoke with echoed that the worst thing for your knives is to put them in the dishwasher. Knives are kept in best condition when washed by hand with warm water and soap and towel dried immediately. Afterward, store in a block with the blade up (this prevents the blade from creating friction against the bottom of the slot, which will eventually dull it, and protects it from the oil, dust and grit inside of the slot) or on a magnetic strip. Next up on the worst list? Throwing your knives in a drawer—the metals won’t react well against each other. It also ups the likelihood that they will dull faster. Jack Martin recommends keeping them out of the sink, as the blade can chip or get knocked against other objects in the basin. The cutting surface matters too, as does your style of cutting! If you’re going to make a hard chop right down on a board that will quickly dull your knife, whereas if you rock it as you chop, the blade will dull more slowly. And when it comes to the cutting surface, glass or bamboo boards are simply too hard and will dull a blade a lot quicker; these surfaces also can cause a knife to chip. Scott Jennings of X-Calibur Knife & Scissor Sharpening (New York and New Jersey) reiterates that a blade should make a mark on the surface. In terms of cutting board maintenance, Bill Hoffman of Never a Dull Moment (Connecticut) recommends cleaning your wooden board the same way you would your knife: with warm soapy water and then let it dry vertically. He adds that cleaning your board and knife are especially important after contact with acidic foods such as tomatoes, lemons or limes. Even on stainless steel blades, acid can begin to corrode on a microscopic level. Most people won’t use every piece that comes in a full set of knives, but any kitchen should have these three: an 8-inch chef’s knife, a serrated bread knife, and at least one paring knife. A good stainless steel knife is expensive, but should be considered an investment that can last 50 to 100 years with proper care. So next time you’re at the market, make friends with your farmer—and your knife sharpener, too. Last, but not least, if you’ve invested in quality knives, invest in a bit of education on how to use them. There are many places in the five boroughs that offer knife skills classes—they’ll not only teach you how to use your knives correctly, but will give you much more confidence in the kitchen. You can find knife skills classes at any level to suit your interest. We recommend those from: The Institute of Culinary Education, Haven’s Kitchen, The Natural Gourmet Institute, Sur la Table to name a few. Click the individual links above to find the knife sharpeners mentioned in the article—and check your local market calendar as well for occasional sharpeners. If your local market doesn’t feature one, it might be worthwhile to ask the market manager to consider sourcing one. |
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