Gravy's Cooking Thread

Noodleface said:

I got a pretty nice set of chef knives a few years ago, and I use the sharpening steel to deburr them, but I actually need to get them sharpened. Should I take them to someone, use a whetstone, or do those electric sharpeners really work?

I've never sharpened a knife with a whetstone so I am a little leery of ruining my knives

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seriously, but 5 $1 knives from the dollarstore or even walmart sells em cheap for 2bucks a knife.

these will be your practice knives.

first, what type of knives did you get? i'm gonna guess you got either french or german knives or basically a western knife, zwilling or something, with this, if you want to know, you're blade angles are going to be 20degrees, so 40degrees total (each side is 20).

What you'll def have and need, and will learn to do EVERYTIME is to have a steel/rod/hone

do this everytime you take out your knife and cook

you're not sharpening, youre not doing anything but ALIGNING

a knife, under a microscope actually looks like a saw with thousands of teeth, and everytime you use a knife, they get bent and look like a midwestern rednecks "nice" smile. So what you're honing/using the steel, you're just aligning those teeth to be straight, in a sense.

now... will those knife sharpening tools work? YES and NO.

What they have a bad reputation for is that they take off too much "metal" or shave too much off your blade, but your knife is sharp, they do this by using a cheap method/metal with carbide, it basically bites into your blade

something like this Chef’sChoice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener for Straight and Serrated Knives Diamond Abrasives Patented Sharpening System Made in USA, 3-Stage, Gray

It's a 3 stage sharpener that is angle guided at 20degrees, you just stick it in 1, and pull thats it.
1. uses diamonds to sharpen a coarse grind
2. uses diamonds to sharpen with a fine grind
3. uses a strop (leather) like a barber shop to get a nice micro bevel.

(again there are some electric sharpeners that have the metal grinding, that is not recommended).
(i buy these for idiot lazy friends)

Something electric with a little more control and adjustment? this Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener - precision sharpening guides, premium flexible abrasive belts, repeatable and consistent results, Frustration-Free Packaging i have this myself, one of the first of many i used, it's basically a mini belt sander, it works well, but i want more precision, thankfully it is still being used now, b/c it is fucking awesome at sharpening lawnmower blades.

if you want to get into whetstones but you want to be "super precise" they make rigs that you can use
Noa Store Knife Sharpener Professional Kitchen Sharpening System Fix-angle with 4 Stone III[/ur]
you'll always keep a nice angle, just maybe the wetstones are just ok, cuz you have them in a rig

I haven't even touched using real whetstones yet, b/c it is the most involved, most time consuming, and takes time to learn, if you're willing to go through all that, then we can go from there too.

However, i think as long as you clean your knives nicely, always use the steel/rod everytime and use a good electric sharpening when it starts to feel dull, you'll be doing better than 99% of all home cooks.

Noodleface said:

I use a steel rod, and I understand it isn't sharpening.

I have henckel knives. I don't know how they stack up, but I like them.

Thanks for the other info, I'll take a look into it all

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it's henckel zwilling, heh,

most everyone i know has em, their logo is so recognizable


and they have nice woodblocks, its either henckels or wusthof i see.

Dad like the Shun DM0712 Classic 7-Inch Chinese Vegetable Cleaver, but it's a 200$ knife, he's used to just grabbing a 10$ from chinatown it'd be ground down and he'd get another.

you'd probably do well with this shi ba zi cleaver, they make ALOT of knives, 9-inch Kitchen Knife Professional Chef Knife Stainless Steel Vegetable Knife Safe Non-stick Coating Blade with Anti-slip Wooden Handle it's also chinese steel, so it might be different than what you're used to.

Most of the knives you see in an asian grocer just hanging out are just stamped knives

i've seen a lot of these in chinese homes


dad had one for a long time too.

TJT said:

Hmmm. Okay, I have a winco one I got at the Korean Store. Maybe I'll just live with it for a few more years then.

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the stamped wincos are usually mid choppers to veggie slicers cuz of the weight, check out how much it weighs. Pure veggie cleavers will be under a pound probably around 3/4s, a lot of chinese food is julianne'd veggies.

Noodleface said:

Huh

My knives have the logo but just say Henckels, no zwilling. They're like 10 years old thouhh

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oh you know mergers n sheet.

Fogel said:

Just made this, good flavor and the sauce has a nice heat without turning your mouth into a nuclear wasteland. Another way I'll try to make the sauce thicker is sub the soy sauce for oyster sauce, which is thicker and has a stronger flavor than soy. Easy to make too, just throw everything in a bowl all at once and mix, no multi step prep work needed.

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the flavor profile of oyster sauce vs. soy sauce is like ranch vs. ketchup, just cuz they both black don't mean they're equal.

finally time for me to get the most asian asiany thing

a rice holder w/ a dispenser


I've upgraded my pantry w/ side shelves as i talked about in the home improvement thread, idk where i'll put it yet.

Alex said:

Recommendations on a good wok?

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if you have an asian grocer get a carbon steel one.

Of course the most ideal is to have a jet burner where you're putting out 200k btu, of course you either have a dedicated wok burner or cook outside w/ what is basically the type you use for turkey frying.

if not that, round bottom, why? you want that swish swish motion, you wanna use the wok and mix in the air a lot of the time. (which is why you also want a carbon steel wok, cuz it's the lightest)

if you can only use a flat top, don't bother, at that point you're just sautee' the food, don't bother with a cast iron wok, youre just trying to retain the high and trying to cook at a higher temp, but no way can you flip that food w/ the power of Hulk.