Culinary Quickies with Shoshana – February 2023
Reader Question:
How do I know when my knives need to be sharpened?
Answer:
This is a pretty common question and the answer is relatively simple. Your knives need sharpening when you have to press down harder than you had to in previous uses or when you notice your cuts are not as clean as they had been. The best practice to adopt is to sharpen your knives before using them every time. How you sharpen them depends on personal preference. Professional chefs tend to use honing steels. This is a long metal rod that has either a diamond finish or fine diagonal ridges designed specifically to sharpen a blade when it is run across the steel at the proper angle. For most commercially made knives this is approximately 15 degrees. It takes practice but is the best way to keep your knives sharp. Using a honing stone would work in the same manner.
Many home cooks prefer something that takes less practice and there are a variety of knife sharpening tools that can be used to hone your knives. Two options that work well are either a manual pull-through knife sharpener or a pull-through electric sharpener. These come in two-, three- and four-stage sharpening and each one should be used according to the manufacturer’s directions.
It is important to keep your knives sharp as it makes cutting easier on you, the chef. Additionally sharp knives are safer – the easier it is to cut the food, the less likely you are to slip and cut yourself, and if you do cut yourself, a sharp knife will leave a clean edge to a cut that will heal faster than a cut made with a dull knife that will be more jagged and will leave a more discernible scar.
Reader Question:
What are some necessary or helpful kitchen gadgets or tools to have?
Answer:
Each cook will have his or her own favorite kitchen gadgets or tools that are always on hand in their personal kitchens. It really depends on what or how you like to cook. Some people are all about having the most current handy dandy gadget while others stick to tried and true tools that have been around for ages. It really is a personal preference.
In this chef’s kitchen the gadgets that are on hand tend to be old school, tried and true tools that have been around for generations. A standard metal vegetable peeler is always a good choice, as is a traditional set of metal measuring spoons and cups. An old-fashioned hand-cranked nut grinder is another awesome tool. It will chop nuts or chocolate like an electric tool. Not to be forgotten is a hand-held microplane grater, zesting grater or rasp. They all do basically the same thing and will allow you to finely grate citrus zests, hard cheese and many other things like a pro.
All well-equipped kitchens should have the following items, as the budget allows: A good stand mixer and a high-end food processor are investments that will prove themselves over the years you use them (they will outlive the less expensive options). Having a good immersion blender is also a great idea and if a kosher cook can have multiple for meat, dairy and pareve use, that is ideal. Other tools and gadgets that are nice to have are slow cookers, an Instant Pot, a mini food processor, an electric knife for carving roasts, and silicone finger mitts for easy gripping and for use as quick hot mitts.
To submit a question please email Shoshana at: foodeditor@unorthoboxed.com
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