Drum roll please

[cjsmith]

I am now the proud owner of a second nonstick skillet* large enough to brown a pound of ground turkey. Being able to run two of those at once during a cook-for-the-week session is going to be a real win for my tender feetsies.

So far I have learned two lessons with my new skillet:

1: It takes a lot longer to cook stuff if the pan takes a lot longer to heat up.

2: Scraping the meat to one side of the pan and tilting the pan to drain off the fat is downright awkward if your skillet is slicker'n black ice. The meat keeps sliding around!

I am also the proud owner of a garlic press. I am getting more frou-frou by the day. A garlic press! *eyeroll* But by golly I am going to get over my fear of using stuff that grows in the ground as opposed to stuff that comes in jars. (I reserve the right, however, to go back to jars due to the economics imposed by waste. How fast do I have to use up a bulb of garlic?)

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*Those of you who wish to argue that my first large skillet is no longer nonstick will get a fair hearing. I've clearly eaten a lot of Teflon over the years.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

What makes a knife decent, other than ability to hold an edge? That's the only criterion I can come up with, and sadly, it's one I can't judge.

One of these days I really ought to buy one of those long plain sharpening steels (or even a stone). Oddly enough, I know how to use one well enough to get by, but I haven't had one for years.

[lrc.livejournal.com]

A steel doesn't actually sharpen the edge, but with use the edge will get bent over, and a steel helps keep the pointy bit straight, so that you're cutting with the edge and not a folded over edge.

The quality of a knife depends on its ability to both take an edge and to keep an edge. There is also build quality, such as will the handle stay on?

Then there is the applicability to the job that you're trying to do. If you need a paring knife, a 10" chef's knife won't do a good job, likewise if you're chopping vegetables, a paring knife won't do as good of a job.

There is also a small amount of technique on how to use a knife.

Zab never really believed in the utility of sharp knives until she cut up some onions (that had been kept in the fridge) with a professionally sharpened knife, and it didn't make her cry.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

If it doesn't sharpen the edge, it's not what I want. I guess a whetstone, then.

Size and shape, yeah -- it's too bad you can't get one transformer knife or something. Multiple knives take more washing, more storage space... enough with this piddly 20th-century stuff! ;-)

If it makes chopping onions easier, that'd be a big bonus. Onions can send me to my knees.

[lrc.livejournal.com]

Steeling the edge is necessary, but not sufficient. You don't want to remove material everytime you use the knife. You grind the edge to put an edge on, and you steel it to keep it sharp.

I just bought:
one of these (http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-Professional-Knife-Sharpening-Platinum/dp/B000CSK0DM).

It's quite possible that some quality time with your knives and a good sharpener would do wonders for them.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

I hand wash my good knives right after using them, the steel them before putting them away.

Once a year I take them The Perfect Edge Cutlery (http://www.perfectedgecutlery.com/) in San Mateo and have a new edge put on them. They have a 24-hour turnaround.

A good chef's knife and a good paring knife are all the knives you *need*. An nice boning knife is a bonus. Learn to steel them properly, have them professionally sharpened once a year, keep them out of the dishwasher, and they'll last for years and years.

My knives are Japanese. They fit my small hand better.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I hand wash my good knives right after using them, the steel them before putting them away. Once a year I [...] have a new edge put on them.

Maybe my shitty knives are worth keeping, purely in terms of workload!

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

You should take them to Perfect Edge and see if they can restore them. They did wonders with an old cold rolled steel cleaver I've had forever and ever.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I recall that Dittmer's (recommended to you for yummy meats) also has a monthly visit from a knife sharpener. You could do worse than to call them & see when the next visit is --