A Masterful Guide to Carbon Steel Knife Care
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Пікірлер: 210
Reply to this comment with your knife care questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
@Glorfindel_117
Жыл бұрын
How do I know if a knife is Carbon Steel? I assume that's different from Stainless. Aren't all knives Stainless, unless you go out of your way for something different? I have a knife someone forged out of a traintrack spike, do you know what type of metal that would be? Lol thanks
@armingyongyi9139
Жыл бұрын
The handle of one of my knives is made of untreated light-colored wood. Unfortunately, it became dirty at one point and changed from a light yellow shade to a brown one. I attempted to clean it using dish soap, but that method didn't yield satisfactory results. Could you please suggest an alternative way to remove the discoloration?
@armingyongyi9139
Жыл бұрын
@@Glorfindel_117 that is mild steel, it has a low carbon content if at all, it won't hold an edge unless the maker inserted a high carbon steel for the edge. As for the stainless part, for it to be corrosion resistant, it has to have a chrome content of around 15-18%. I'd say, by the eye, you can't really tell them apart if the shiny part is...well shiny. Over time, from the air's moisture, the high carbon blade will develop a slight discoloration
@davidchudleigh1249
Жыл бұрын
what did you mean when you said a recurve in your edge?
@just_don_things
Жыл бұрын
I used my nakiri to chop through frozen beef femurs and now it's not sharp anymore. It's supposed to be a cleaver, why did this happen?
I made a super thin high hardness kitchen utility knife for a friend. He tells me the tip chipped off. I was excited I like feedback I wanted to know if I went to thin or too hard. Turns out he tried to open a can of beans with it…
@bradclifton5248
Жыл бұрын
Dude!
@jeanpequignot80
Жыл бұрын
As a chef I would consider that a terrible "utility" knife.
@vizanonn1728
Жыл бұрын
I bought a one of a kind Floris Postme chef knife as a daily, and tipped it on Thanksgiving two years ago... Absolutely gut wrenching.. I was able to repair it, and it looks fantastic, but I miss the almost inch that I broke off.
@vizanonn1728
Жыл бұрын
I have pictures with the tip, and the repair.. it's actually helped my sharpening business grow.
@jermhondr
8 ай бұрын
Change friend
Round space and square space ad, hilarious
@twobit4333
Жыл бұрын
Smooth transition
The squarespace ad transition was so good they should pay you extra for this one. Also good guide, thanks!
I have a metal (magnetic) knife holder and i put some felt on it so my knives never get in direct contact with the metal knive holder, they have a nice cushion now.
@Seelenschmiede
Жыл бұрын
Oh dang, should have thought about that. Good idea! Will borrow it 👍
Wipe clean, rinse with hot water, and wipe with oil while the blade is still warm. I use a food safe oil for my kitchen knives. I do that with all my knives, carbon or stainless. I probably don't need to do it with the stainless knives, but it only takes a minute or two, and it's hard to break the habit of a lifetime.
While over at my place for a dinner party, my friend aggressively scraped a nice ceramic knife 90° on a cutting board to move the food she was chopping. As I yelled "STOP!" she looks at me, quickly and repeatedly taps the edge of the knife into the board and just says "what?" I told her about getting ceramic flakes in the food (not to mention destroying my knife). I also didn't let her use my nice knives ever again.
Renaissance Wax was something I was introduced to in Gunsmithing school. It's great to protect any sort of metal that's not going to be handled constantly, the wax may cure hard but it'll still rub away with general wear. It's great for protecting inlays, etchings, and engraving because the lower surfaces don't see a lot of contact so the wax is essentially permanent in those areas.
I just bought a carbon steel knife last week. This video couldn't have been more perfectly timed!
Great video. The first "nice" knife I ever made was left on the kitchen counter after explaining to everyone in the house that it was carbon steel and could only be hand washed and immediately dried. A couple days later I fount in, you guessed it, the dishwasher...It looked like it had been in a meteor shower and the handle scales were coming off from the heat. Of course nobody had put it in there, it must have jumped in on it's own. I was able to salvage it: After prying of the handles off I re-sanded and finished the blade, sanded the handle scales around the edge, rounded the edges of the tang and remounted them. So now the tang is proud of the scales and enough material was removed refinishing the blade that the previously deep initials are now faint. I no longer keep my carbon kitchen knives in the kitchen lol.
Awesome knife information. I think your cast iron cooking ware analogy is perfect for this discussion.
One tip not mentioned in this video is related to gifting knives to people. If you want a knife to last make sure the person receiving it already has experience with carbon steel or expensive knives otherwise you are going see some horrendous crimes commited to that knife. Also yes will is right, my mother in law has used the dishwasher on nice expensive knives
@quarlow1215
Жыл бұрын
My horror story is that I suck at sharpening and I've tried everything at they are still dull. I even have the RME style and can't even slice a tomato. 😂😂
@booshmcfadden7638
Жыл бұрын
A coworker, lead of banquets at the place I worked, saw a dishwasher slapping an employee's Wustof against a steel sink trying to shake some water off of it. He fired him on the spot. A cloth works just fine.
@azgarogly
Жыл бұрын
@@booshmcfadden7638 But if you work at some place and use your personal tools, why someone else is washing them? Even when it is company's tool assigned to you personally, you take care of it yourself. At least operations that won't require some certified personnel. So I don't see, how the employee's Wusthof would even get to dishwashers hands.
So knife horror story, my uncle was really into coconut milk and brought some coconuts to a family event. He then borrowed grandma's best knife and tried to use it like a machete to open the coconuts, a snapped tip and horrendously chipped and gouged edge later, I had a new hunting knife.
I usually say this to anyone who handles my knives: "If you put my knives in the dishwasher, I put my knives in you".
I’ve been doing a lot of knife fighting and I’m always disappointed that the toll that the bouts take on my blade. I’ll be buying some fighting wax next time I get paid.
I made a stainless (becut) steal knife for my grandmother because i knew she wouldnt take care of the rust prevention... it was razor sharp ... first thing she did was taking a iron rod to the edge and now its completely dull ... but she still likes it 😅
Will, sometimes your sponsor transitions themselves make me like the video. This one was hilarious like always
My favorite kitchen knives are cheap department store knives I found at the thrift shop. I'm still particular about keeping them away from the rest of the dishes though. Great vid guys
Great video! I make my own wax for wood and metal coating: 3:1 olive oil to bees wax. It's food grade, easy to apply. Soaks great into wood. My 2 cents...
Thanks for all the tips Will and Jordan. 😁👍
Great information, and well presented. Thank You!
Squarespace should pay you triple.
Awesome video ! I forged a 10” 80crv2 European chef with hexagon ground red curly mango handle the thing took me probably just over a week to really dial in gave it to my parents as an anniversary gift and after the first day my dad left it in a soapy washing up bowl overnight absolutely wrecked it
I recently started using the Pre-Lim polish and really like it. A big thumbs up for mentioning the Belgian water stones! A good Belgian coticule hone is my all time favorite!
I like using butchers block oil on my knives. It's food grade mineral oil with Vitamin E added. Keeps cutting boards from cracking and is nice on skin.
Really appreciate the Pelican Paste shout out! Glad you are enjoying it.
What a masterful Squarespace bit!
My worst experience with kitchen knives has been without question the time I bought my mom a set of calphalon knives. 4 knives, 200 bucks standard kitchen fare. Stainless, I doubt very much they were even hardened. Struggled to get an edge, finally once I learned to make knives I got the hardness files and these things came in at a 45 hrc. I went and bought her her favorite go to set from old hickory and she was as happy as a hummingbird. 😂 frickin Walmart grade is better.
@sacoto98
6 ай бұрын
Never ever buy a set. As a chef, I always say to build your own set
I been using EVO for decades. I would never thing to use anything else on my Kramer. I had a long talk at a show with one of there people, first thing he said EVO if you issue life regularly. It made me smile hearing that. I Learn it from my Lou he owned the nieghbor Pizza place. I starting working for him when I was 10 years old he taught us so much. Yes NYC was different place in 70s.
Ok you got me with the round container and square space. Well done!! Best square space read I’ve heard
Being from Belgium, I didn't know Belgium Blue stone is used for sharpening knives. I learned something new today!
My first set of 'nice' knives was a Henckels set that I found on the street. It was in pretty rough shape, pits, chips, missing a few, but not rusty and the chef's knife was still there. As a college kid, they were the nicest set I'd ever used. Sometime later, a housemate used the chef's knife to whack out some ice from the freezer and broke about an inch off the tip. So definitely don't use your chef's knife to chop ice. As for care, I recently got a couple few hand made Japanese knives after watching Will and Alec's channels, a chef's knife, a santoku, an obscene overkill bread knife, all fancy pants damascus (thanks Will) over a VG-10 core. Basically, just wash, dry and put back in the wood block.
Wow, what a great job guys lots of info. Thank you very much. John
I went down the wax and oil rabbit hole recently after purchasing some tool steel edc knives. I ended up combining carnauba wax and camilla oil at a 2 to 3 ratio. I like it.
Nice information.
The video title is top notch. Masterfully done indeed.
This was sharp, to hear both these guys have a set of stones. I have one good knife, good video, thanks.
Soooo... I got into forging because I love and collect antique and hand forged knives and cleavers... The best butchers knife I had in my collection ended up with a broken tip. My dad did it but for years he wouldnt tell me what he did, just shake his head in disgust everytime it came up.. Years later my mom divulged that he attempted to pry open a painted window 😅
Getting better and better and more clever with the ad read segues!😅
I think the precision adjust system is pretty great for an affordable fixed angle sharpening system.
My sister was trying to pry apart frozen chicken breast and snapped the tip of my Mom's chef knife. Ground her a new tip but the bevels are not consistent anymore because I didn't repo the distal taper all the way back.
Renaissance wax right in the thumbnail. I like it!
I don't necessarily have a horror story, but a related one: my family treats their knives like crud. Dishwasher, glass cutting boards, scraping stuff off the cutting board sideways with the knife edge... yeah. Drives me nuts. It also drives me nuts to use a crappy dull edge. So, whenever I go to a family member's house, I usually sharpen their knives. When I do, they put a sticky note on the knife storage block "Tom was here." That prevents people from having an accident when they are expecting a dull blade. (I also learned not to make relatives' knives crazy sharp. Generally not good.)
I lost it with the segway to squarespace.... congrats 😂
I bought my wife a set of miyabi kitchen knives for Christmas one year, her mom put them in the dishwasher because she said they were greasy when they came out of the box. I cried, a lot
I have a few carbon steel knives and I made my own wax (more like grease). Mineral oil & beeswax works great.
Awesome!! Thank You... 👍🏻😃
I'm a big carbon steel fan, and have almost zero rust problems. High humidity and/or large temperature swings are the cause of most rust. If you keep your home at a constant temperature, about +/- 2 Deg F, and humidity below 50%, you shouldn't have any problems. Be sure to was and dry your kitchen knives immediately after using.
I've been a chef for about 20 years, I own a few knives, I am proficient at sharpening with stones. I haven't sharpened my knives in the 4 years I've owned my current set, I use a diamond steel, everytime I pickup my knive
@andyc750
Жыл бұрын
that is sharpening your knife every time you use it lol
@swordboy58
Жыл бұрын
I'm quite aware, I meant it in more of a "if you want to maintain your edge" kind of way
My first half decent knife… I had it wiped down and left on the counter. Friend used it to cut some snacks while we were binging tv. Few hours later they leave, I go to sleep, wake up the next day to discover they had put it in the pot that was soaking in the sink… fully submerged. It was a travesty.
Great info, 👍, over 10 mins video incredible 😉👌👌 tons of chefs steal eachothers knives, I had a nice global that someone threw in the bin because I didn't show up for my last two days of work there
Thank you Gentlemen! Just received 2 Damascus hunting knives! Now I’m trained in care after this video
Camelia oil is food safe in theory, but the stuff sold for knifecare, including the one in this video, are often mixed with parrafin and therefore not food safe. I only use it for long term storage of knives that won’t be seeing regular use, and clean the knife before using.
I took the knife I made in Don Nguyen’s chef knife class to my Partners Family Thanksgiving and her brother used it to spatchcock the Turkey (cut the spine out) that thin edge was not the right tool, had to completely re-profile and thin out the edge after it took a number of deep chips.
Not sure if you say something about it later in the video but I know exactly what you’re holding near the first of the video, it’s renascence wax, great stuff I’ve been using it for years on my knife collection
I sharpen with 400/1000 diamond plate followed by leather strop with green chrome compound.
I use a hand forged W2 steak knife I made ALL the time! I actually tried to give it a hamon when making it so I etched the blade. I lot of knives I make now I actually etch and stone wash because they patina better and hold onto oil or fat or grease better. When I use my knife on a fat steak I just rinse it off with water and scrub it with whatever dish washing implement we have and avoid using dish soap on it. It gets clean enough but the etch holds onto a very thin layer of fat from the steak I ate and ever since I started doing this my knives have basically kept the same look to them and haven't developed any rust whatsoever.
I know a guy who had this big weirdo knife with a bunch of funny notches cut into the top of it. He tried straightening it out, and it snapped right in half. He had to remake the whole thing from scratch.
My favorite is MAAS Metal Polish!
I didn't fast forward the ad because that was a splendid work in.😂
My mother-in-law uses spray 'n cook (South Africa) for anything steel in the kitchen, she lives close to the Atlantic ocean...reckon that will work as well...just spray it on
cool info learned some things :D
On holiday once, all the knives were totally blunt and unusable so we literally had to source suitable looking stones from the property's garden to sharpen a knife
Hi Will, love your videos! My advice is about the echo in the room, your mic it is probable very good. Some sound treatment in the ceiling and walls should do the work. Thanks!
@Bob_Adkins
Жыл бұрын
Might be using the camera mic, which are notorious for echo. A bluetooth lapel mic won't echo as bad.
@Seelenschmiede
Жыл бұрын
You literally can see their clip on mics on their shirts...
BreakFree CLP is tops for rust prevention on non-food knives.
I came up with something that works for me, take a piece of 10 oz leather, approximately 2" x 10", using double sided tape attach high grit sandpaper, I use 700 on one side and 420 on the other, the leather has enough cushion to provide both sharpening and stropping in one step.
I made a kitchen knife for a friend of my son. He really takes care of it. One day his girl friend ran it through the dishwasher. Luckily i just needed to tougpch up the handle. Some of my knife customers just don’t get the hang of using Japanes or or other stones. They just do more damage than good. For them I recomend the Spyderco triangle sharp maker. Ceramic stones set at an angle, fool profe for those users.
😆 Both guys standing there with plasters on fingers and a HUGE box of bandaids behind them … Tells you this is a Very safe game !!!! Lol
I noticed when Will held up the mineral oil, it said 'lubricant laxative'. Yeep.
I worked hard at making a fillet knife because I just took up fishing. It has micarta scales for the handle so it’s water/ fish proof. I waxed the handle and it shined. I made a nice leather sheath for it for protection. I came home from work one day and found the knife on the counter with the tip broken off. Naturally I was #*&*@&@#*&&($. My wife said she couldn’t get the can open but my knife helped. She never to touch my knives or scissor ever!
I usually just spray mine with my cooking spray, but I use them multiple times a week.
The "KME" style is great if you are trying to change the degree of your knife edge.
I have a really nice Japanese chef's knife, and my wife used it then decided to wash it by using the rough side of the sponge and destroyed the finish. I am in the works now of trying to hand sand it to get it back to it's former beauty. 😢
I always keep a couple of supermarket stainless knives (resharpened, of course) for company. They don’t get to touch my good knives.
10:48 is a really interesting handle material :)
Being a beekeeper and outdoors enthusiasts as well as a culinary school graduate I use beeswax on all my knifes.
Absolutely agree with with will. As a professional chef knife sharpener, every knife is taken to a very high grit level. Usually 12k on a Japanese whetstone, and finished with a green compound.
@vizanonn1728
Жыл бұрын
A lot of chefs don't realize the importance of taking care of their knives... And while it brings me buisness, sometimes I get whole cases that are literally butter knives and have to use 140-400 grit stones.... It's crazy to think these individuals put $150-$300+ into a tool, and don't take care of them.
Minor sharpening whoops - My buddy used a Worksharp and took the “point” off his CRKT Pilar about 10 seconds after I warned him about how to avoid rounding off the point…
i use a glass cutting board. clean my knives with a scouring pad or dishwasher and often put them away wet into the cutlery tray
@bradclifton5248
Жыл бұрын
And that is why you could ride to Africa on those knives and, still impregnate you wife when you get home.
12:47 WhistlinDiesel enters the chat.
I need to know how to revive a custom, wood-handled, high-carbon steel knife that my mom put in the dishwasher and left it there for 2 days. I lightly sanding the blade, but the rust seems fairly deep. The handle looks like caca. I tried some mineral oil, but it just looks like shiny caca. Any help?
I'm bald so i like to use a bit of scalp oil.
another god level ad segway
Have you ever made a Hori Hori? It's one of the most useful tools I've got as a professional gardener.
Baking soda is a good food safe abrasive for cleaning mild rust or stains off of a blade.
Have you tried the automotive wipe on ceramic coatings? Do they work for knives?
Knife horror story? I had a friend once where I watched him in horror use his larger folding knife as a pick in rocky soil to dig steps into a steep hillside and then he turns to me and asks, "could you sharpen this for me?" I've also seen guys use their knives as screw drivers. WHY?
Any tips for maintenance of a Damascus bladed liner lock knife?
could I use carbon steel pan seasoning wax on carbon steel knives?
Using a Japanese whet stone is good for sharpening knives 😊
Minor horror story, but it caused me much frustration. So I lived with my in laws for a while. Not long before I moved in with them I had gotten a nice shun utility knife for NY wife and I to use but I had to leave it in the kitchen due to space and having a toddler running around. Every few days I would walk into the kitchen to see my father in law using a ceramic plate as a cutting board with my nice knife and no matter what I said he continued to do it. I no longer have said knife because it was the only decent knife in the house and I couldn't bring myself to take it away from them
Most of what I make is non knife objects, so I usually apply beeswax as a finish.
Some serious editing and cutting there 😅
Do carbon steel knives tarnish naturally, just with the moisture in the air?
I've been drying my carbon steel knives with a paper towel and then holding over a gas flame to dry any residual moisture. Is this a big no-no?
If you don't already have a bottle of mineral oil laying around, get some. It has so many uses.
Awesome video as always, you sound a bit distant/quiet, maybe move your mic up more towards your mouth? I assume the square hanging from your apron.
Actually the DMT diamond plates are very comparable price wise to the Japanese water stones or shapton stones. And it's a one time investment. I've been using my DMT plates for over 10 years. The highest grit I've seen the diamond plates in though is 8000. I only have the 3000 and strop after that.
@Bob_Adkins
Жыл бұрын
3000 is high enough!
Can you leave a knife on platic wrap with oil? Im new on the carbon steel
Hi Will, Your video was very informative. I just purchased my very first Survival Knife. It's a Full-Tang Fixed-Blade Survival Knife for Camping, Hunting, and Outdoor Bushcraft-1095 High-Carbon Steel with a Kydex Sheath. I want to ensure it's sharp. Would you recommend I purchase a Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener Tool, a complete angle-adjustable knife sharpening system?
@mikew9788
14 күн бұрын
I'm thinking about getting one of those, looks real nice, a more affordable version of the wicked edge system