Knives

[maggiebee]

I am sick to the back teeth trying to cut up veg etc with my very blunt knives. Can anyone suggest a brand of knife I could buy that would do the job. Admittedly my knife block is quite old.

[jno]

would a knife sharpener help? (Not all knives are suitable.)

[Canary42]

All knives get blunt with use. I use a sharpening steel to freshen up the blades.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=sharpening+steel+for+knives&crid=1G4YT7QOKQORT&sprefix=sharpening+steel%2Caps%2C79&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_16

[ToraToraTora]

They all go blunt Mags, I sharpen ours for err indoors using a bench grinder then steel them. Steel alone won't help much as you need an edge to start with.

[Vagus]

I use a knife sharpener pretty much every time I use my knives. It’s a fairly cheap one, not a steel, it’s one of those you draw the knife through a few times,takes but a minute or two and is well worth the approx £5 I paid for it.
I cannot bear blunt knives, this makes such a difference.

[Vagus]

Mine is by Kitchen Devils, costs about £12 now.

[gingejbee]

"All knives get blunt"...well, no.
I bought a set of (not very expensive) ceramic knives years ago (Amazon)...still as sharp as ever and never been sharpened.
Just don't drop one on a hard floor - they are ceramic, after all!

[237SJ]

I`ve got a Zwilling knife that has stayed sharp and is much better than some of my other knives. I`ve never needed to sharpen it yet.

[maggiebee]

Thanks for your suggestions folks, time to explore further.

[zylaphone]

Vicitorinous are brilliant vegetable knives, with serrated edge

[gingejbee]

...or Victorinox?

[ladybirder]

I bought a mixture of different knives in a Spanish market at a very reasonable price about 45 years ago. All still as sharp as when I bought them. Perhaps I was lucky.

[zylaphone]

It is Victorinox, gingerbee !

[Vagus]

I have two knives bought in ikea a million years ago (ok, probably 30 years ago) which I use regularly, and sharpen regularly.
I don’t have any serrated knives except for the bread knife.

[Barsel]

Maggie, I hope you don't mind that I ask a question here rather than open another thread, but I would be interested to know how many large knives (and what they are used for) do Abers own and use regularly.
I've managed to ruin all the handles of my knives from putting them in the dishwasher so looking to buy new knives that can be put in the dishwasher.

[Vagus]

I put all mine in the dishwasher, barsel, including three sabatiers with wooden handles. Had them years and still as good as new.

[Canary42]

Thanks for the point about ceramic gingejbee , I've often wondered about getting one.

[Barsel]

Vagus, most of my knives are Prestige and I've had them a very long time. They are still usable but the wooden handles have gone horrible to touch and don't look very nice either. I would love to buy a set of knives instead of the mish-mash I have at the moment.
Would be nice to have a set in a knife block on my worktop instead of the odd ones in a drawer.

[237SJ]

My large knives (carving, cooks, bread) are Robert Welsh. I wouldn't put good knives in the dishwasher.

[Barsel]

237SJ, I haven't had my dishwasher long but due to arthritic hands, I decided to treat myself.
I thought you could put anything and everything into a dishwasher, but now of course I've found out wood is not one of them.

[maggiebee]

Thanks folks, interesting reading. Think one of my problems may be that all the knives in my knife block have serrated edges. Going to have another look at the ceramic ones suggested by gingejbee.