Chefs & Knives: What's Happened?

[KneeKnocks]

A rant in the form of observations and questions.

When I was apprenticed to a chef some three and a half decades ago, I remember being particularly impressed by his rigorous maintenance and sharpening of his knives. I do not recall that he ever mentioned brand names of his knives; only that he constantly emphasized the importance of sharpening and maintenance of a cook's most-used tool.

When I moved on to other jobs at other restaurants, every kitchen was equipped with a Norton tri-stone that every cook was taught to use, and which every cook used with some regularity.

But more and more I've noticed over the past few years that kitchen workers (be they recent culinary school grads or chefs with 10+ years experience) are more concerned with the brand stamped on the blade than the state of the edge on the blade. I can no longer count the number of times a new-hire (anyone from prep cook to new sous chef) will walk into the kitchen, unpack his knife kit, proudly proclaim that he only uses 4-Stars (or Grand Prix or whatever) because they are the best knives on the planet, and then proceed to use his knives to smash a tomato, get stuck half-way through a potato, or slip off the outside of an onion. And I've been in kitchens that either had no sharpening apparatus whatsoever, or it was stuck under other unused equipment in a corner somewhere.

So, what's happened? Do culinary schools no longer teach sharpening as part of their knife skills classes? Do they even have knife skills classes? Is this obsession with brand name and neglect of sharpening and maintenance the result of advertising, coupled with laziness? Is the Food Network to blame?(You'll never see Mario Batali or Bobby Flay sharpen <u>their</u> knives!) Has the culture become so "disposal-oriented" that there is no longer any concern with maintenance and up-keep of anything?

I can understand Suzie Homemaker not knowing or caring about keeping her kitchen cutlery in tip-top working order, and for her there are micro-serrated, never-sharpen, dump-in-the-dishwasher lines of knives. All well and good. But I'm talking about men and women who make their living using knives as their primary tool 4, 6, 8+ hours a day who work with knives that are not nearly as sharp as the plastic knives we send out with to-go orders!

Anybody with any theories, observations, or comments?

[Fred]

There is no question that what you rant about is the current state of affairs. I'll throw in a couple of comments.

The first is sharpening services. The trend in restaurants around here is to "rent" knives. The truck arrives weekly, picks up the dull knives and replaces them whith sharpened ones. Of course, these aren't Nenox gyutos and that tells me the chefs have lost pride in their tools. Sure it's better to use a sharp house knife than a dull good one but using a sharp good one is best. That takes some time and effort. I think this represents your comment about the disposable society.

Your question about culinary schools is probably at the heart of some of it as well. I only have experience with one school. I have taken courses there and I give a one day seminar there on cutlery to students taking the "Cooking Basics" course. It is the beginning course at the school along with sanitation. I also give a similar seminar to the meat cutting class. These two one-day seminars are the only exposure the students have to cutlery and cutlery maintenance over a two year course of studies. The faculty members always seem to attend these because most of them have good knife skills but not good knife knowledge.

The school has no sharpening equipment at all. They recommend the students buy a $15 two sided oil stone and a steel. It is up to me to show them how to use them in my seminar. That's it for our local culinary school. Not exactly a commitment to fine tools. Other culinary schools, of course, may be better in this area than this one but that's the total of my experience with them.

We can always encourage cooks to log into the Foodie Forums and discuss and learn, huh? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[dano1]

1st post here [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Crews don't sharpen knifes anymore, for the most part. I don't get it. I've seen some folks post elsewhere aboout buying a new chefs knife every 3-4 years-after the edge wears out....Same folks who put on the funky garb and think they can cook-until saturday night rolls around [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

Almost as bad is the dish who saw me steel my knifes a few times, then proceeds to root around in my knife kit for a diamond hone, and ruin a brand new blade-at least he was trying though.....and hey ya can't buy character like that on a blade.

danny

[KneeKnocks]

Your point about sharpening services is well taken, Fred. In fact, such services exacerbate an already sad situation. They provide knives that are cheap, have HRC's in the high 40's, and go dull by the end of a shift. Problem is, many cooks then whack this cheapo on a steel at a variety of angles and by the second day every knife in the house is useless. Then, for 5 more days these knives are all there is for those who do not carry their own.

Another contributing factor was brought to my attention just today during an interview with a prospective cook. Although he had 6 years experience in restaurant kitchens, they were all chain restaurants (Applebee's, Ruby Tuesdays) where products are brought in already prepped. As he admitted in the interview, for 6 years the only use he had for a knife was to open plastic bags of pre-cut steaks, salads, and veggies!

[Fred]

I heard from someone recently that the local Applebee's franchisee doesn't hire cooks at all. The servers cut open the bags and "nuke" the contents for the customers. Apparently it is not only prepped but cooked as well when it gets to the restaurant.

That makes a pretty simple kitchen, doesn't it. A freezer, a cooler and a bank of "Chef Mikes."

[**DONOTDELETE**]

You guys want to hear one more strange situation?

I know of a very large, and new (less than 3 years old)kitchen where they sharpen their own house knives.

They use a hand cranked wheel (circa 1920's) that's mounted to a table top. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] It's found buried under boxes most of the time but yet it's used once every week when some newbie gets assigned to sharpening detail.

The basic procedure is that they have bins full of sharpened knives that a cook can take and replace his knife once he can't sharpen it anymore on his/her steel. Then he/she places the dull knife in another bin where it waits for the some newbie to come and get it.

They sharpen, at least, 130 knives a week on this wheel!! I kid you not!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Now here's the real kicker...they have over 300+ knives (packaged &amp; brand new) in the basement awaiting introduction into this rotation.

I've spoke to the chef there about this and he knows this system is BS. Honestly, he was embarresed to even show me the wheel and explain what they do but since I asked he told. He really wants to go with a leasing/rental company, to which I am not, but the owners want the sharpening kept in house. They've told him repeatedly that this is their position and that's that.

I pitched my service to him. I figured that I could cut down on his knife buying purchases, provide sharper knives to his workers, increase productivity, and free up used manpower.

I know those 300+ knives would last a long long time if sharpened correctly and if the cooks were supplied with the smooth steels and the instructions on how to use them.

I wrote all this up in a proposal, to which the chef loved, but the owners wouldn't budge. They don't care about the "actual factuals" at all. They honestly believe that they're better off doing the sharpening themselves, using this antique wheel, then outsourcing this task. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Well, I havn't giving up on this one yet as I know something will eventually give. If nothing else I've made friends with another chef as a result. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I tell 'ya...it takes all kinds!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

--Dave M.--

[**DONOTDELETE**]

[ QUOTE ]
Is the Food Network to blame?

[/ QUOTE ]

With this kind of information available??

No way!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

--Dave M.--

[Fred]

I wish my knives would sing. I could use some extra entertainment in the kitchen.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]LOL [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

--Dave M.--

[Oded]

I really liked this bit:
"repeat the process, over and over at a 20-degree angle, until the blade is very sharp"

Genius, isn't it?