Do ladies appreciate sharp knives ?

[Ricard with an H]

Ah-yes Beryl, didn't I used to do all that with a Magimix that I still have though some blades are missing. Is your Tefal thing the same, the blades go round and you have a choice of blade-shapes and grating discs. It's a nice tool and much safer than a mandolin.

I rarely if ever cook for more than two people these days though I did used to cook for five of us plus the usual visitors. I once cooked for 13, it was an enjoyable Christmas but very stressful.

I bought a mandolin because the Magimix wasn't worth getting out for the small quantities, now I don't get the mandolin out very often for the same reason. Last time I used it was when I did an onion marmalade and yes the Magimix would have dealt with the risk of shredded fingers. I daren't try to slice with a knife as fine as a mandolin slices.

Where and how do you people store your knives ? I notice that we can buy sleeves but i've never seen one. My kitchen worktop area is so small I binned the knife block in favour of a magnetic strip. Quite good but not as magnetic as I would like. They sometimes slide down and fall though that might because I have to many knives on it.

[Beryl]

No the Tefal isn't like the Magimix

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Fresh-Exp ... d+choppers

I have the big Kenwood Chief for most things, baking, pastry etc. but when I asked about the cost of the attachment to chop and grate etc. it was going to be about £90 so ended up with the Tefal.

My kitchen is small too but I do keep my knives in a knife block on the work top which is handy but horrifies my brother in law as he is in the security business. He says things like knives shouldn't be left on show for burglars.

Beryl.
Maybe that is another topic to raise sometime.

[Ricard with an H]

Thanks for the link to your Tefal thingy Beryl, that looks very handy but i'm up to ears in handy things.

Knives on display and burglars ? My view is that burglars either have a lot of courage or are not very bright, going into someones house might frighten the occupant into using anything that's available to protect themselves and there are lot's of lethal weapons in a household if used in panic.

[Beryl]

I agree with you Richard, it works both ways and to live in fear is not my idea of fun. My knives stay where they are.

Beryl.

[Motherwoman]

Quite agree, keep your knives where you use them. Can't let the thought of 'what if' run everything you do. I think any burglars would leave quite a bit of DNA behind after encountering Burnie the Burglar Alarm (my biggest and noisiest spaniel and somewhat excitable with 'visitors'...)

I have a Stellar magnetic strip bought from my local independant ironmongers, it grips very well and I have to twist the knives away from it. Never had the courage to use a mandolin!

MW

[Ricard with an H]

Never had the courage to use a mandolin!

MW

I think we made a mistake when we bought a top of the range mandolin, it's main benefit for me is very fine slicing and it easily produces julien-ed carrots and such like. She won't use it and I look for an alternative because it's difficult to store then difficult to clean and put back compared to a sharp knife. Some of the cheaper mandolins look easier in these areas and once again i'm mostly cooking for one.

If we do anything with sliced potato I get the mandolin out, if I was cooking for a family it would come out every time I made a casserole and the recent onion marmalade was made easy because of the mandolin though i'm sorry to say it's a much un-used gadget in our kitchen.

[The Mouse]

I sharpened my favourite little vegetable / all-purpose knife at the weekend. Now I've just cut myself with it again - at least the fifth time this year!

The trouble is that I leave it too long between sharpenings. I agree that usually, a blunt knife is more dangerous, but I think I must adapt and use them differently to compensate, then when they are suddenly sharp again I forget and chop into my thumb. Ouch.

[Ricard with an H]

It's a very good point and the reason I place a little note above our knives after I sharpened them.

You get used to them being blunt then a sharp knife becomes a hazard.

The reason I started this thread is I see knives used to cut down into ceramic plates and steel trays which blunts the best steel.

If you want to cut a sandwich in half then use an ordinary dinner knife or don't cut onto a plate. Cut the sandwich onto a knife-friendly surface.

[The Mouse]

Mr Mouse can't be bothered to sharpen knives. Usually, if he wants a sharp knife he uses one of the steak knives, which I bought specifically so that there would always be something sharp for eating tough old meat, sorry, I mean steak, with. I get my own back by using ordinary dinner knives for opening pots of paint, and the pointier ones for screwdrivers. Then I use his screwdrivers for pricking out seedlings ...

[Ricard with an H]

There are lots of easy to use knife sharpeners available, I inherited two types both based on drawing a knife blade over hard-steel disks or rollers set at an angle. I wouldn't dream of using them to sharpen my best knives but they are fine for a quick recovery from blunt-to-sharp, they remove quite a lot of material but perfect for economy knives.