Caring for your knives:

• To extend the life of your blade, we recommend using a wooden cutting board.  Glass, granite and other hard surfaces will dull the edge.
• Do not cut paper or cardboard with your knife.  Paper is actually very abrasive and will rapidly dull it.
• We recommend washing by hand.  Curve the sponge around the back edge of the knife to prevent cutting it (and your hand!).
• If your knife has a wooden handle, we recommend a coating of mineral oil (available in most drugstores) approximately once a month.  Let the mineral oil soak in for an hour before wiping off the excess.
• For best results, use of a sharpening “steel” is suggested. 

Why use a sharpening steel?

The edge of a newly sharpened knife is very thin.  With use, tiny portions of the edge tend to fold over on themselves.  As this progresses, the cutting efficiency decreases.  To restore the edge to the upright position, chefs use a sharpening steel to help extend the time between sharpenings.  A sharpening steel doesn’t sharpen: it realigns the edge of the knife.

Fig. 1: A Dull Knife:
In this highly magnified image, above, you can see how the edge of the knife is rounding over.

Fig. 2: After Use Of A Steel:
Here in this picture is the same portion of the same knife after it has been “steeled.”  The edge is noticeably straighter.  It isn’t as good as new, but it will still cut well.

Proper use of a sharpening steel

Hold the steel point down on a wooden cutting board.  Place the handle end of the knife blade against the uppermost part of the steel.  Hold the knife blade so that it is at a 20º angle to the steel.  Then lower the knife and pull it toward you at the same time.  You are making two motions at once.  The full length of the blade should scrape against the steel as you lower it to the cutting board.  The exact angle and motion are less important than getting the edge to pass along the steel a few times on each side.  Remember: all you are doing is straightening an edge that was already sharpened for you.  If you are wondering why we use a 20º angle, it is because we sharpen your knives to that exact angle. (insert pictures)

This is what a 20º angle looks like.  You don’t need to be exact.

Start: 
We are starting at the top.  The back of the blade is placed against the top of the steel.  The blade is at a 20º angle to the steel.

Halfway done:

Halfway down, we have pulled the knife halfway back towards us.

Complete:
All the way down the steel and the knife edge is now at the end.  Repeat these steps 2-3 times on each side.

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