If You Haven’t Already, Check Out Last Week’s Post!
If you haven’t already, you should check out last week’s post. It discusses in detail 3 things to consider before buying an electric knife, and provides some recommendations and top picks at the end. Click here to go there. In today’s post we will address an issue that is often misunderstood and incorrectly answered: should you be sharpening electric knife blades? and if you should, how do you even go about it? Well, as always there’s a couple things to consider when answering this question. Let’s dive right into it!
Understand That All Blades Dull After Being Used
All blades, electric or non-electric will dull after being used multiple times. Electric knife blades are no exception to this. Yes, they may not dull as quickly as a plain edge chef knife, but they will eventually lose some of their bite with time. Having said that, you should definitely be sharpening electric knife blades, and the myth that you don’t need to, is complete bollocks. The truth is, manufacturers would rather have you buy their replacement blades at a cost, should your blade dull. There’s only one instance where I would not sharpen electric knife blades……keep reading below!
Oh You Gotta Love The Holidays!
The holidays are a great time to try out new recipes and ideas, but there’s one thing that should never change: the festive turkey. The one meal that brings entire families together if only for a couple days in the year; it’s quite literally the main event. As the turkey makes its way out of the kitchen and onto the dinning table, one special person is tasked with carving the turkey before it can be served. And the one tool at his disposal: the electric knife. It better serve him well, because if it doesn’t, it’s likely to never be used for eternity.
Right, you’re probably wondering why I’m rambling on about the holidays, turkey, and everything else….sorry for digressing from the main topic, but what I am trying to get at is this: If you’re one of those people who use your electric knife once or twice or thrice a year, I’d not bother with sharpening for 2 reasons: 1. Your blade is unlikely to be all that dull to begin with, since it’s not been used much and 2. Sharpening electric knife blades that will only be used a couple times a year is effort put to waste! You’re better off spending that effort and time sharpening your traditional non-electric steel knives. But let’s assume that you do use your electric knife frequently, then what? What is the correct way to sharpen them? To answer this, let’s look at what an electric knife really is!
An Electric Knife Blade Is Basically A……
An electric knife blade is basically a……serrated knife! Yes! For some this may be obvious, but It’s still important to go back to basics so we can understand and maintain our tools better. To simplify things even further, an electric knife is a detachable serrated blade that is powered by an electric motor; the purpose of the electric motor is to provide energy to the blade, so that it moves in a back and forth cutting motion. In other words, there really isn’t anything so special about electric blades (not that I don’t like them or anything!).
So getting back to answering the question of how to sharpen electric knife blades….well it’s really no different than any other serrated blade! Since the blade types are both similar/identical, I would maintain them the exact same way. I have discussed how to sharpen serrations quite extensively in a previous post, so I will refrain from doing so here again. Please check out this post before continuing on. All done? Great! What did you think? Most people hate sharpening these blades simply because of how exhaustive and tedious it can be. Each individual tooth or notch needs to be given special attention and sharpened as such. It’s not difficult per se or doesn’t require any special technique, it’s just time consuming!
What’s The Alternative?
What’s the alternative to not sharpening electric knife blades? Well, you only have 2 choices: buy replacement blades, or have your blade sharpened by a professional. Both of these are going to cost you more money in the long run, so you might want to think this through. It may be worth your while to spend the extra time and effort to just sharpen electric knife blades by yourself. I definitely would!
Parting Words
And that ladies and gentleman brings us to the end of today’s post! Again, don’t believe the myth about electric knives not needing to be sharpened. Everything becomes dull after being used several times. If you use your blade frequently, it’s probably in your best interest to learn how to sharpen and maintain it so that it serves you well for a long time. Lastly, let me know if you have any questions/comments, and i’ll be more than happy to respond with any help I can. If you enjoyed reading, then a share would be appreciated! I’ll see you all next week!