Steel

A steel is an essential part of a kitchen. You need it to maintain the edge on your knives. There`s someone in particular that this post is going to. Yes, you. There are several types of steel for different knives and purposes. they are generally  in three categories. round, flat, and ceramic. We've got a great round and a honing flat steel at home. Now, generally, a knife will need to be steeled once in a while. not every time the knife is picked up. Once in a while. And that's in a professional kitchen, where knives are going through veg by the bushel. Over steeling is very bad for the knife. It rounds over the metal on the edge, and needs to be ground off with a stone. Poor technique does this faster. using the wrong steel does this even faster. Here are a few pointers to not bugger your knives:

• Use a decent steel. If you're getting a new one, expect to pay around $80.
• Keep the same angle. If someone is a lefty and steels away, match the stroke, or use a different knife.
• Speed is not better. It's a harder metal, you don't need speed to make friction. Take your time and match your strokes.
• If it's a round steel, it's for more coarse honing. you can do more strokes.
• If it's a flat steel, it's for curved knives and finer honing. Don't do more than 3 or 4 strokes
• This does not apply to diamond steels.
• You don't need the $250 Dick brand steel.