Finally figured out why my knife sharpening never lasted

I was at my wits end after a Saturday brunch service last month. My chef knife would be sharp after I hit the stones but by Tuesday it was dull as a butter knife again. I thought I was doing something wrong with the angle or the grit progression. Turns out I was putting way too much pressure on the final honing step. I was basically bending the edge over instead of straightening it. A line cook who used to work at a nicer spot in Portland watched me one shift and pointed it out. Now I do light passes at the end and my edge holds for a full week easy. Anyone else deal with a dumb mistake like this that took way too long to catch?

2 comments

2 Comments

anna5677d agoTop Commenter

Portland line cooks catching stuff like that is honestly a whole different level of observation. Their kitchens must be ran so tight that tiny mistakes get flagged before you even finish your shift. Kinda wild how one little habit can ruin everything you're working toward without you even knowing.

kaip117d ago

@anna567 right on, that level of detail is scary impressive. I remember reading about a chef in Portland who could tell if a line cook was holding their knife wrong just by the sound of the chopping (like a tiny hesitation in the rhythm). It's a whole culture of mindfulness, where having your mis en place off by an inch can throw the whole ticket flow. Wild how something as small as resting your tongs on the stove rail instead of the cutting board becomes a signal that you're cutting corners (which then snowballs into bigger problems).