How to Care for Your Chef's Knife

Chef's knives generally have 8" to 12" blades, the 8" being good for small work. The 10" to 12" blade is more versatile. The heavier the chef's knife is, the more work it will do for you. Handle a knife before you buy it, to get the feel for the knife, how comfortable it is in your hand. Check the balance of the knife by placing it on your pointer finger. The balance point should be about where the blade meets the handle. Handle material is secondary and depends on your taste, but the blade should extend down into the handle.

Care of Your Chef's Knife
Wash any knife immediately after using with hot, soapy water. Do Not Soak. Do Not put your knives in the dishwasher, it will split wooden handles and dull the blade. Before using your Chef's Knife, realign its edge with a sharpening steel.

Sharpening Your Knives
Mike the Butcher says that most people sharpen their knives too often and don't "straighten", "align", "hone" them often enough. Working in the butcher shop cutting meat all day, he'd sharpen his knives maybe twice a year but straighten them several times a day. That's what the chefs are doing on the cooking channels with those steels, straightening that very fine, sharp edge. This edge is so fine that every time you hit a bone, a countertop or cutting board it lays to the sides a little making your knife appear dull. This is when your edge needs to be straightened. Most people find it hard to determine the 20 degree angle to straighten an edge with a steel or are hesitant to swing that blade towards their hand (which you don't really do since the pivot comes out off the wrist). For tools to help you care for you knife, check out our knife sharpeners and polishes.

Now, a diamond steel is about the only thing that will take metal off the blade to sharpen if you apply a little pressure by laying the tip of the steel on a surface while you sharpen. You should not sharpen your knives using grinding wheels, too much heat will temper the edge, that's the reason also why none of your knives should go in the dishwasher.
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