I visited a knife store in Japan that carries blades that weren't good enough to become samurai swords. After I bought the knife (which I still love) they asked to show me my knife sharpening skills. They made it clear it wasn't good enough, so they spent half an hour giving me lessons (while ignoring other shopper!). I love Japan.
I'm really pleased with this! It works like a charm ru-vid.comUgkxDcr-y2Pf6xdnrFHrSP7dl9kpKaCozcSQ Takes less time than my old electric sharpener because it can take more off the knife faster, and then it smooths out nicely with the finer grit polisher. I don't know how long it will last before the grit wears away, but I wouldn't mind having to replace it every once in a while.
I've watched a lot of sharpening videos. This is by far the absolute best, most informative and demonstrative video to date. No one can beat the Japanese chefs in their blade and sharpening knowledge and expertise. I say that because no one else I watched said or did anything like this video. The kicker for me was when he address the curvature of the blade. That is something no one talks about!! Watched it multiple times!
I didn't know guides existed until watching this. He also points out that you can listen to the sound of the knife during sharpening to know that you're holding your angle. I've watched about six hours of videos from Westerners that can shave forearm hair with their knives, but they never mentioned sound or guides.
@@chinashorts1491 Guides have been around for western knives a long time. I had one back in the early '70s. But they are considered like training wheels among experienced hand sharpeners.
You sir have just changed my perspective on knives. You just saved me a couple of hundred of dollars. I have really wanted to be a better cook so I was practicing my knife skills a lot. The only thing that was holding me back was all of our knives here in my house are pretty dull. They are pretty cheap as well. I thought the only way I was going to have a good and sharp knife was through buying a very expensive one. But then I saw your video. I remembered we had a wet stone that nobody really knew how to use. I thought I should try to salvage my old knife first before buying a new one. Yesterday I sharpened my knife using Your method and the method korin knives uses. First I used the number 300 stone and then the 1000. Took me about 45 minutes to an hour to finish. And oh boy did that actually sharpen my knife. My old, cheap knife is so sharp it feels like I'm cutting through butter. I have never enjoyed using a knife until now.
I just bought tons of veggies right now just to practice some if the knife skills I have learned on RU-vid. This just changed my perspective on knives and cooking in general. Although I'd still want a good quality Chinese cleaver in the future, I just figured out that one doesn't really need a very expensive knife. Just buy a good and reasonably priced knife, a wet stone and then learn how to sharpen your knife. Buying expensive knives is pretty much pointless if one doesn't know how to sharpen their blade. Even the most expensive knives will become dull eventually over time and learning how to sharpen your blade will save you from buying a new blade. Thank you so much for this video. I hope you all are having a wonderful day :)
+Andrea Mariano So you are shocked how sharp your knife is by using a 1000 grid and a "cheap, old knife" ? Now imagine going up to a 6000-8000 stone and using a "real/good" knife :P
+Andrea Mariano I still recommend a good knife. I bought one in Kyoto from a a smith that still makes his knives by hand, rather than outsourcing them like the famous knife brands. It set me down only ~70-80$ and it puts any other knife I have used to shame, regardless of how much you try to sharpen them. Sure, a cheap knife that is properly sharpened compared to a cheap knife that is dull shines. But even a dull knife that is well made puts a sharpened cheap knife to shame.
RemusN7 I'm not sure of what kind of outstanding quality your cheap knives are, but even if I don't sharpen my good knife for well over a year it blows any sharpened cheap knives available here (in Germany) out of the water. Heck, no matter how much I sharpen the "decent" factory knives (30-60 EUR), they don't compare to my "good" knife, which was only about 80 EUR and handmade by a smith. At the end of the day a good knife is a good knife. A cheap factory piece of shit will remain a cheap factory piece of shit no matter how much you sharpen it. If you've got the time to sharpen a knife, then you're better of sharpening a single good knife (once per so many months) rather than wasting your time (sharpening frequently) and money (by replacing every few months). Of course, that's just my opinion. I prefer spending once, but for a lifetime, after making a well informed decision about who is going to get my money.
It would be one of the most, do not speak unless spoken to, and if you dont know the answer then pay attention and learn, better to keep silent than to open mouth and prove you are a fool..
This is the way I was taught from my Grandpa and Dad many years ago. Nice to see this man sharpens this way. It confirms to me that the ancient style works and is still being used today. Great job Sir
This is a sheer pleasure to watch. A master explaining the skills in a simple yet effective way. Thanks so much for posting. I could watch this over an over again, it's nearly meditation...
Mr. Tsuchida, Your demonstration is appreciated; iIt was very succinct and very informative. I understand the process better now. Thank you for sharing your experience. Mike, USA
I watched various videos..then came across this gentleman .. I use the word gentleman because he teaches with respect and so I return the courtesy..as soon as I saw this Japanese chef I knew I would learn something to remember the rest of my days.. thank you for your informative tuition.. I bow to your teaching sir.
his accent alone gives me utter and total confidence in 110% of what he's telling me... the fact he's in a kitchen and is wearing the chef clothes is supplementary.. :) much respect
Global has been my chosen knife before I entered my career as a Chef. Thank You for such beautiful knives. I look forward to passing them on to my son one day.
Very true and very entertaining! Thanks for posting this, I could watch this man all day he is such a personality and he obviously has the knowledge too!
This is a great video, and Sir Tsuchida seems to be very knowledgeable on this topic. However, I have to say that watching this with auto-generated english subtitles is one of the funniest things ever.
I've been sharpening knives for close to 5 years, and I thoroughly appreciate his sincerity and humility. I too use Japanese water stones and know first hand the necessity of flattening them; took a bit of time, I'm dense. One of the manufacturers of stones I use has a quote that appeals to my obsessive nature; "Sharpening is an attempt for perfection", the author is unknown. Also, they recommend you let the stone do the work, and as I now understand, it's better to use lighter pressure in order to maintain the same angle.
well said, but for Japaneze blades,(I dont know much about them, but seem to see them straight) many french cooks wear their water stone without having trouble, but those are round end blades mostly
@@outdoors1524 a grit stone with a smaller number. If you want to flatten a 1000 grit stone, use a 200 or 300. Generally most users would get a 200/300 as maintenance stone, work up to 500 for repairs on the blade if it has chips or dings, then start with 1000 for general sharpening, 3000 and above would be used to get a refined edge or polished edge.
Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, eat your heart out. This gentleman knows exactly what he is doing. Loved this video. Now all my kitchen knives are sharp and a joy to use. Bought a stone and it was well worth the outlay. Much respect and thank you Mr. Tsuchida.
Sharp knives are a lot less dangerous than blunt ones, IMHO: a blunt knife you need to lean on - any slip has a lot of force behind it; a sharp blade should just about need it's own weight only to cut - you're less likely to slip anyway, and if you do you have a lot more chance to pull it back before it hits something important (like your thigh). OTOH, you do need to appreciate that it's sharp in the first place. I've lost count of the number of people who've cut themselves on my knives by being careless - holding one by the blade, for instance.
One piece of advice to everyone, as taught to me by a master butcher, NEVER, EVER, catch a dropped knife. It is easier to sharpen it again if necessary than to try and repair a badly cut hand. After all, your hands are more important than a blade.
TheRealGrandadNo1 You needed that pointed out? A sharp carving knife takes slivers of bone of a roast if you aren't paying attention - a living hand you could do irreparable damage.
CyberiusT I thought the same thing before I read your reply! "You really had to be taught that?" Oh well, theirs at least a small group of people out their that does need to be taught that. Ex, people with no common sense.
Very good video by an expert, explaining many aspects of knives & sharpening. I never considered the idea of flattening (levelling) the stone by using another stone or how important it is in the whole process. But it makes perfect sense. I enjoyed the presentation and will try to follow his advice. Domo arigoto gozai masu Osensei. Thank you Sir for sharing you knowledge and doing it in English. Much appreciated.
I turned on the subtitles and I learned that "steve is gay"as well as other important info such as "how the snow tastes", "the ugly guy rapes", "the hornet", "the opponent brain", "tonight you hungry solar", "see the black kid" and most importantly "I'm game will double check". Seems legit.
Something may have been lost in translation, as Mino-San is correct. Generally speaking, German style knives require honing with a steel in order to re-shape the edge. This, as he pointed out, only effects the edge, and needs to be repeated frequently. On the Rockwell hardness scale, most German style knives are sharpened to between 56 and 58. Most steels are around 60-62. Japanese knives are often harder than 63- so honing would be useless, as you would just be rubbing the knife on a softer metal. They are also hard enough to resist their edges rolling over, as would be the case with a German style knife. In any case, you don't want to sharpen your knives too often, as this takes steel out of them and shortens their lifespan. With proper honing, a German knife can go as long as a Japanese knife without sharpening (grinding a new edge). As Mino-San said, one isn't necessarily better than the other, they're just different cultures.
Hardness of honing steel does not matter much I think. Because in fact one may hone the edge even with leather or woven cotton belt . (I have one from my grandpa that he used for his shaving blades). As you mentioned , if Japanese blades are harder so it is probably just taking longer to roll the edge or become dull. But at the same time it makes it harder to straighten(hone) or to re sharp. I personally honing all my blades (Japanese and European) before each cooking session
European knives aren't sharpened on a steel, they're only honed. I learned knife sharpening from my American dad on German blades when he was a butcher... we use stones as well. The only difference is the angle of the blade, and that's just down to preferences in preparation techniques.
Correct, was about to say the same thing. That steel rod is only for honing, kind of a temporary fix. Also the reason why Western chefs knives tend to dull so quickly is because they use it for general purpose including hacking chicken with bones and chopping. Whereas Japanese knives (as he said himself) are for slicing food, much more gentle on the blade.
it depends on the rod, modern rods are only for honing, some of the older ones pre ww2 had an aggressive spiral and were designed to remove metal and to actualy sharpen, I have 3 that were made in sheffield, England, one with a bakelite handle and two with bone handles that are for sharpenening , i also own 4 old honing rods that have a different pattern
@@danewood2309 you can sharpen a bit or correct à folded cutting edge wish the steel. It is as a file. (One cut file ? ) Spriral I never seen. More aggressive indeed.
What a great video. Even though your english was not perfect, you explained it perfectly ... better that most English speaking people. Thank you for the awesome instructions.
You are so wonderful. Such amazing information. Obviously you are a master. What a pleasure to have this to see. an Honor.. Thank you so much Master Tsuchida
This a very good demo on how to sharpen and maintain your knives. Japanese are the very best when it comes to knowledge and understanding on sharpening knives.
I just sharpened 4 of my globals for the first time. Mr Global is awesome and his video was excellent. I have a 1000/8000 grit combo minosharp wetstone. I stared with the 1000 then went to the 8000. By the end I had a mirror polish on the edges. So sharp I could shave hair off my arm with them. I think I got them sharper than they came. If you listen to what he says and follow his instructions closely you wont have a problem.
billK3817 sharpness is always a trade off with durability. In the West we use what ever angle makes sense for the job. A straight razor is sharpened to a much smaller angle than a hatchet. There is nothing preventing you from sharpening a western knife to a smaller angle or a Japanese knife to a larger angle. Butchers knives in the West which are only used on meat are sharpened to a finer angle than the knives on this video. It's not some kind of competition. It's not like there are laws that force each country to use different angles. A knife is sharpened to do a particular job, that's it.
He is obviously teaching an english audience and he hates them. WW2 is alive and well inside his heart. Watch as he looks up at them in disgust and sends them a secret message a moment later 06:14.
nah dude, he just count how much ppl he can cut down with that dull knife (a lot, i am sure) i have this look every time when i try teach someone (stupid) something, that i already know they never understand, waste of my time
Even with basic english he was able to convey sharpening techniques that a fluent English teacher would not be able to. Simple, precise and to the point
