Green City Market Vendor Report: Sharpening By Dave

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jun 21, 2010 4:00PM

Superior kitchen majicks require a sharp set of knives. In our kitchen we have a meat cleaver for butchering larger cuts of meat, a Santoku knife for vegetables and delicate handling and an all-purpose chefs knife that does pretty much everything. All three were in good need of a sharpening requiring more than just a few turns across a sharpening steel. In the case of the all purpose chef's knife, there was a chip in the blade that needed to be fixed, as well.

Enter David Nells. Nells has been providing knife sharpening services at farmers markets throughout the area and is a new vendor to Green City Market. The main objective visiting the market Saturday was to bring the knives to Nells and let him have at them. Nells uses a wet stone bath to keep the blade cool during sharpening. "Most other sharpeners use grinding wheels, which don't give the knife a good angle and can wear out the knife faster," Nells said. "The heat generated from a grinding wheel also can make the blade brittle over time."

Nells only charges $4 to sharpen a knife ($5 for cleavers or kitchen shears). He'll also sharpen scissors and garden implements like lawn mower blades and pruning shears. That's a bargain for knife sharpening; some other cutlery sharpening services charge by the inch. As for upkeep, Nells suggests the following:

1. Don't place your knives in a dishwasher. the heat will dull the edge.
2. Use a wooden block or magnetic knife strip to store your knives
3. If you are using a wooden block to store your knife, store it blade up so that the weight isn't forcing the edge into the wood.
4. Only use wood, bamboo or polyethylene cutting boards as they create less friction for the blade's edge than plastic or ceramic cutting boards.
5. Wipe the knife clean when finished, especially if cutting through acidic fruit like tomatoes or citrus.
6. Lightly touch up any burrs that may form on the edge with a couple of light passes across a sharpening stone. "When you see a chef making a big scene out of sharpening his knife, that adds twenty percent to your bill," Nells said.

Nells sharpening should last for about 6-8 months, if you follow those guidelines.

Sharpening By Dave is at Independence Park Farmers Market (Irving Park Road and Springfield) Sundays, Lincoln Square Farmers Market (4700 N. Lincoln Ave.), Tuesdays and Green City Market Saturdays.