How you could keep your knives sharp. 

1. Use the right knife for the job: Slicer for slicing, Chef knife for chopping and dicing, Paring knife for pealing and delicate stuff, Bread knife for bread and a Cleaver for heavy duty cleaving and chopping. Never use them for anything they are not meant to be used for.

2. Always use a soft cutting board: end grain wood board or a soft plastic board. Never use ceramic cutting boards, plates, counters and so on for cutting.

3. Always store your knives in a knife rack with the edge up or use a magnetic knife holder. Never store your them in a drawer with other knives unprotected.

4. Hide your grooved steel so you can’t find it, because it is a 99.9% chance that you are doing more harm than good with it to your knives. I don’t care what your butcher or celebrity chef on TV says or do, go and hide that steel now. I would say that half of the knives I sharpen; I do because the client has steeled them dull. Instead buy a leather strop, or use an old leather belt loaded with some strop dressing. Done regularly a few strokes on each side should be enough, and it will keep your knife sharper much longer.

5. Always rinse and dry your knives after use and never put them in the dishwasher, not even if they say that they are dishwasher safe.

6. Get your knives sharpen before they go really dull.

Stropping knife on a leather strop

Magnus Pettersson hand sharpener, now serving the whole Westside with free pickup and delivery: Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Marina Del Rey, Culver City and West LA.

For free pickup and delivery on the Westside, call/txt 310-486-6068 or email.