http://www.messermeister.com Messermeister University features demos, tutorials, and information on how to use kitchen products. Messermeister is a leading manufacturer of professional cutlery and high quality kitchen accessories. en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:45:08 -0800 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:15:27 -0700 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Burton Technology CMS 1.75 news@messermeister.com (Messermeister News) news@messermeister.com (Messermeister News) 2008-2010 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=22 Messermeister Knife Care Avoid placing the knife near an open flame or similar heat. Do not put the knife in a dishwasher as constant action, detergent and excessive heat will dull the edge. Use a fine cut steel on the Meridian Elite, San Moritz Elite, and Japanese knife lines at a 15 degree angle to maintain a sharp edge. Use a regular cut steel on the Park Plaza knife line at a 20 degree angle to maintain a sharp edge. Once the edge is no longer sharp, have an expert sharpener re-grind a new edge on your knife. Mon, 18 May 2009 14:49:44 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=22 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=29 Books We Recommend An Edge in the Kitchen by Chad Ward Get it at Amazon! Mastering Knife Skills by Norman Weinstein Get it at Amazon! Sam The Cooking Guy: Just A Bunch Of Recipes by Sam Zien Get it at Amazon! Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found The Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too by Shauna James Ahren Get it at Amazon! Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:27:42 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=29 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=28 How to Sharpen a Knife With a Whetstone (or Water Stone) Before sharpening a knife, soak the whetstone in water for about 5 to 10 minutes until it is completely wet, and then put the whetstone on a damp cloth. Place the knife toward the whetstone at a 45 degree angle. Double-sided cutting edge knife Keep the blade at an angle of 10 to 15 degree on the whetstone. Apply a bit of pressure when you grind the knife forward and release the pressure when you grind the knife backward. Continue sharpening one side until burrs start to appear on the edge, and then sharpen the other side. Note: The water on the whetstone gets muddy during sharpening. Do not wash off the mud, as it helps sharpen the knife. Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:30:43 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=28 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=14 Sharpening Instructions: How To Use A Steel The edge of a knife eventually becomes dull after constant use. This even holds true to high quality knives. The edge will turn either to the left or right side. It depends on how you hold your knife when you cut. To correct the turned edge, one must re-align (or whet) the knife. High quality knives with a high carbon/molybdenum/ vanadium tool steel alloy have elasticity, which means that it is easy to re-align (or correct the turned edge) of the knife when you use a fine-cut Messermeister sharpening steel from Solingen. This will turn the edge that has turned to the left or right upwards, making the knife sharp once again. Avoid using diamond-coated, ceramic or rough-cut sharpening steels and pull through manual or electric sharpeners when you are re-aligning a knife. These devices will shave off the turned edge and thus shorten the duration of the life of your knife . Only use these aggressive sharpening systems when you can no longer re-align the edge. To Re-Align (or Whet) a Knife: Messermeister Meridian Elite, San Moritz Elite, and Japanese knife lines should be aligned at a 15 degree angle on a fine cut or polished steel that is approximately 2" longer than your longest knife. Messermeister Park Plaza knife line should be aligned at a 20 degree angle on a regular steel that is approximately 2" longer than your longest knife. For optimal edge sharpness, whet the knife with 5-6 strokes on both sides of the knife until smooth. There are two methods in which to do this. Choose the technique that makes you feel the most comfortable. Remember, when re-aligning your knife, put the emphasis on accuracy of the angle, not on speed and pressure. Steel-On-Surface Sharpening Method Hold the steel vertically with your left hand (opposite applies for left-handed individuals) and place the point of the steel on a non-slip flat surface. Hold the knife in your right hand and place the back of the blade against the steel with the tip pointed in the air. Tilt the knife so that the top of the blade is at approximately 15 degrees (or 1/4" for a chef's knife) away from the steel. The 15 angle applies to the Meridian Elite, San Moritz Elite, and Japanese knife lines. For the Park Plaza knife line use an angle of approximately 20 degrees. Pull your elbow back and upward as you pass the knife at a 15 or 20 degree angle with light pressure in a concentric (semi circular) motion past the tip of the knife blade. Repeat this action on the opposite side of the blade, making 5-6 passes on each side. Steel-At-Arm's-Length Sharpening Method Hold the steel parallel to the ground in front of you with your elbow by your side. Place the heel of the blade against the tip of the sharpening steel at an angle of 15 or 20 degrees depending upon your knife. Pull the knife down across the steel with light pressure in a concentric (semi circular) motion past the tip of the knife blade. Repeat this action on the opposite side of the blade, making 5-6 passes on each side. If the knife does not seem to re-align (or obtain a sharp edge) after trying these methods, you might want to try a more aggressive steel, like a ceramic or diamond coated steel, a stone, or you may want to take it to a professional sharpener. To Re-grind a Knife: Use either a diamond or ceramic steel, a 3-way wet stone, or a good quality manual or electric pull through sharpener. With a diamond or ceramic steel, use about 70-80 strokes alternating sides with each stroke. When sharpening with a wet stone, start with the rough side and use about 50-60 strokes, then do 40-50 strokes on the medium side, finishing with 30-40 strokes on the fine side (use more strokes if needed). If maintaining the correct angle at 15 or 20 degrees throughout your re-grinding procedure is too difficult, take your knife to a reputable knife grinding service in your area. Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:19:10 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=14 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=27 Guaranteed for Life Messermeister products are guaranteed against defects in materials and workmanship and will be restored or replaced under our guidelines of 100% Messermeister quality. If you find that your Messermeister product is defective, please call customer services toll free 800-426-5134. Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:07:50 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=27 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=16 Blade Styles: Features and Usages 1. Garnishing/Tourne Knife Features: A garnishing or tourne knife is 2 ¾” to 3” with an inverted curve of the blade which gives it a more common name of “bird’s beak” parer. Usage: The curved blade is used to turn rounded surfaces of vegetables such as potatoes, beets, carrots, zucchini and cucumbers into barrel or football shapes. 2. Paring Knife Features: Paring knives are 3-4” in length with blades that taper to a point. Usage: This size blade is used primarily for paring and trimming vegetables and fruits. It is considered to be the 2nd most often used knife in the kitchen and many home chefs have 3-4 in the drawer. There are many grips depending on the task and they usually involve holding the item by hand when making the cut. 3. Steak Knife Features: A steak knife is a 4 ½” personal sized carving knife. Usage: The main cutting edge is used to slice meat while the tip assists in separating meat from the bone. Many steak knives have a fine edge slicing blade with teeth added to the upward curved tip. The saw teeth give added cutting power to the tip when working against a bone. The grip can vary, but the knife is usually pulled rather than pushed through the meat. 4. Utility Knife Features: The length can be 4 ½” to 7.” This term can apply to many shapes, sizes and blade styles. It can also have a fine edge or a scalloped edge. Usage: The fine edge thin bladed 6” knife is the most common and is used for cutting and slicing smaller items. 5. Scalloped Tomato Knife Features: The tomato knife is a thin straight 5” blade with a serrated or scalloped flat camber and either a fork, flat or round tip. Usage: It is useful when slicing smooth skin fruit or vegetables and encased tubes of meat. It is designed so that the points bite into the skin, gain traction and quickly slice through the skin and into the soft flesh or processed meat. 6. Boning Knife Features: A boning knife is a thin, narrow 5-6” stiff or flexible upward curved blade. Usage: The primary function is to separate meat from a bone. The flexible version can also be used to separate flesh from the curved skin of a melon or to fillet a fish. 7. Scalloped Offset Knife Features: A scalloped offset knife is a scalloped 6-9” slicing blade with elevated handle. Usage: The offset gives maximum grip clearance for any slicing cuts on bread, sandwiches and any other firm exterior with a softer inside. 8. Santoku Knife Features: A Japanese Chef’s knife is a wide bladed 5-7” knife with an overall thinner spine and taper than a French or German style chef’s knife. The spine runs parallel to the relatively flat cutting edge, which has a bolsterless heel and only curves near the tip to create a broad bladed knife similar in shape to a cleaver. Usage: The taper is ground thinly and lengthened to give it maximum precision when slicing. The word Santoku translates as “3 good things,” which means it is versatile like a chef’s knife and cuts vegetables, fish and meat. 9. Chef’s Knife Features: A chef’s knife also known as a cook’s knife or French Knife can range in length from 4-14.” The broad bladed knife has a spine which gradually tapers to the cambered cutting edge and creates a pointed tip. This knife also has a bolster in front of the handle which gradually tapers to the tip. Because of this geometry, this is the one knife that should be well balanced with weight distributed equally between the handle and the blade. Usage: This is the most versatile knife in the kitchen and thus the most used blade style by professional chefs. The blade is shaped so that it can peel, trim, slice, dice, chop, mince, vegetables, fillet fish, and cut meat. Each part of the knife is designed to perform a different task. The tip is used for fine work such as paring, coring, trimming and peeling. The middle cutting edge is used for slicing, dicing, chopping and other precision cuts. The heel area is needed when a task requires force and the wedge shape to split dense material. The spine can be used to crack shells and the flat side of the blade can crush garlic. It is the flagship of cutlery. 10. Scalloped Bread Knife Features: The length of blade is 8-12” and the edge is scalloped with a gentle camber. Usage: The bread knife is a wider and longer bladed version of a tomato knife. It is generally 8-10” and the scalloped edge bites the crust, allowing a smooth slicing action without exerting pressure which can compress the slice. 11. Carving Knife Features: The carving knife has a narrow spear pointed 7-12” fine edge blade and may have Hollows (Kullens) ground into each side. Usage: It is used to both separate meat from the bone and slice it into thin serving portions. The hollows along each side assist in eliminating surface tension and facilitating a more efficient cutting motion. 12. Rocking Knife Features: The herb knife has a full cambered stiff 5” blade and has been ground to function properly both in a bowl board and on a flat cutting board. Usage: It is used to mince herbs in a bowl board or can be gripped by the blade to fillet a fish. It is the perfect utility size to separate the fruit of a melon from the rind, slices from a grapefruit, meat from an avocado or slice pizza, shave hard cheese and dice shallots. 13. Flexible Fillet/Shaving/Carving Knife Features: Long, narrow, flexible 8-12” blades are used to place cuts extremely close to a spine, bone or other hard surface. Usage: It is used to fillet fish, shaved dried cured meats or carve watermelons. 14. Vegetable Knife Features: The chopping cleaver style blade is a full 2.5” wide, 7 inches long with a blunt spatula tip and a slight rocking camber. The kullenschliffs (kullens or hollow grinds) on each side assist in creating a smoother downward slicing motion. Usage: It is used to chop, dice, mince and slice vegetables, fruit, meat and any other item that needs to be reduced quickly to cooking size. With a long full size handle and blade, this knife is built to handle a heavy workload in the kitchen. Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:41:53 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=16 http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=25 How to Select the Right Knife for Your Kitchen! For first time buyers, it’s important to “test drive” the knife. Find a retailer with a selection of brands and a demo area. Preferably, try to find a retailer with both Asian and European styles. Everyone likes to have choices! Request the most knowledgeable sales person and ask for chef’s knives. Ask to see both molded and triple rivet handles in a variety of materials. Know your grip preference, a pinch grip being the best for a bolstered blade. Pick up the chef’s knives and feel the heft, balance and comfort of the handle. If you can, bring an item to cut and feel the cutting power. It’s all about “feeling.” Looks and brand can be important, but inevitably you enjoy cutting because of “feeling.” Check the construction to see that handles meet bolsters with seamless joints. Ask about the steel alloys, the handle materials and the edge. The edge should be a fine one that can be easily re-sharpened over and over and brought back to out of the box factory sharpness. The handle should be comfortable and built of materials that resist breaking, warping, splitting or checking. See and feel the quality! Select knives that are made of commercial quality components such as German steel alloy, polyoxymethylene handles, and stainless steel rivets. Buy brands that are made in factories staffed with old world craftsman that have stood the test of time. These knives will last a lifetime if properly honed, occasionally sharpened, and treated as fine tools. The knife should be guaranteed for your lifetime! The Knife for Life! Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:23:04 -0700 info@messermeister.com (Messermeister University) http://www.messermeister.com/news/urss.php http://www.messermeister.com/index.php?act=GetContent&cid=25