Sharpening and thinning of the edges of the kitchen knives.
The Japanese whetstone can be used for the sharpening of the Japanese kitchen knives because of its effectiveness.
Japanese water stones have a coarse grit that works restoring the sharpness of the kitchen knives. You need to know that sharpening kitchen knives are important to protect them from being rather dull and also being affected by rust.
The whetstone is used for the sharpening kitchen knives and making them less dull. You would also take advantage of the coarse grit of the whetstone to give the blade the original V-shape that makes it effective in its use.
You could always use a finer stone because it does a recommendable job polishing the kitchen knives.
It works to give the knife a thicker structure and make it better for the cutting work. It also guarantees top performance when you use it to restore the high-quality sharpness of the kitchen knives.
What you get is the reliability of the kitchen knives since if they are sharpened in this manner, they can be highly durable.
You could also use the coarse grit that is in whetstone to thin a Japanese kitchen knife that you have just bought; this will make it less resistant for the cutting of various foodstuffs such as vegetables and meat.
See also:
- What are the Best Japanese Kitchen Knives?
- How Are Japanese Kitchen Knives Made?
- Who Makes the Best Japanese Kitchen Knives?
- What to Know When Buying Japanese Kitchen Knives from Japan
For polishing the Japanese kitchen knives
If you want to polish your Japanese kitchen knife, the best type of whetstone that you could use is the fine grit water stone that has grains ranging from 3,000 to 10,000.
They are the top performers when it comes to polishing Japanese kitchen knives thanks to the fine grit that is their property. You would realize an edge that is sharp as a new razor.
It also helps to retain the original sharpness of the kitchen knife that would remain in that condition for far much longer. Therefore, you would be able to use that particular Japanese kitchen knife for longer and enjoy its sharpness.
However, the best way you can do this is to sharpen the Japanese kitchen knife using a whetstone that has a coarse grit before you polish it with the one with a finer grit.
This is because the latter is not the best for getting rid of large amounts of material from the blade of the kitchen knife.
Maintaining the sharpness of the kitchen knife
Fine whetstones are used because of their ability to retain the sharpness of any type of Japanese kitchen knives.
They do this by providing the knife with a finer finish than they had before. As a chef, you would find such a type of knife to be highly effective thanks to the fact that its sharpness is guaranteed for a longer period.
What grit stones for Japanese kitchen knives?
There is a standard way of measuring different grains of whetstones and this helps to classify the different ways you can use them for getting the desired sharpness for your kitchen knives. Whetstones come in a range of grits:
- Less than 1000 grit is typically used to repair knives with chipped edges
- 1000 to 3000 grit are used to sharpen dull knives
- 4000 to 8000 grit is finishing stones and is used to refine your knife-edge
The above variety of grits that are in a sharpening stone vary in their uses when you want to sharpen your kitchen knife.
For instance, if you want to sharpen your Japanese kitchen knife in a rather rough way, a grit ranging between 120 and 400 grains would work for you.
On the other hand, if you want to sharpen your Japanese kitchen knife in a normal way, you will have to get a stone ranging between 700 and 2000 grains.
However, for the polishing work of the Japanese kitchen knife, you would have to use a whetstone whose grain is not less than the 2000 mark.
The worth of Japanese kitchen Knives
Aesthetic is among the major reasons that make the Japanese kitchen knives to be quite costly. They provide you with quality and much enjoyable experience when you use these types of knives. You should be able to realize a significant difference in the way you use these type of knives and the other types in the market.
The Japanese kitchen knives can turn out to be quite costly because of other reasons, which also make them a unique type of kitchen knives. For instance, they are manufactured from high-end materials that are not common with the ordinary types of knives.
For instance, the carbon type used for the blades is somehow unique from those used for the other types of blades of Japanese kitchen knives.
The forging work of the Japanese kitchen knives is significantly different from that applied in the process of manufacture of other types of knives.
For these types of knives, extra labor is applied so that the final product is a top-performing Japanese kitchen knife that is effective for what it is used for in the kitchen. The work here constitutes forging and welding different layers until the blade is made to a design that makes it effective for its work.
The cost of a Japanese kitchen knife might be significantly higher than the ordinary types of knives because it is designed to be a work of art. The seamless artistic designs that you get from the Japanese kitchen knives make it an invaluable piece that is every chef’s close friend in the kitchen.
Bottom line
A hand-forged Japanese kitchen knife is probably the best that you could find useful in your kitchen. The different types of Japanese kitchen knives discussed above have a lot to offer than the ordinary types of knives you may have in your kitchen.
This can be seen in the uniqueness of the way they are crafted. They are also designed in a manner that will give you a one-of-kind experience.