The enemy is chicken bones

Today’s knife for repair is the one you see in the image, it suffered a chip. Seems it had a run-in with a chicken bone… Normally, when dealing with chicken or fish, if you can slide right into the joint, you should be able to crack it open without a hitch, but… perhaps this time it wasn’t that kind of bone.

In the photo, it might be hard to see, but the chip on the blade resembles a gingko leaf. When cutting bones, frozen foods, or raw pumpkins, they tend to chip in this shape. If the blade stops and pulls straight up, there’s usually minimal damage, but instinctively, we tend to twist it left or right when pulling it out… It’s probably fate… Those who know, calmly pull straight up! So, what about chicken bones? Ideally, I’d recommend a Western deba knife… Or at least a sabaki knife would do… Additionally, please thaw frozen foods first! And for raw pumpkins, a quick microwave cooking should do the trick! (Ueda-ya’s recommendation) Even if we repair the chip with this sharpening, if we continue using it the same way, it’ll likely happen again… It’s a dilemma whether to make the blade stronger or not. Strengthen it, and the cutting ability decreases, prioritize cutting ability, and the strength decreases… Finding a balance between the two in sharpening is an eternal theme. Of course, there will be failures, but we’ll aim for it nonetheless.

Hibishugyo

• 2009-03-06