How to buy a kitchen knife?

And we know how much they like doing that sort of thing, e.g. it's legal for children of any age to buy 0.5% shandy, yet Tesco still want to ID me for buying 0% beer

That's what I thought, that pharmacy only medicines can be sold by an assistant provided the pharmacist is present and 'approves'.

Sainsburys likewise - I'm 84!

I've pointed out the stupidity of wasting my time and theirs in doing an age check at the self-service tills when I am buying 0% beer in our local Sainsburys.

I keep those in the kitchen. A Stanley. And a box cutter.

Not for food prep though.

Paul

Is it not the case that persons under 18 are not allowed to buy alcohol free beer in case it encourages a liking for the real thing? If so, the requirement to check will be the same irrespective of alcohol content.

By chance, I do happen to have a Stanley knife in the kitchen at the moment - but that is just because it hasn't made it out to the garage yet.

After opening supermarket meat packaging, I'd want to wash the knife, so while I could keep a Stanley knife in the kitchen, the blade and internal mechanism would soon rust.

Meanwhile, I've always got kitchen knives with sharp points to pierce packaging and their stainless-steel blades will last.

I've just looked it up and apparently that is the case, but it is only a voluntary ban, there is nothing in law to prevent such sales. It appears that it is only applied because the 0% beers often look life the alcoholic versions and so, while children cannot buy a 0% Becks Blue or Heineken at the big retailers (small shops often do allow it), they CAN (as always) buy a a 0.5%, 2-litre bottle of Shandy.

In the eyes of the Licensing laws, anything with <= 0.5% alcohol is out of scope. Didn't every sweet shop in the land sell Top Deck shandy?

I also have a couple of folding Stanley blade type knives in my kitchen drawers for opening a variety of packages but not for food preparation.

One single comment for that Japanese knife on the Sainsburys website -

"I would rate -1 if I could It was first wash in Dishwasher and came out with rust marks."

Hmm. We have that problem with a set of Japanese stainless cutlery purchased around 1970. Still in use but occasionally there will be rust spots on the knives from the dishwasher. Only the hardened blades. Forks and spoons are fine.

All my knives (cheap and expensive), except one are free of rust.

The exception is an expensive Japanese made fillet knife. I have 5 other knives made by the same manufacturer which over many decades of being left in water or a drained sink show no signs of rust. Why is this one knife different - probably because its made from a different grade of (stainless) steel to make the blade very flexible/bendy.

If I use this one knife it is hand washed and dried immediately.

I have a vague recollection that the best knives, that retain the sharpest edge, are carbon steel, not stainless steel and so will need to be washed and dried immediately.

I do have to sharpen my expensive stainless steel knives on a regular basis but its only a couple of strokes through the fine grade sharpener

- grinding wheels running in a water bath.

My stainless steel knives just sort of look after themselves but my two best kitchen knives are high carbon steel. My mother's old kitchen knife (and my grandmother's before) is totally black but beautifully efficient. The other one was made for me from a truck suspension leaf spring by a Patagonian Gaucho and is a real Crocodile Dundee "call that a knife?" type knife and will slice through anything.

Nick

I had thought of getting one of those diamond sharpening blocks specifically for sharpening those stainless-steel kitchen knives that are supposed to 'never need sharpening'.

Does anyone use these for kitchen knives ?.

I usually resort to using my Norton wetstone block with the proper oil but I struggle to keep the angle correct.

There are many sharpening jigs available, and instructions to make several more. I have a jig for chisels and plane blades but never got as far as knives.