It’s a running gag/question I have with my students, “Do you want to be keen or sharp?” Just so you know you don’t want to be sharp. Now, with the wonder of today’s age, definitions are only a tap away, so I leave it to you to figure out which camp you feel you should place yourself in.

Keen vs. Sharp: Understanding the Difference

A sharp tool is anything that can cut another object. Keen, on the other hand, is honed to the point it is measured in microns. When my knives are keen, they have been worked on, ground down, built up, and polished and honed; they don’t simply cut, they cleave with minimal effort.

Quick aside, which may provide some illumination to my mindset…

Knife Sharpening Ritual: A Holiday Tradition

It is Monday morning of my first day of a week break. I am fortunate to have my holidays asynchronous  with the rest of my family; thus, allowing me some much needed isolation. 

I start my holidays in a similar manner: Make bento boxes for my son’s school lunch, teas for his thermos, and a coffee for the morning dad. After everyone is out the door, my long awaited holiday entertainment begins. I take my pre-soaked whetstones to the sink where I have a rack set-up and the proceed to sharpen all of my knives.

I do this with no music, only the rhythmic sound of each blade making it through my various stones, of increasing grit count. Depending on the blade, I either finish with 6,000 or 8,000 grit. I finally strop each blade. This always leads to the ASMR paper test. I find making my knives as sharp as I can make possible is not as laborious as you may think, and it has a meditative element to it. 

Perfecting the Craft in Seki City, Japan

I am not going to talk about techniques, because my process is not without its flaws and it is highly ritualistic. But, being as I work in an international school in Japan, I have had the opportunity to take a couple of workshops in Seki city, which is one of the key knife production cities in Japan. In these classes I have honed my skill. Although I am nowhere near their level, they would most definitely rank me as a proficient amateur. But when compared to mere mortals, I am pretty good.

My favourite line in the class facilitated by the instructor, who is an amicable, yet stern septuagenarian:

 “It takes three years to be a master knife maker, but it takes a lifetime to master sharpening a knife.”

Before this class, I was already hooked on the knife sharpen pursuit. But chasing perfection? That made me go all-in.

The Practical Benefits of a Keen Knife

Pride aside, there are much more practical reasons why I have taken the time to learn how to properly keen a knife. 

By far, the benefit stems from marginal gains I get in the kitchen. Every time I slice an onion, I use less effort because my blade is keen (and, oh boy does it feel good!). A keen blade glides through ingredients with minimal pressure, making food prep quicker and far more enjoyable. The blade bites into every piece of flesh just as you intended it to. Not only does it take less effort and time to break down food, but I get to choose the size of the cut.

I love cooking for other people, and we regularly have people over to cook with and share a meal. Without fail, people who help in the kitchen when I am doing the final food prep notice how sharp the knife they use is. It is not because of the quality of the blade (most of my cutting tools are quite solidly in the mid-price category). It simply comes down to how keen the steel is. 

Implications of Keen Knives: Bragging Rights!

If you should glean anything about the rewards of having your knives keen, appreciate that it is an edifying task that will connects you to your food in new ways. Keen blades afford you new forms of precision, but at the very least, lets you notice new possibilities in your daily routine. 

You will also have the bragging rights too… even if you are not the sharpest knife in the drawer!