Brandon and Lauren recount their journey from the obtuse existence of using dull knives, to learning simple but scary sharp sharpening techniques.
They discuss the difference between the stainless steel ‘package’ (protective gear, multiple shape knives, pistol grip) and the high-carbon steel blade.
Lastly, they share the usefulness of a good cleaver and chopping block. Romance comes through too as they discover what truly sharp looks like!
Show Notes
Topics Discussed
- 0:40 Hello Meatsmiths & Fall classes
- 4:30 What’s up Brandon?
- 7:00 Cutlery- “Don’t take another step until you have sharp cutlery”
- 14:15 Is it sharp? “If you need to ask the answer is NO.”
- 18:25 “[Beauty] maketh virtue shine, and vices blush.”
- 22:25 Carbon steel vs stainless steel
- 29:00 Stainless steel package
- 36:00 Virtue of carbon steel
- 42:00 Use a 6-inch knife for all the things
- 44:45 Knife upkeep, is it necessary?
- 49:00 Murry Carter of Carter Cutlery- high end Japanese blade master in Oregon State.
- 49:00 Knife qualities: 1) Sharpenability (easy and/or quick to sharpen). 2) Long lasting edge once sharpened. 3) How acute an edge can you get on the blade.
- 53:50 Old carbon steel cutlery. Dexter Russel. Old Hickory-Forge Craft-Ontario Knife Company.
- 1:00:00 Cutlery prowess
- 1:05:30 Cleavers-they must be heavy
- 1:11:30 Cleavers are for spines only
- 1:13:40 Use a large round of wood as a chopping block
- 1:15:00 Credits and Patreon.com/meatsmith
Links for Episode 5
– Farmstead Meatsmith’s Cutlery e-chapter from The Butcher’s Salt
– Murry Carter of Carter Cutlery
– Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall River Cottage book series
– Simon Wheeler photographer
– “Beauty is as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt, and cannot last; and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth, and an age a little out of countenance; but yet certainly again, if it light well, it maketh virtue shine, and vices blush.” ― Francis Bacon, The Essays. Source: Goodreads.com
– Cassius Longinus Essay on the Sublime
-Dexter Russel Cutlery dexterrussellcutlery.com
-Ontario Knife Company ontarioknife.com
-Blade Sharpening Fundamentals dvd by Murry Carter. Buy it here
–Farmsteadmeatsmith.com, our upcoming Harvest classes, and our subscription membership
– Support Farmstead Meatsmith and this Podcast by becoming a Patreon at Patreon.com/Meatsmith
– FarmRun.com an agrarian creative studio