Kitchen knife

[Addie]

When I would watch the Italian noni's using their mezzaluna they would turn the bowl with it as they worked. They never lifted it. And having a single large blade there was no need to clean it out between the blades. I will try to explain how she would turn the blade. I can picture it in my mind to this day.

If she was right handed she would come down a little harder with her right hand so that the 'knife' bit the bottom of the bowl and would turn it toward her. Sometimes she would rock the knife in a semi circle and then grab the bottom of the bowl and turn it. It all depended on her style. All the bowls had a little circle of minor cuts in the bottom. The bowls were made from very hard wood and could stand up to that knife grabbing it. Using that knife was a skill they developed as a child helping their mother.

Of course if she was left handed, reverse it.

 

[Stock Pot]

Hard to sharpen

I don't know who sharpens their own knives, but I do and that looks like it would be very difficult to sharpen. Maybe one of those tungsten carbide gadgets you drag along the edge would help but I think it would be practically impossible to keep that as sharp as a traditional chef's knife once the factory edges go dull. If it comes apart it would be easier but even then you would still have to cope with the extreme curve of the blade.

 

[Addie]

I don't know who sharpens their own knives, but I do and that looks like it would be very difficult to sharpen. Maybe one of those tungsten carbide gadgets you drag along the edge would help but I think it would be practically impossible to keep that as sharp as a traditional chef's knife once the factory edges go dull. If it comes apart it would be easier but even then you would still have to cope with the extreme curve of the blade.

That is why the single blade one is so much better. But by the time it has been passed down a few generations, the blade seems to keep its sharpness all on its own. It just gets better and better with age.

 

[RPCookin]

That is why the single blade one is so much better. But by the time it has been passed down a few generations, the blade seems to keep its sharpness all on its own. It just gets better and better with age.

Ummmm.... Physics says otherwise. Eventually any blade is going to to dull, and the longer it's used without sharpening, the more it's going to need sharpening. That is a simple fact. Any cutting tool is going to get dull with use.