CHAPTER XVI

KNIFE-LIFE IN THE KITCHEN

“I would like to have a vegetable knife,” says a woman to the salesman.

“Yes, Madam,” says he, handing her a knife.

“Thank you,” says the customer, not even looking at it. Then she goes home and tries to pare a pumpkin with the dainty little flexible knife that she has bought and finds that the task is quite impossible. Why? Because she has used a knife not designed at all for anything but a potato or an apple.

Such things are very frequent because the purchaser doesn’t realize that “vegetable knife” as well as “motor car” spells many types, and that the knife is even more diversified in design than the car to meet various kinds of work. What carpenter would think of cutting across the grain with a plane meant for cutting with the grain? The carpenter realizes the range of design in his tools, however. So should it be with women if they wish to save their nerves, their hands and their time and make their food look worthy of its cost.

The background of the knife and fork is surrounded with historic significance and romance. The knife seems to be the first-born of Father Cutlery and the fork a late development as a table essential; and the spoon comes so late that it isn’t even romantic.

First of all, cutlery was developed from the hunting knife in various guises. Then it became the sword of history. Not until the Middle Ages were knives used on the table, and then only one or two. Not until two or three hundred years ago were they used by each individual! And this first took place in Italy.

Ordinary cutlery was really first used in the form of the sheep shears, very much like the shears used in the Rembrandt painting: The Old Woman Cutting Her Nails.

Before steel was used, bamboo, shell, then copper, bronze, tin and copper and the so-called “steel” of Damascus were the materials out of which the knives and swords were built.

As forks were a later development and were used at first only as a means of helping the diners from the central dish, it was necessary for the diners to wear gloves to shield them from the rigors of hot foods. Therefore, with such methods it was necessary to recover in sanitary fashion and to this end servitors would meet each diner with a bowl of water and a towel. Thus has the finger bowl descended unto us.

For some time after the knife and fork were used generally, each person would carry his own beautiful set in a handsome case at his belt or girdle. During the 18th Century when the fork was commonly used it was with the knife superbly fashioned of jewels and metal work. For the most part forks were two pronged, and not until Louis XV of France did the four-tine fork come into being.

So from the hunting knife and the crotched wooden stick was born our own diversified cutlery. Not only in steel of fine temper and hardness, but recently of steel with the added qualities of stainlessness.

Although Sheffield, England, in the past has the reputation for the finest cutlery in the world, and although Sheffield must be given the credit for fathering the craft, yet the United States to-day is making some of the best cutlery and bids fair to outmake and outsell the world in quantity and quality.

KITCHEN CUTLERY

The subject of kitchen cutlery, the one which this chapter is dealing with, does not interest itself in silver plate and all the cutlery so beautifully made for table use. The same general principals apply, but there is too little space here to go into the detail of pattern, brands and general details of table cutlery.

However, the blades for most cutting articles are made of shear steel, and for this crucible cast steel and forged steel are used.

The essential parts of the process of cutlery making are: (1) forging; (2) hardening and tempering; (3) grinding; (4) polishing; (5) assembling, honing and the finishing touches; and these are subdivided into many divisions, making nearly a hundred in some instances and more in others.

The last division is the one which the “cutler” does to-day. In the 18th Century the cutler did the whole work of making a knife, but to-day the polisher polishes and the grinder grinds, etc. The hundreds of processes to-day in the course of the manufacture of one piece of cutlery are in the hands of nearly as many workmen.

Of course, the value of modern cutlery is in the finesse of manufacture and the quality of steel that is used, and in the perfection of its varying parts and their assembling.

Knives are meant to cut.

Knives, therefore, must be so made that they will keep their cutting edges, so proportioned as to fit the thing to be cut; so limber or so stiff as to be comfortably wielded; so assembled as to keep their handles fastened to them; and so balanced (even as a golf club) as to be not only easy but pleasant to use. Pleasant tools make light work.

The knife has three or four main parts--the blade; the tang (that part which fits into the handle); the handle itself, or haft, as it is sometimes called; and in some cases a metal ferrule. Much depends upon the way these parts are made and fitted; they must be so married that nothing can divorce the knife from the handle, so that they will preserve their oneness indefinitely. The great Reno for the knife is the huddled drawer in which it is for the most part kept, but more of this later.

VARIETY IN KNIFE-LIFE

The kinds of knife in which the housewife is particularly interested are: carvers, vegetable slicers, parers, fruit, cleavers, etc. Subdivided, they are: paring, bread, meat, poultry, carving, cake, boning, paring (small pocket type style), spatula, lemon, grape and orange, curved in French, German and American fashions, cleavers and scrapers.

Where it is necessary for a knife to conform to shape in paring, a flexible knife is more comfortable than a stiff one. Therefore, if you want a vegetable knife for slicing potatoes never think of buying a long stiff one because your work will be seriously impeded. If you have the right tool the job of paring, or what not, will be as much fun as carving is for the artist who in his turn always has the correct tool.

“Gracious, I can never slice a ham that doesn’t look as if some one bit it up,” said a friend of mine.

As gently as I could I told her it was because she was trying to do the impossible. She used a knife for bread and cake, broad and short, and expected it to do the work of a long, thin blade slightly curved off at the end. The heavy, wide-bladed knife cleaves to the surface of the meat and makes it a practical impossibility for any ordinary mortal to push it through. The narrow blade is what you must have, as it requires less strength and cuts therefore more efficiently. The knife with the almost scimitar formation makes it simple to cut around a bone.

Most everybody has a bread knife, so we need not bother about that familiar object, but the only thing necessary is that the bread knife should be kept for bread (and kept sharp) as far as possible, unless it is adapted by having a medium wide blade, to cut meat and cake.

For hot meats a rather flexible, but not too flexible, knife should be used, especially in the case of hot steaks and ham. It is a real comfort to have a good knife for these things; the meat is not chewed before its time and is not wasted in formless gobs.

For the person who must economize on the number of utensils, a knife about 8″ or 9″ long with rather wide blade can be bought which can very comfortably be used for cold meat slicing as well as bread and cake. A set of six knives, two spatulas and two forks, will fill most kitchens’ needs. Other knives and forks can be added as specials. Here is the 2″ paring knife, 3″ for splitting. The general household keeps a fork with the French pattern blade for general work and the heavy 6″ blade for cutting vegetables such as turnips, pumpkins, squashes, etc., where a thin blade would snap; the fork has hardened blades with needle points. The spatula for pastry works as well as the wide spatula. The carving knife in 8″ short blade, and the flexible slicing knife with 9″ blade usable for cold meats, cake, bread, etc., and the general utility knife.

For tough cutting and broad surfaces the narrow, stiff knife is best, for crumbly broad surfaces the broad, stiff knife. For rather tough, small surfaces, to be pared and trimmed, the medium flexible, narrow blade is best. Use the narrow and stiff and short knife for tough small surfaces like squash and turnips. With these simple logical suggestions the knife problem is easy.

“Had I only learned the use of the spatula in cooking school I should have thought my course to be a lifelong economy.” This was said somewhat in jest, but it shows just what the value of the spatula is. It is an economy. It is not a cutter but a very flexible, bendy blade with round corners which can assume the curve of any vessel and pick up dough or anything left behind in bowl or pastry board which is worth saving. It is a scraper and saver. You need not waste a bit of the precious egg on the sides of your dish or a bit of batter if you use the spatula. It also lifts comfortably the egg, griddle cake, fish etc., from the pan. It is really a joy unbounded.

A larger sized spatula is a convenience, too, for scraping and cleaning large kettles and also for a cake or pie lifter. Being larger it is a trifle stiffer. One corner of the end of this blade is sharp and the opposite corner is round. The reasons are obviously for attacking corners and not scratching surfaces.

HOME BUTCHERING

In some homes a certain amount of butchering is done in the kitchen, sometimes to save expense and sometimes for certain and very fine results if the chef is a jewel.

To this end there are some good implements on the market: strong, well balanced and riveted to give good service. Knife blades for this work range from 5″ to 14″ in length and are in various styles.

The cleaver is a good thing to have should the butcher sometimes neglect to break a furtive bone. These come in pleasant weights and dimensions, the one with blade 6″ long by 2¹⁄₂″ wide, weighing in all one pound.

In connection with knives for fruits and vegetables you will be interested in the story of the late product of steel which is so fast coming to the markets of the world. It is stainless steel. A steel (with an admixture of chromium) which resists rust, does not corrode or scale, and is impervious to food acids (with the exception of the mustard plus vinegar plus salt combination which makes a muriatic acid, which is the acid with which steel is etched).

It keeps a fine edge and is of fine temper and hardness when made by accomplished manufacturers. The steel you use now is a carbon steel. Before the war, both in England and America, it was rapidly coming into our markets, but the value of such steel was so patent to governments that the war and construction departments used it all. Now, however, it can be bought even in some department stores.

Think of not having to scour or polish your knives. Think of the knife having an indefinite life and always looking highly polished. Soon, too, even the handle will be made of this steel and the knife will look like a highly polished silver utensil.

What may this mean in a servantless home?

No cleaning powders must be used to clean this steel; only warm water and a mild soap. Its advent reminds you of the early days of aluminum utensils, doesn’t it? The manufacturers are planning to make kettles, pots, and pans of it, as they will wear well, and will not scale and wear as do iron ones.

As this steel is non-staining, the hands are not stained as much when it is used with fruit juices; the factor of the juice combining with the elements in the steel is absent. There are some people whose hands stain from certain juices whereas the hands of others do not, but generally speaking, there will be less hand staining with this newer steel.

If you do your own work, how your hands will be saved!

The few years of its service may not have revealed all of its good points or some of its bad points. Only time will tell, of course. But as a fruit knife at present the stainless type seems to be a fine thing, though the ordinary steel knife, if sharp and well made, is no less of a joy than ever it was. Manufacturers are adopting the stainless--even those who think that it isn’t as good as it is claimed to be.

Vegetable and fruit slicers and parers come in many sizes and styles. They are usually small and light with narrow blades and sharp. They are to be had in stainless and carbon steel in sets and in singles, and when bought wisely make the kitchen maids’ job an artistic one.

Grape-fruits and oranges have knives for their very own. Manufacturers have given much time and thought to the easiest method of preparing these fruits easily, without loss of juices and flavor, and without waste of time on the part of the operator. And so there have been born a few of these knives which are excellent and live up to their glowing advertisements.

Their characteristics are: Two-edged, like the great swords of old. They cut from either the right or left with ease; the blade is curved to fit the fruit and has rounded points so as not to lacerate the outer skin and waste the juices and spoil the shape of the fruit. The blade is exceedingly sharp and honed carefully like a razor--the sharper it is the swifter it will do its work. The blade must be securely fastened in the handle. The handle must be light, of comfortable shape and well balanced. In a few words, the knife must be able to get down and under the center, cutting the side segments as well as making the tough walls “fade away” easily.

[Illustration: DEVICES DESIGNED BY THE AUTHOR FOR KEEPING CUTLERY IN CUTTING FORM]

The knives are made in stainless steel, in nickel-plated steel and in the ordinary and fine vanadium steel. Your fruit when prepared with such a knife may look as if hands never touched it.

HANDLES

The question of handles is interesting because the knife without the handle, however sharp it may be, is of little use. The main question is of ease in gripping, in the balance, and in the duration of time that the blade will stay firm in the handle.

There are many ways of accomplishing these things: in some cases the tang of the blade is cemented in the handle. This is done where the knife is used with little pressure and strength, such as the feather-curling knife of the milliner; there are some knives which are riveted such as butchers’ knives because much force is used with them; household knives are pinned and pinned and cemented sometimes, and in the case of home butcher knives as many as three pins are used to keep the handle steady.

With knives like the corrugated types, there are often metal wire handles drawn out on them. The corrugations on these blades are to obviate tearing and reduce, some think, the pressure necessary in cutting.

Handles themselves are made of various things,--woods, rubberoid, celluloid, metals, stag and in the case of table knives, mother-of-pearl, shell, silver over nickel, etc.

The kitchen knife handle must be able to stand all heats, be impervious to hot water, be smooth and comfortable in shape, and must be nicely finished so as to give the worker a feeling of worth-whileness in his job. Sloppy tools make for sloppy work. Think of your cutlery as the dentist does his tools and you will feel professional.

The housewife errs in no place quite so much as in the care of her cutlery. In nine and one-half houses out of ten the good blades are huddled and hustled into a drawer where they loosen from their handles, nick, scratch and hammer each other to their own destruction. What good is there in having good materials if they are to be stored in this manner?

[Illustration: ANOTHER DEVICE DESIGNED BY THE AUTHOR FOR KEEPING CUTLERY IN CUTTING FORM]

Consider the carpenter how he stores! He hangs each tool in a certain groove, and as he desires a certain thing he extracts it. He can’t afford to have auto-destruction--it is too extravagant a disease. Yet it is the hardest thing in the world to make the housewife hang up her few knives and keep them forever in good shape.

Clean them after every using. It’s easier then. A little scouring powder now and then will keep them in condition. Do not use scouring powders with stainless steel, as it reduces the polish--the very thing which maintains its imperviousness to stain.

All new knives should be so finished when you buy them that they need no further edging. The best manufacturers see to this and have a department just to hone and make knives ready for use.

SHARPENING

The housewife’s best method of sharpening or rather keeping the edges straight and keenly cutting is the steel. When the knife really gets dull it should be ground. The use of the stone or carborundum by the ordinary operator often wears the steel. However, if the use of the grinder or the stone or the carborundum is really known, time and money will be saved in the sharpening process. Sharp knives save temper, save food to a great degree, and therefore if you can’t sharpen knives yourself send them out to be taken care of once or twice a year.

There is a special stone on the market for stainless steel sharpening; it is well to get this for your stainless utensils. Follow the directions with it carefully.

All sharpening steels should have a guard for the hand in case the knife slides back towards the fingers.

Never hold the knife on edge on the steel, for it should be quite flat; remember you are trying to flatten the two sides toward the edge, and thereby make it a better cutter.

There are good rotary grinders and polishers on the market, and knowledge of them and their use is very valuable. There are also stones flat and stones in handles, all for keeping knives sharp. They are yours if you want them and realize that you must know how to use them to save rather than to destroy your cutlery.

The story of forks is almost the same as that of its confrères, knives.

The tines must be rigid and sharp enough to pierce immediately and not drop their prey by dull points.

Forks were not meant to open cans or lift lids. Many a perfect fork has had its life history snapped by this usage.

As with the sharpening steel, so with the fork which accompanies the carving knife--it too should have a guard to prevent the knife slipping and injuring the left hand.

If you buy the best cutlery from the most representative firms you will have the best results and be well repaid. Good cutlery, like everything good, is more expensive than the cheap varieties. Good cutlery may stand up longer under bad usage than poor cutlery; but don’t tempt it and waste your money!

A little care with cutlery will curtail your bills, give your food a better appearance and swifter accomplishment, for, after all, the kitchen work is mostly cutting up.

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