Special knife Rituals

[Customfan]

Im always looking for interesting topics and I thought this might be cool! What do you do when you get a new knife? Any special rituals or steps?

When i buy a knife I go through a series of stages before I use It mainly:

1) ARRIVAL. the knife arrives I thoroughly check it for imperfections, grind, thickness, smoothness and quality of materials, sharpness, size, geometry, etc. It it the same as the picture? Did t meet expectations? Am I reviewing this one?

2) PICTURES. I always take the knife and take some pictures while its pristine in different settings... On a board, on granite while its pristine! Specially if its carbon.

3) CONTEMPLATION. I place the knife on my wooden rack and look a it for a couple of days. Send some pictures!

4) INAUGURATION. Decide which special dish or preparation Im ignaugurating that special knife on? This is actually probably the most ritualistic part or a purchase... Does it require a french traditional dish? Is it fusion? Maybe sushi?

5) USE. I use the knife and adjust expectations... How does it handle? How well does it retain its edge? what is the best use of that knife? Prepping? Proteins? Vegetables? Everything?

6) MAINTENANCE. What stones am I going to use, how often is it going to be used.. Is this a keeper? Is it going to be a patina knife? Forced or not?

[Benuser]

I'm afraid I don't play in the same league: after a short inspection I sharpen it. Have tried to postpone it, it never worked.

[brainsausage]

I have all of mine sent straight to the restaurant. After a quality check, I put it it directly to work- with great zeal

[Dusty]

Brunois shallot. The job with which I judge all suitable knives.

[Namaxy]

This probably sounds crass by that standard....but I generally clean it, then attack whatever unsuspecting produce I can find to see how it performs. Then touch up the edge and repeat. My wife laughs at new knife days in my home...pretty much everything edible is going to get cut.....

[Lucretia]

Give it a quick lookover, and find a meal that involves a lot of chopping (or peeling, or whatever the knive is best suited for.) Then I'll put out a couple of knives designed for similar tasks, and have at it. I don't typically sharpen it to begin with--just evaluate it as received. Then I'll use one knife for a few minutes, then swap to another, and rotate through and see how they compare. Depending on how sharp the knife is, I might sharpen it and do the comparison again. For different foods, I'll put together different knives, and decide over time which knife I like best for particular tasks.

[tkern]

I sniff the knife a little... you know, to get to know it.

[Sarge]

After a primary inspection and quality check I put it to work on that days prep list. Depending on how those first few items go I'll sharpen it if needed.(haven't had one that didn't need it)
Nothing crazy or special rituals. For me it is a tool of my trade and I use it as such.

[Taz575]

I unpack it and check it out. Straight, no nicks, chips, cracks, etc. Check the spine and choil to see if I am going to take it to the shed and belt sand it. If it looks good, I find some stuff to cut and make a big meal, usually with some sort of beef roast, potatoes, carrots, onions, etc. I use the new knife for everything and see how it performs OOTB. Most don't meet my standards and they go to the stones before the second use. If it's a carbon blade (and it usually is) after I cook the roast, I slice it and put a layer of slices on my cutting board, lay the knife on the slices and then another layer of slices and let it sit for a few minutes to make a nice blue/purple/gold patina Even did it with my Nakiri; I sliced the roast with a gyuto and then stuck the nakiri in between the slices.

Only 1 knife so far has been acceptable OOTB in terms of edge sharpness and that was my Tanaka Sekiso Damascus gyuto. Even after using it for a few weeks at home, it still sticks into the cutting board. I have stropped it once on a scrap of my laminate handle material (denim and fabric and epoxy) and I can do a nice clean slice almost completely thru a paper towel held on the edge between 2 fingers.

But I do have a 240 Mioroshi Deba I haven't even used yet; overnight tuna trips didn't happen this summer

[kalaeb]

Sharpen and use.