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You have a loaf of crusty bread that is difficult to cut, which requires a special knife for you to do the task. The best type of knife to cut a crusty loaf of bread or any food with a hard exterior but a soft surface is the serrated knife. The serrated knife features saw-like teeth at the blade, which allows you to rip through the food as you cut it. And once you cut the hard exterior, then the knife will enable you to slide through the soft interior of the food smoothly. Everyone has a serrated knife in their knife set. However, the one thing that you may wonder about this knife is whether it is necessary to sharpen it. Can you sharpen serrated knives? Let’s find out. Firstly, let’s find out more about what is so unique about this knife.
What Is Unique About The Serrated Knife?
The serrated knife is different from a chef’s knife or a boning knife. That is because they have another function. The teeth on the serrated knife’s blade do the heavy-duty work, which is sawing through a rugged exterior. That means it is the best knife to not only use to cut open a hard and crusty loaf of bread as mentioned before, but it can cut through pineapple, melon, and other fruits and vegetables with hard exteriors.
This unique knife can cut through hard surfaces without destroying the interior of the food. For instance, you use it to cut through a hard loaf of French bread. The teeth of the knife allow you to do that quickly. However, it also can cut through the soft interior smoothly and keeping the rest of it intact. As mentioned, this is a special knife that chefs and bakers have in their shops. You likely have it too in your knife set. Now, here is the query. Can you sharpen the serrated knife? Is it necessary to sharpen this knife?
Is Sharpening The Serrated Knife Necessary?
It would be best if you sharpened all knives that you use. However, when it comes to the serrated blade, you don’t need to sharpen it nearly as often as your chef knife, boning knife, or fillet knife, for example. The serrated knife is so unique that you can even use it with a dull blade. However, any dull blade won’t work as well when you cut through foods with rugged and complex surfaces.
However, even when the knife is not as strong, the serrated knife can still do its job. That is because the knife’s high points, even when somewhat dull, can grab and slice open the hard surface. As long as you use the serrated knife well and care for it properly, you will not need to sharpen it too often. Their design supports that, and that means you do not have to worry about regular sharpening maintenance with the serrated knife as you do with other knives. Therefore, you can go through a good three to five years without having to sharpen the serrated blade. That is if you use it as a bread knife in particular.
However, you will know when your serrated knife needs sharpening, and that is when it no longer cuts through rugged surfaces quickly. If you are struggling to cut a hard surface with the knife, you will need to sharpen it.
How Do You Sharpen A Serrated Knife?
When the time comes to sharpen your serrated knife, you don’t want to make the mistake of tossing it away. Many people erroneously throw their dull serrated knives away and buy cheaper ones to replace them. A dull serrated knife does not need replacing, and you certainly do not want to buy a cheap knife to replace it. Any serrated knife that does not have the composition of high-carbon steel will not last you very long. That is something to keep in mind when investing in serrated knives.
However, let’s get back to sharpening them. When you know you have to sharpen your serrated knife, you find yourself struggling to cut through foods and that when you do cut through them, there are too many crumbs and pieces that result from the struggles.
There are two ways you can get your serrated knife sharpened and one way is by yourself, and another way is by a professional. Many people choose to have their serrated knives sharpened by a professional because it is not easy to do the job yourself. It may be advisable to rely on a professional to do the job if you are not familiar with sharpening knives in general.
You also cannot use an electric knife sharpener used for other blades to sharpen a serrated knife because of the design. The best tool to use when it comes to sharpening the serrated edge is the honing rod or the sharpening rod.
You can use a ceramic honing rod as it is more rigid than a steel one because the ceramic can remove material stuck on the edge of the knife. That will cause the blade to sharpen, and the rod’s shape can fit perfectly in the knife’s serrations.
Learning to use the ceramic rod can take time. And there are also other methods to sharpen the serrated blade if you need to do so. You can also purchase a sharpening system. You still have to set a lot of time to sharpen the edge manually. However, the sharpening gadgets hold several ceramic rods in a V-shape where you can steadily move the knife down the rods as they sharpen it.
Bear in mind; whether you use one ceramic rod or use a sharpening gadget that can help get the job done quicker, it will still take a lot of your time. That is why many cooks with serrated knives that require sharpening hire a professional to do the job. Most will find there aren’t enough hours in the day to sharpen serrated blades.
Conclusion
Do you need to sharpen a serrated knife‘? The answer to that is yes because you have to sharpen every knife you have. However, if you get a good-quality serrated knife with high-carbon steel composition and take good care of it, you may not need to sharpen your knife for several years. In addition to that, once the serrated knife shows signs of dullness, you don’t need to sharpen it immediately. The blade is potent enough to do its job.
However, when you begin to struggle using it, and it is not cutting through hard surfaces of food easily, then that is when you need to sharpen the knife. You can hire a professional to do it, or you can take the time to learn to sharpen the blade yourself by using ceramic rods, which will take quite a bit of time. That is why many cooks prefer to hire professionals to hone their serrated knives because, once again, there aren’t enough hours in the day otherwise.