How to sharpen knives with musat?

Despite the abundance of modern technology - food processors, blenders, meat grinders, not a single housewife in the kitchen can do without chopping knives. Any cook will agree with the statement that a more annoying factor when working in the kitchen during cutting and cutting products than a blunt tool does not exist, because work turns into torment. How to sharpen knives with musat - any chef should know, regardless of length of service, because during the working day the ordinary chef rules the tip of the knife about 200 times. That is why people in this profession are very attentive and picky to the choice of musat. He becomes the same personal affair of taste and habits as the choice of the blade itself.

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What is musat?

Musat is a word borrowed from the Turkic language denoting a special device for sharpening or editing blades, the design of which contains a rod.

Musat is a steel strip of rounded shape. It can be in the form of a narrow cylinder or a faceted strip with two faces. In principle, in appearance and functions, musat is similar to a file.

Important! The Swiss manufacturer produces about 50 types of musat. The most common and traditional is round steel musat. The tool for sharpening should be much harder than the knife, therefore, in the manufacture of the tool for sharpening, use especially strong chrome vanadium steel.

Application

Musat is a core with a handle, about which the cook drives a blade. Stretching the knife from top to bottom from the handle to the very tip, he brushes away from the tip of the knife microscopic fragments of steel that accumulated during cutting, chopping food.

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Choose musat

The length of the torch should be less than the length of the working rod of the waste.

Professional cooks use mainly round steel musat from 18 to 30 cm long. The surface of the tool has medium grain size. If you are wondering how to sharpen knives with garbage correctly, a tool with a sharpening length of 18-20 cm is best for you.

Important! Ideally, if the pin of the grinding tool is 5 cm longer than the tip of the blade.

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Kinds

To correctly sharpen knives with musat, you should distinguish between them. The main classification of the device is as intended:

• Musati as tools for editing an already sharpened blade;
• Musat - rods for sharpening knives.

Products are made from various materials, as they perform a different function:

• sharpening pins peel metal from the edge of the tip, sharpening it into an acute angle;
• dressing tools - just clean the sharpened edge of the blade from the metal serrated fringe and correct the unevenness of the edge.

Important! Ceramic or “diamond” rod - designed for sharpening blades. Such a tool in the kitchen is not used during operation. Glass or steel tools are for dressing. Such a tool is designed to work in the kitchen.

Consider the types of waste in the material of manufacture.

Diamond rods

“Diamond” leads are solid-chromated steel debris, the surface of which is covered with synthetic diamond sand. Why not natural diamond sand?

Firstly, synthetic diamonds are cheaper, and secondly, artificial diamonds have the same size, which is of great importance for high-quality sharpening.

Advantages of diamond waste:

1. The “diamond” steel rods are oval in shape and, due to this, the pressure at the grinding point is reduced. Even if you sharpen the blade, you exert too much force, anyway, the groove on the tip of the cutter will not be cut, “diamond” steel will remove only the metal layer from the cutting edge. With the help of a “diamond” stylus, you can even make a new cutting edge on a very worn blade, and a regular round musat can hardly do such a job.
2. The blade after processing with “diamond” musat is very easily and quickly sharpened. It is enough to conduct them on the sharpening device on each side once and that’s all - the tool is ready to work.
3. As a result of sharpening with a diamond rod, the tip does not wear out.
4. “Diamond” musat is an eternal tool that does not require care. The only condition that you must comply with is not to store the lead with other hard objects, and do not wash it in the dishwasher.

Ceramic coating

Muscat with a ceramic coating, as well as with a “diamond”, is used both for sharpening and for grinding the tip. Ceramic rods are round or oval.

Tool Advantages:

• Superhard.
• After processing, the cutting edge of the torch is less abrasive and smoother.
• Ceramic stylus suitable for sharpening a butcher's tool.

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How to sharpen knives with musat?

Using a tool to grind a tool with a smooth cutting edge. Knives with a wavy or serrated edge, core can only be sharpened if the cutting edge of the blade is smooth on one side. When sharpening, the cutting edge of the blade is leveled, and the metal is not removed.

Important! Musat does not damage the cutting edge, which means that it can be used for sharpening the maximum number of times, for example, professionals sharpen the tool before each use.

The most effective result is obtained with proper use of the rod. Follow the sequence below to sharpen knives properly with musat:

1. Cover the towel.
2. Place the musat on a towel strictly upright (the tip of the musat should rest on a non-slip surface).
3. Take the blade in the other hand and, holding the point at an angle of 15-20 degrees, pull the cutter from top to bottom, away from you towards you.
4. Having sharpened one side of the blade, perform the same procedure on the other side of the cutter being machined - from the base to the tip of the blade.
5. The cutting edge will gain its former sharpness after 3-6 movements on the stylus. When using diamond or ceramic debris, it is enough to spend 1 time on each side of the blade.

Important! Sharpen without a strong pressure on the musat. The whole hand should participate in the process, do not bend your wrist.

Editing an already sharp blade occurs as follows: with the lightest touch, alternating the right and left sides of the blade, draw 2-4 times along the core of the garbage.

Important! When editing, a greater number of passes with the blade along the axis worsens the tip of the knife.

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How to determine the sharpness of the cutting edge?

To make sure that you correctly grind the knives with musat and the expected result is achieved, check the sharpness of the edge of the blade with the following methods:

1. Using the hair of the nape. Position the cutter tip at right angles to the hair and swipe the blade down with a slight motion. A dull blade will slide without obstacles, and a sharp blade will move with a little friction, as if hitting the hair.
2. Using a sheet of newspaper. Try cutting a sheet of newspaper by weight. A sharp blade will cope with such a task without any problems.

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Helpful hints:

• Sharpening forces should be distributed evenly.
• The blade and musat must touch each other on the cutting edge.
• Both sides of the knife should be alternately machined with a bar. You can not spend several times at first on one side, and then on the other.
• Use metal debris only for sharpening, and use a diamond-coated and ceramic-coated axle for sharpening and grinding.
• If it is difficult for you to determine the bevel angle of the blade edge yourself, then consult the manufacturer or a specialized store.
• When sharpening, be careful and focused, as this is an unsafe business.
• After sharpening and checking for sharpness, rinse the cutter in warm water with any cleaning agent, and then wipe dry. It is enough to wipe the musat itself after the procedure with a damp towel without lint.
• To be sure that you are not too close to holding the point or it is too perpendicular to the sharpening point, mark the sharpened edge of the torch with a felt-tip pen or a soft simple pencil. If you move the blade along the tool at the right angle, the black part of the edge will evenly disappear.
• A point with a toothed or wavy edge is sharpened from the smooth side at a zero sharpening angle along the entire length of the cutting edge. Movements should be as smooth as possible.

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Stock footage

If you want to always have a good mood when cooking in the kitchen and the knives are always in excellent condition, then do not forget to sharpen your tools on time using excellent musats.