I always watch cooking shows where the chefs sharpen the knives and then immediately go to cutting the vegetables or meat without first rinsing/washing the knife. Wouldn’t microscopic metal shavings be everywhere and get on the food and eventually be eaten?
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I once worked with an ex-butcher on a construction job, and he told me that when they rub the knife and the little rod together like that before they cut, they are “straightening the kerf.” They are not running the knife over a whetstone so much as smoothing microscopic deformations on the blade’s edge.
The “Steel” you see Chefs use is to straighten the cutting edge, not necessarily remove metal.
When you see a chef use a steel to ‘sharpen’ a knife, they are not actually sharpening the blade, they are honing it.
When you sharpen a blade, you are grinding down the edge of the blade to a really superfine edge, this is what makes it sharp.
When you then use that sharp knife to cut things, you are pressing down that very fine edge onto a hard surface over and over, which can fold or bend over that superfine edge.
Using a steel (the cylindrical rod you see chefs swipe their knives against) helps to unfold or unbend the knifes edge back into its original position, and this is called honing the blade. It is not actually grinding down the edge so there are not any metal filings to be concerned about.
I don’t know a good Chef who does not wipe down his knife blade with a damp cloth after sharpening or steeling it.
Clearly since we aren’t all shitting blood this isn’t a concern?
What you’re seeing probably isn’t sharpening. When they slide the blade of the knife up and down or back and forth over the metal rod, it’s actually honing. Typical use causes the very edge of a knife to roll over a bit. Honing straightens out the microscopic edge of the knife to both provide a better cutting edge and reduce dulling (so you don’t need to sharpen as often). Sharpening does remove tiny amounts of metal from the blade but typically wouldn’t be done just before using a knife (more like a regular or semi regular maintenance) and it’s also usual to at least wipe off the blade afterwards if not rinse/wash it afterwards.
You also don’t see the chefs wash their hands much on cooking shows, because it’s just not exciting and therefore cut out
Former Certified Executive Chef here:
Any Chef worth their salt will wipe the edge of the blade after sharpening or honing it.
Ever rubbed a clean sheet tray with a towel… ? Go ahead, see what happens..
Grind up your corn flakes into a fine powder and roll a magnet around in that powder, your magnet will pick up lil bits of iron they intentionally(?) put in your corn flakes iron’s good for you in small amounts.
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