Types of musat for sharpening kitchen knives. Musat - what is it and how to use it? Sharpening on a whetstone

Every little detail is important in preparing delicious and beautiful food. The sharpness of the knife plays an important role in this. In the process of cutting food, the blade becomes dull, which makes chopping difficult and also causes cuts. To ensure that the knife is always sharp and even, musat (ceramic or diamond) is used. This useful device especially popular in Lately. It helps to sharpen and straighten the blade efficiently.

Definition and purpose

There are sharpeners on the market great amount. These are all kinds of stones, mechanical devices, electric sharpeners, etc. Buyers, despite this, most often prefer musat. Such high popularity is due to the many advantages of the device. And such a tool looks very presentable.

Musat sharpener is a device for sharpening knives with a special rod, which is a sharpening base attached to the handle. The instruments differ in the degree of softness. This indicator determines whether the blade will be rough or smooth after using the sharpener.

The advantage of such tools for sharpening knives is that they have a magnetized surface, so that after sharpening there are no marks or metal shavings left.

It will simply “stick” to the tool shaft. To remove them, just use a damp cloth and wipe the grease.

Ceramic wax is ideal for straightening wide and long blades. The choice of tool is extremely important, since the final result depends on its quality. First of all, you need to pay attention to the purpose of the item. You can find it on sale such desktop musats:

• for primary sharpening of the knife edge;
• for polishing a knife that has already been sharpened.

It is also important to choose the right material manufacturing the product. The most common type is a diamond or ceramic rod.

The diamond specimen is made from chrome-plated steel, which is subsequently coated with “diamond” sand. With this tool, sharpening is done very quickly. For a high-quality result, it is worth running a knife along the rod once on each side.

Diamond tools have a number of advantages. Their main distinguishing feature- form. The shaft of such a tool is oval, which prevents the formation of indentations on the blade. Even if you press hard on the nut, there will be no nicks or grooves left. The sharpening rod of such a tool is rough, thanks to which it “brings back to life” any tip, even a hopelessly dull one. After processing with a diamond rod, the knife for a long time will remain sharp.

With all the list of advantages, the kitchen assistant is also quite easy to store. He doesn't need special care. In order for the musat to last as long as possible, you only need to follow a couple of rules - do not store it near hard objects, and do not wash it in the dishwasher.

A ceramic sharpening tool is needed to polish the blade and make it sharp. Musat can be round or oval. This knife handles wide knives perfectly. It is also suitable for a “cleaver”, which is used for cutting meat. Musat will make even a worn knife sharp, and it will also perfectly polish the blade.

Correct sharpening

Before learning the rules on how to use knife polish, you need to consider that this tool is intended exclusively for smooth blades. They should not be used on wavy or serrated blades.

Sharpening with musat does not thin the blade, but only straightens it. This is what distinguishes the tool from other sharpening devices and devices. Thanks to this feature, you can dry the knife before each use, since even too frequent treatment will in no way affect the service life of the kitchen knife.

It is possible to achieve the desired result when sharpening with musat only if you follow the rules for using the tool. During the procedure It is important to follow a certain sequence of actions:

To achieve perfect blade sharpness, you only need to swipe the tool one to several times. If a diamond grinder is used, the blade is sharpened the first time; the ceramic rod requires repeating the movements 2-5 times on each side.

Editing the knife

To edit a knife, you will need a sharpener that rests on a convenient surface. In this case, the device not only sharpens the tip, but also straightens the blade. It is not difficult to perform the procedure correctly; you do not need to have special knowledge and skills. There are several rules that will help you edit your knife:

All actions must be repeated until the knife acquires the desired sharpness.

Blade Sharpness Determination

After sharpening and straightening the knife, you need to check whether the blade is sharp enough. To do this, you can use one of many methods:

Many chefs cannot imagine cooking without this kitchen assistant. Its popularity is due easy to use and safety for knives. Such a device for correct use serves long years and always fulfills its purpose perfectly. Better way There is simply no way to sharpen steel kitchen and pocket knives.

Musat represents hand tool for straightening knives. Produced in various modifications and from different materials. Knives are sharpened with classic musat just to maintain their sharpness. The tool will not help you change the sharpening angle or remove jagged edges, unless it is a combined model with a straightening edge.

How to choose a good knife polish

Musat is an awl-like instrument with a handle made of wood, plastic or metal. The working surface canvas is usually polished to a mirror finish and can be diamond, steel, ceramic or a combination.

A few notes on tool selection:

1. Professional chefs appreciate musats, whose working surface is polished so that one’s own reflection is visible.
2. It is very convenient if the tip of the musat is magnetized. This makes it easy to shoot metal dust from a knife.
3. The guard between the handle and the rod will protect your fingers from injury.
4. Ceramic grinders are considered very durable and have good sharpening ability, and are also gentle on knives made of any steel. But their significant drawback is fragility - when hit and dropped, chips and cracks form on them.
5. Even diamond grinders become dull, but this is no longer related to the service life, because... it is high and not stored properly. Diamond tool Do not keep with knives or other hard objects.
6. Even good musat To sharpen knives, it will not be good to sharpen a steel that is too soft or, conversely, a blade that is too hard.

Important
The main rule for choosing musat is to carefully evaluate the quality of workmanship. Thus, the coating on diamond musats should not crumble, and ceramic ones should be free of chips and cracks; steel blades should be uniform, without roughness or snags.

How to use musat

Mussates are an integral attribute in professional kitchens. After all, chefs constantly have to work with a knife, so the blades quickly become dull, but for a professional, absolute sharpness is important. At home, you also have to adjust knives, at least the most popular ones. There are several methods for sharpening with musat.

In midair

This is sharpening knives using musat on weight. This is what professionals famously demonstrate. But in fact, for this type of knife editing you need to have some skills. The knife should be at an angle of 20° in relation to the working blade, and the movements should be fairly fast, but without jerking or haste. Smoothness combined with speed can only be mastered with experience.

Instructions:

1. The knife should be taken in working hand and place the blade (the area near the handle) on the bottom of the musat. The cutting surface of the knife is “pull away”.
2. Pass the blade along the mat towards you in the correct tilt position.
3. Do not press hard on the tool to quickly correct it. This method is dangerous because... the knife blade can come off the musat and injure you. Several light passes are much more effective than one with force, and safer.
4. After several passes, you need to turn the blade over and sharpen its other side.

To cut a sheet of paper by weight, you need to pass it over the mat 4-5 times, but this recommendation is only valid for those knives that are constantly adjusted. If the tool has become noticeably dull, the number of cycles will have to be doubled. In the case of a new knife or a blade in disrepair, sharpening is carried out with strong pressure, the butt forward, moving away from you, the angle of inclination can be increased to 30°.

Calmly

An easier method, accessible even to beginners in sharpening, is the method of resting the grinder on a board or tabletop. This makes it easier to identify and maintain the correct sharpening angle and maintain it. The scheme of actions is approximately the same as in the previous method, but there are differences.

Instructions:

1. It is necessary to firmly rest the musat vertically on the table, and then select an angle of 20-25°.
2. The knife must be passed along the musat in an exactly perpendicular position. The movements should be such that the bases of the musat and the knife touch at the top point, and the tips at the bottom.
3. Movements should be exclusively from top to bottom - it is important to remove the blade to move it upward.

Advice
Do not let the knife slide onto the table while sharpening. If this happens, the knife becomes very dull instead of becoming sharp, or it sharpens unevenly.

If straightening the knife does not help, then it is better to give up trying and sharpen the knife correctly. The procedure is necessary if after the 5-6th time the knife remains dull. If you look closely, the edge of the blade will most likely be curled.

Musats often come complete with high-quality sets of knives in a stand. The rod makes slicing much easier by keeping the blades sharp at all times.

​It’s probably not worth explaining how important knife care is. It doesn't matter whether it's a chef's knife from a Japanese restaurant or your favorite kitchen knife. Ask any bladed weapon specialist, and he will tell you that a blade that requires sharpening speaks more of a careless owner than of low-quality steel.

If you use and store the knife correctly, you will not need to sharpen it for many years, you will only need to correct it on time.

Next logical question- How to edit a knife? The answer is simple - musat. In almost any good knife store you will definitely find several varieties of musats on sale.

Musat is designed to level the cutting edge of the blade and increase the sharpness of the blade. This tool will help you maintain your knife in perfect condition without sharpening, which greatly reduces the life of the knife. After all, with each such procedure, a considerable part of the working material is removed from the blade.

In appearance, the musat is a bit like a round file, only the ribs of the musat run parallel to its blade. The hardness of the tool is usually equal to or slightly greater than the hardness of the material being straightened (in our case, the knife).

The process of stropping your favorite knife is quite simple. Aligning the wide part of the cutting edge of the knife with the tip of the grinder, pass them over each other several times without applying much effort, since in this case we do not need to remove a layer of metal, which happens when sharpening. During straightening, the cutting edge of the knife restores its shape. (Attached is a drawing of how to edit a knife)

Musats are divided into ceramic, steel and diamond. The latter differ in that in order to reduce wear on the musat on its work surface diamond dust is applied, and thereby the service life of the tool is increased. Professional consultants in the store will always be happy to tell you more about the types of musats and their use.

In fact, it is your choice whether you should take such a simple thing as a knife so seriously. But if this good tool, which faithfully serves you in the kitchen, then why not?

I won’t reinvent the wheel, but will simply quote excerpts from the materials of the Free Internet:

A word about Musat

Used for straightening the knife.

Real musat is a metal plate with notches. Or a metal rod with longitudinal grooves. In addition, many people prefer to use a hard, smooth steel rod as a musat.

Musat, probably due to similar appearance, also called a ceramic (or diamond-coated metal) rod, usually with a handle. With ceramic musat you can not only straighten a knife, but also (within certain limits) sharpen it. Ceramic rods come in different grain sizes. By by and large, kitchen knives can also be sharpened ceramic stone with a stand, but for an S-shaped or concave cutting edge, in addition to the “musat”, it is difficult to adapt anything.

The difference in the work of steel and ceramic musat is obvious - roughly speaking, a ceramic (or diamond) stone removes metal, and a steel musat smoothes and straightens it.

It just so happened that until recently there was no musat in the house. The knives were straightened haphazardly, using an ordinary whetstone from a hardware store, and their cutting edge was far from perfect. And getting me to sit down to straighten and sharpen the kitchen appliance was not an easy task.

Then I came across information about the “magical” properties of musat and decided to purchase it. Offline (at least in our province) these things are rare, which is why they are not cheap. Usually they come in a set with two or three knives, and the cost of the set is 2-3 thousand - do I need it? That is, of course, maybe it is necessary, but if you think carefully, then it is not necessary yet - there are enough sharp tools in the kitchen (two small fillets, one meat grinder and a larger universal fillet).

In general, I ordered two musats: steel and ceramic.

Priced at $5.25
Total length - 377 mm
Working part length - 253 mm
Diameter of the working part - 11.5 mm
Weight - 262 g

Priced at $9.96
Total length - 315 mm
Working part length - 200 mm
Diameter of the working part - 14 mm
Weight - 144 g

Below are a couple of pictures from the website (www.messermeister.ru/articles/-/85/), explaining the principles of how musat works:
When you click on a small picture, a cartoon will be shown

Since the steel one arrived a week earlier, all the kitchen knives, as well as some folding knives, were adjusted on it. And I have to tell you: “It really works!”
You sit in the kitchen in the evening in front of the TV or laptop, and in between times 3-5 times “whack-whack” with a knife, take a piece of paper, cut it, normal! This is if you do not start the state of the blade. If you start it up, you will have to work longer, but there is no stress - you even get pleasure. And before your eyes, a kitchen tool is transformed into better side. Truly a “magical” item!
And most importantly, my wife is happy! (thus I partially justified my spending on “obscure” knife hobbies)

Ceramic musat has two surfaces of varying degrees of “roughness”. One of them with obvious notches allows you to remove a layer of metal and provide a kind of sharpening of the cutting edge. The other is smooth, intended for straightening and polishing.

Ceramic musat, providing at least the same functions, is more gentle on the knife than steel. This means that if the knife blade carelessly hits the surface of the musat, there will be less chance of chipping or jamming. Knives made of soft steel are wiser to use with ceramics.

So far I’m quite happy with the steel one, especially at this price for the kitchen - perfect option! The ceramic one will probably be used as a reserve or as a gift: I have a normal sharpener, but for serrated blades the diameter of the sharpening pin will be too large.

According to my observations, if the steel of a knife is too soft, when editing, you should move the knife forward not with the cutting edge, but with the butt. In this way, we will protect ourselves from damage to the knife blade by the musat itself, and the jams, however, will be straightened. And of course, select the pressure value individually.

In the end I wanted to write that sharpening with musat is a gentle method of giving the knife its former sharpness, and cheap sharpeners hellishly spoil and eat the cutting edge, killing the knife, forcing it to suffer and agonize, trying in vain silent attempts to dissuade the owner from continuing the executions, but perhaps not I will... Well, I’ll have to fight back in the comments later - a thankless task.

Something like this... Thank you.