Slicing the crusty loaves of bread or cakes without smooshing or squashing the softness inside, a bread knife is a wonderful tool forever. Professional chefs to smart kitchen owners love to use a bread knife for bread than other chef’s knives. And often, it needs to use and maybe needs to sharpen frequently. But have a question can you sharpen a bread knife?
The qualified answer is yes. The bread knife can be sharpened with minimum effort, time, and tools. Though the bread knife has a unique style with sharp teeth, you can sharpen the knife at home following specific instructions.
This blog post will show how you sharpen a bread knife at home using different tools in a professional way.
Let’s get started from basic!
What Is A Bread Knife Called?
The bread knives are also called serrated knives. A bread knife excels at slicing bread with other some special kitchen tasks. The length of this type of knife is at least 7-inches blades with sharp serration without a smooth edge.
A bread or serrated knife is like a tiny saw and performs the same way. Instead of a straight edge, the edge coats teeth that are very sharper. The spaces between the teeth are also extremely sharper.
The teeth work great for breaking a hard bread crust and give a nice and well-shaped slice of bread. It is also great for sandwiches without messing with a bunch of crumbs.
How Does A Bread Knife Work?
The unique design makes the bread knives highly effective for certain cutting. Whereas the other chef’s knives are designed for several kitchen tasks like dicing, chopping, or mincing, a bread knife is special for easy slicing thick crusty French bread. Aside from cutting tomatoes in thin slices, it performs the best for peeling any hard foods like pineapple and frozen squash.
Does A Bread Knife Become Dull?
Normally a bread or serrated knife can work with great sharpness and good condition for a few years more than other kitchen knives. But like other chef’s kitchen knives, bread knives can become dull after time and use.
No need to worry; you can expand your bread knife lifespan by washing it by hand without placing it into the dishwasher. Drying the knives after washing them instantly is vital and storing them in a knife block.
Don’t store them in a utensil drawer that will dull or damage the sharpness of the knives very faster. To store and keep the kitchen knife better, you also should know why knives rust.
Can You Sharpen A Bread Knife?
Technically, if you notice the bread knife isn’t performing well or making a mess of your bread or vegetables, it needs to sharpen. It may happen at least 5-years later, according to the best global chef knife manufacturers, when the serration starts to dull.
Like other users, you may have a misconception that a bread knife can’t be sharpened due to its odd shape and teeth. But bread or a serrated knife can indeed be sharpened definitely. And it is a good idea to sharpen your dull knife instead of discarding it and save your money for more long time.
How Do You Sharpen A Serrated Beard Knife?
There are typically two methods to sharpen a bread knife: one system is by yourself, and the second is by the professional process.
Most users like to sharpen their dull bread knife following the professional ways that are tough to do by yourself. So, you should rely on a professional and experienced who do this job.
Instantly, if you don’t feel about going better in this serious mood, you can try this task at home. Below we have shown you four methods to sharpen your bread knife that is just professional and proven and better to fill your requirement.
Using A Ceramic Sharpening Rod
The best method is to use a ceramic sharpening rod to sharpen your serrated bread knives. This rod lets you sharpen all of the teeth one by one appropriately. So It is most important to choose the right sharpening rod so that the diameter can match your bread knife.
The ceramic sharpening rod by Green Elephant has a diameter of 10-inches that is enough to sharpen a bread knife.
Now start sharpening your knife from one side so that a burr can emerge from another side of the blade. Move the burr on the knife slightly and repeat the job from top to bottom of one side.
Do the same task on another side! Another process is to run the rod all over the serrations one by one. This way, you can prevent the burr without damage or destruction.
Using A Spyderco Sharpmaker
Most bread knife users love using a Spyderco sharmaker to sharpen the knife at home like a professional. To get a razor-sharp finishing, a lot of pocket or kitchen chef’s knives use the sharpmaker. You also can use this tool for sharpening your serrated bread knife.
Steps to use Spyderco Sharpmaker:
- Place the brownstones with a corner facing in a 45˚ slot
- Now set the brass hand guards in its holes
- Now grip the knife straightforward up and down. Then stroke the edge of the bread knife in a downward motion from the heel to the tip of one stone.
- Stroke preside for 10-15 times and do it on respective stone
- Test the edge cutting a paper sheet that the knife becomes sharp or not
- Now rotate the stones so the flat sides can face each other
- Then stroke both sides again 15 or more times
- Exchange the brownstones with the white ones with the corner fronting inner
- Stroke again on both sides for 20-times
- Replace the plane side of the white stones and again stroke each side for a minimum of 20-times
- Finally, test the edge again, cutting some tough or thin things. If you can cut smoothly, you have done the job successfully.
Using An Electric Sharpener
Professional chefs always love to choose the electric sharpener to sharpen their serrated bread knives. Technically it is the best option, but you can control less than other ways.
It is the main drawback of the electric sharpener. Most of the time, it won’t offer the best result and can damage the unique shape of the bread knife. And especially for bread knife needs to sharpen every tooth separately. So electric sharpener isn’t ideal for bread serrated knives.
Using A Ceramic Mug
It is a traditional process and also perfect for sharpening bread knives. For this, you should take a thick ceramic mug, which must be old.
- Please put it in a stable place and upside down.
- Fit the edge between the serrations
- Now move the knife up and down like the sharpening rod.
- But be careful so that you can’t cut your finger accidentally. Do it if you don’t have any other optional way.
FAQs
#1. How Long Does A Bread Knife Last?
A bread or serrated knife is more difficult to sharpen than other chef’s kitchen knives. To limit lifespan, you may need to replace a bread knife after five years.
#2. Do You Cut Tomatoes With A Bread Knife?
Yes, you can use your bread knife to cut tomatoes. Many people always like to pick short-length serrated knives for easy-to-cut small items like tomatoes.
#3. What Can A Bread Knife Be Used For?
A bread knife can be used to cut unlimited loaves of crusty French bread. It can be used to cut baked items like cakes. The long serrated knife performs the best on foods which are hard on the outside and soft on the inside.
#4. How Often Should You Sharpen Serrated Knives?
Your serrated knives need to be sharpened every few months depending on how often you should use them in your kitchen. But expert and professional users suggested re-sharp the serrated knife every 1 or 2 years.
Final Thoughts
Can you sharpen a bread knife? Yes, despite some misconceptions, a bread knife can be sharpened. Though it takes some more time and needs to keep patient, it helps to expand the lifespan of your knife. It will remain good in shape and provide better service for a long time.
