What is musat for knives, and how to use it

When cooking, it is very important that the knife is sharp. This not only makes it easy to cut any product, but also much safer than using a blunt tool. That is why every professional chef has musat for knives at his workplace , and more often than not one.

Why is it needed? The fact is that in the process, the cutting edge of the knife “creases” a bit, which is why the tool loses its quality. Musat helps solve this problem. It aligns the edge and returns the knife to its former sharpness.

What is musat

For sharpening knives using various devices. These are stones, mechanical and electric sharpeners , etc. However, musat is gaining more and more popularity today. What is it?

This tool is a rod made of various materials with a handle. And use it, as already noted, to align the working edge of the knives.

Such tools are characterized, among other indicators, by the coarseness of the hood. That it affects how smooth or rough the surface of the sharpened knife will be.

Metal crumbs, which are formed when sharpening or dressing the tool, will not pour on the floor or on the table. The fact is that the surface of any debris is usually magnetized. Due to this, all "unnecessary" particles remain on it. After work, it remains only to wipe them with a damp cloth.

Kinds

These devices are of several types. Moreover, they differ both in form and in the material from which they are made. So, there are musat round. These include oval fixtures. Another variety in form of execution - faceted tools. This group includes flat and tetrahedral musates.

Each type of tool has its own advantages. For example, a round musat weighs very little, and an oval muscat contributes to greater contact between its surface and the edge of the cutting device, which makes sharpening more efficient. However, the maximum possible result is still achieved by flat tools that provide the most complete linear contact. Well, tetrahedral devices are, one might say, a combination of two types of musat.

The surface of the rod can be made of such materials:

• Ceramics. Such musat for knives is used both for sharpening the cutlery and for grinding it.
• Metal. Tool with frequent notches. It is used only for sharpening knives.
• The so-called "diamond". Diamond chips are applied to their surface . They sharpen knives, not rule.
• Mixed. One side of such a rod will be rough, and the other will be smooth.

How to sharpen knives with musat. Method 1

Professionals usually rule knives with musat right on their weight, without resting the tool on anything. In this case, the whole process consists of the following steps:

1. The heel of the knife is placed on the upper end of the musat. We turn the cutting edge towards ourselves.
2. We move the blade towards us along the instrument. The angle between the surfaces should be 20 degrees. Strongly press the knife is not necessary. Press it lightly. How exactly - you will feel yourself, having a little practice.
3. Musat for knives is equipped with a special guard that will not allow the cutting tool to injure your hand. It is near it that the tip of the device stops after the completion of the second stage.
4. We place the musat over the knife and press the heel of the latter to the tip of the first. Gently pull the knife towards you. Do not forget about the corner.
5. Repeat the previous steps in a circle 3-4 more times. However, if your knife is pretty dull, you will need to “prey” it a little more until it becomes sharp enough.

How to check if the tool is sharpened well? Try cutting a newspaper sheet. If the knife does not cling to it, but passes smoothly through it, then you did everything right. We rinse it well with warm water (you can use a cleaning agent), wipe it dry with a towel. Do not forget to remove the steel particles from the musat with a damp piece of cloth.

Right knife musat. Method 2

If the first option requires some skill, then this method is often chosen by those who first try to use musat for knives. So, we perform a series of the following actions.

1. The tip of the garbage rests on the table or cutting board strictly vertically. Tilt it slightly to the left by about 20-25 degrees.
2. We place the knife near the handle of the garbage, to the right of it, the cutting edge is directed downward. We move from the heel of the first to its tip, sliding down towards the table. We do not touch the latter.
3. We return to the starting position. Only now we tilt the musat to the right, and place the knife on the left.
4. Again we draw the cutting edge from top to bottom. Hold the angle between the tools at 20 degrees.
5. Repeat the steps described until the knife is sharp enough. After that, we wash it, and wipe the musat well with a damp cloth.

Conclusion

Every self-respecting culinary specialist already has this indispensable and easy-to-use device in his kitchen. You now also know how to sharpen knives with musat, and what these devices are, so you can easily make a choice and get a new assistant.