Butcher Knife
Heavy-duty blade with a slight curve, designed for sectioning large cuts of meat efficiently.
Shop butcher knives →Product Knowledge - Learn Knife Selection & Care
Product Knowledge
Keep Your Edge.
A Guide to Knives,
Steels & Stones
Learn the art of professional knife selection, maintenance, and safety to keep your kitchen running safely and efficiently.
Essential Knife Types
Selecting the right blade for the job ensures precision and reduces fatigue.
Boning Knives
Ergonomically designed for precision cutting and deboning red meat, pork, poultry and fish with minimal waste.
Shop boning knives →Skinning Knives
Wide, deeply curved blade that allows for a full sweep when separating skin from meat.
Shop skinning knives →Slicing Knives
Long, narrow blade often with a Granton edge to prevent sticking, perfect for clean slices.
Shop slicing knives →Chopping Knives
Heavy, broad blade designed for powerful downward cuts through bone, cartilage, and dense cuts of meat.
Shop chopping knives →Fish Knives
Progressive flex, narrow blade engineered for precise filleting and portioning of fish with minimal waste.
Shop fish knives →Knife Care & Safety Guidance
A sharp knife is a safe knife, but only if handled and stored correctly. Follow these protocols to ensure kitchen safety.
1
Cleaning
Never put professional knives in a dishwasher. The high heat and chemicals damage the handle and dull the blade. Wash by hand immediately after use with warm, soapy water and dry immediately.
2
Storage
Avoid loose drawer storage where blades can bang against each other. Use a magnetic strip mounted on the wall for hygiene and ease of access, or a specialised knife block. Always store knives blade-down. Storing handle-down can trap moisture at the blade joint, causing corrosion, pitting, and eventual blade failure.
3
Handling
Always carry knives securely in a sheath or pouch so the blade is not exposed and cannot cause harm to you or others. When handing a knife to someone else, place it on a flat surface and let them pick it up — never pass it hand-to-hand.
Understanding Steel Cut Grades
Not all sharpening steels are created equal. The “cut” of the steel affects how aggressively it works on the knife edge. A fine steel is designed to polish and help prolong the working edge, while coarser, diamond or ceramic steels remove more metal during sharpening. Using the wrong steel can wear the edge too quickly or fail to maintain it properly.
Diamond
A more abrasive steel for fast edge refresh. Removes a small amount of metal to help bring back a duller knife edge.
Best for
Fast edge refresh when knives are getting dull.
Coarse
A coarse steel gives a stronger refresh and leaves a toothier working edge.
Best for
Restoring the edge during heavier use or when the knife starts to feel dull, helping extend the time between sharpening on a stone. Use firm pressure for a duller edge and lighter pressure for regular touch-ups.
Medium
A practical everyday steel for maintaining a reliable working edge in butchery, kitchen and food production environments.
Best for
General knife maintenance in butchery, kitchen, and food production settings.
Fine
Keeps a sharp knife sharp. Best for knives that are already sharp and need a cleaner, finer edge with less aggressive action.
Best for
Daily edge maintenance when the knife is already sharp.
Polished
A smooth finishing steel for polishing and prolonging the edge with minimal abrasion.
Best for
Frequent polishing, and prolonging a clean edge with minimal abrasion.
Shape comparison
Round
Main benefit
No corners or flat edges to accidentally damage blades
Best for
Everyday knife maintenance
Oval
Main benefit
Easy to maintain a constant angle with a greater surface area
Best for
Frequent sharpening
Square
Main benefit
2 different cuts on one steel
Best for
An environment where 2 cuts are needed regularly
Knowing when to use what
Knowing when to use a stone, steel, auto stone or auto steel is key to knife longevity.
Using a stone
Resetting the edge with equal shoulders. This process gently grinds away the old worn edge, resetting it to a new workable cutting edge. This is necessary when the cutting edge is worn down by cutting and honing no longer maintains a workable edge.
- Resets a worn cutting edge
- Creates equal shoulders on both sides
Using a steel
Steeling helps maintain your edge during the working process. It can help realign your edge and there is a minimum amount of blade wear during this process — a pole steel does remove a tiny fraction of metal each time, similar to sanding wood where the coarser the cut, the more it wears.
- Maintains your edge during work
- Minimal blade wear
Using an auto stone
Angle-regulated to ensure even shoulders and an equal amount of metal removed, keeping the cutting edge balanced. Time-efficient sharpening with consistent results.
- Even shoulders and balanced cutting edge
- Time-efficient sharpening
Using an auto steel
Twice as fast with even pressure and angle, all in one swipe. Pressure-regulated to ensure minimum wear to the blade, and angle-regulated to ensure the best and most consistent result every time. Minimum training required to keep and maintain a workable cutting edge. Try the Tempus Surge.
- Even pressure and angle
- Minimum training required
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