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The Tourist

The Tourist

Banned
Last night I got into a little dust-up in another forum. Briefly, I put knives in the freezer and make sure they are frozen solid before I begin to sharpen them. Now granted I don't do this on every one of them, but it's an option I use for more expensive knives.

(The serious professional tinkers on this board know I've done this for a few years.)

Anyhoo, a mod from another section of the board comes flying into the sharpening area, and he wants to know chapter and verse why I freeze knives. The tinkers were polite at first, but hey, we are also the "Type-T" guys. Poking us in the chest and demanding an answer is simply foolhardy. You can imagine the outcome.

Now, this same thing may happen to you nice polite chefs and foodies. You work hard perfecting a recipe or a style of cooking, or perhaps just a unique way of presentation. Your neighbor admires the dish, and asks for the recipe, and frankly, you might not want to comply. It's yours.

After all, several years ago a group of housewives actually sued KFC to get the recipe for those 'herbs and spices.'

My Mom was the first one to admit she might actually leave out a certain spice or procedure, or even add something on the recipe cards she re-produced.

Well, petty as it sounds, I did it, too. In sharpening, most tinkers use a polishing paste, and most times that product is made expressly for knives. The smoother the edge, the more 'razor-like' it becomes. Most tinkers use Chromium Oxide.

I use a paste designed for motorcycles, in fact two types. I use Mothers Mag-Wheel Paste, and a finer version called Mothers Billet. It is far superior to knife paste, and it was my idea. I finally 'fessed up.

But let me ask you "moral" people out there, the folks who don't want to be as crafty and vindictive as guys in black T-shirts.

Did you ever fake a recipe card?
 
The Tourist said:
Did you ever fake a recipe card?
Click to expand...

The recipes I've posted are all generated by a program I wrote, "Recipe Generator."

You input the main ingredient, answer a few simple questions, tell it how many other ingredients you want to use and it pulls a random selection from the data base and writes a set of directions.

I hope everyone enjoys them. :hide:
 
Tsk, tsk. And you're a moderator. (Aren't you supposed to be setting an example for the rest of us?:shifty:)

I'll bet when you make your signature dish you don't use a "random selection."

That's like me saying I use "a stone and some water.":yum:
 
My wife has a few that she will not give out.
But I know someone at my work who left a very key ingrediant out of a recipe she gave us. Said she must've forgotten it but come to think of it we never did get the right recipe. :yum:
 
People get serious about the keeping of secrets. As stated, I got into a fight yesterday with a guy (we have since patched it up) because he needed detail info on my use of ice in sharpening.

Well, yes, it's a minor thing, but my job is a competetive enterprise just like any other. There's an old adage, "I'd rather explain the price than apologize for the quality." And frankly, when it comes to being a tinker, you're only as good as your last knife.
 
I understand and agree that it is not wise to give out your tricks of the trade. You worked hard to get there and someone else could publish your secret or bastardize it and bad mouth it etc....
Reminds me of one of my mods sigs on Forums Forums:

Two rules of life to live by:
1. Never tell all you know.
2.

:D
 
Ahhhhhh, Laddie, me sainted mother always said recipes are for women that don't know how to cook! :heart::heart:


Seriously, I never withhold information. Use more Tabasco! :thumb:
 
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