Joseph Rueter stopped by FOX9 to talk about why sharper knives are actually safer, how often we should really be sharpening, and how Vivront’s new SHARPOW kit is making it easy to send your knives in without leaving the house
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Interview Transcript:
Hosts:
Good day. Welcome back. It’s 9:45 right now. When was the last time you sharpened the knives in your kitchen? Dull knives can make cooking more challenging. Joseph Rueter wants to help us with that problem. He’s the founder of the knife sharpening and culinary shop Vivront, and he’s launching a mail-in sharpening kit through Kowalski’s, which is amazing, because if you don’t have time to get to the shop, you can still get your knives sharpened.
Okay, first up—why? What’s the big deal about sharp knives?
Joseph:
Well, watermelon shouldn’t feel like a full-contact sport. If your knife bounces off a watermelon like a pool noodle, that’s not good.
Hosts:
Exactly.
Joseph:
So as we lead into the 4th of July, prepping, grilling, having fun with friends and family—if your knife is dull, it’s working against you. If you sharpen it, it works with you.
Hosts:
I’ve always heard that sharper knives are actually safer, which seems backwards at first, but dull knives can be more dangerous, right?
Joseph:
That’s right. And as we use knives, they all go dull. You might use a honing tool to straighten the edge, but over time the edge rounds out, kind of like tires on a car. The tread on your knives eventually wears down and you need to sharpen them.
Most of the time, when they’re dull, we use more force—thumbs, index fingers. It turns into more of a hammering motion than slicing. You actually want to slide the blade, like skipping a stone.
Hosts:
So we’re chopping wrong, we’re holding it wrong, and our knives are dull?
Joseph:
I’d say not optimally. If you're afraid of cutting an onion, that’s a sign something’s off. But learning just a bit can change your entire experience—so you’re thinking, “Let’s go! Let’s cut that onion!”
Hosts:
Love that. Okay, generally speaking, how often should people be sharpening their knives? Sending them in? What’s the rule of thumb?
Joseph:
Humans are great at habits. So attach sharpening to a holiday or key date in the year—that works well. People who sharpen with us start to notice when their knives are going dull. Sometimes they’re like, “It’s time!” and we’ll say, “Actually, it’s still sharp.”
So it really depends on you. But for home cooks, one to two times a year is common. In pro kitchens, it can be twice a month.
Hosts:
Right—and a lot of people are like, “I’ve had this knife set since I got married 15 years ago… and never sharpened them.”
Joseph:
Exactly. It’s time. And we’re trying to make it easy, because as Shane said, it’s one of those things. You have to find a place, drop them off, and then you’re without them.
Hosts:
So how does this kit work, and how did the idea come about?
Joseph:
You don’t need any contraptions or YouTube tutorials. You can still come see us at 50th & France—we have classes, drop-offs, same-day appointments. But we wanted to make it easier. So we made SHARPOW kits. They’re now in Kowalski’s stores.
It’s super simple. Follow three steps, stick the protective labels on both sides of your blade, and use the included return info. The code tells us where to ship them back. And if you send multiple knives, the shipping cost spreads out.
Hosts:
Smart!
Joseph:
In the metro area, people often say, “I don’t want to be without my knives.” But they also don’t want to carry them down the street. So we worked hard on the logistics. Now it moves same-day or next-day locally.
Hosts:
I bet that was tricky. You’re sending sharp objects through the mail!
Joseph:
(laughs) Yeah, it took us years to get this right. But we’ve figured it out.
At 50th & France, we’ll even turn knives while you’re out shopping. My favorite example: buy a dress while your knives are getting sharpened.
So whether it’s a small chip, a worn edge, or a filet knife—we can fix and restore it. We also do serrated knives and scissors. Serrated blades definitely chew up more time.
Hosts:
Yeah. Okay. I bet. Good stuff. We’re all taking a hard look at our knife collections now. I have many more questions, but we’ve run out of time, unfortunately. Joseph, thank you.
You can find more information at vivront.com. That’s V-I-V-R-O-N-T dot com. But in the French pronunciation—which you told me—we don’t hit the T.
Joseph:
You did a great job. "They will live."
Hosts:
"They will live." All right, good day. We’ll be right back.
Try SHARPOW for yourself! Click here to find a Kowalski's near you