Hidden F&B: Quintin Middleton
By Helen Mitternight
The knives show the love, which is why he has some strong opinions about what happens to them when they leave his hands.
Quintin Middleton first got interested in knives because he wanted to be like Conan the Barbarian, wielding a huge blade. These days, he makes knives of every size for chefs fromSean BrocktoEmeril Lagasse.
It all started in 2003 when the Berkeley County native turned his passion for craftsmanship intoMiddleton Made Knivesbased in rural St. Stephen, a small town just outside of Charleston.
Middleton says his knives are like a beef stew: the best is very simple but has complexity. It takes him six brutal hours of hands-on pounding and forging to make a knife and another three for heating and tempering. The knives show the love, which is why he has some strong opinions about what happens to them when they leave his hands. Store them where they won’t get banged around and please, let him sharpen them for you. Don’t wield an amateur whetstone!
Want more Quintin? Tune in toEpisode 27 of the Hidden F&B podcast here,and watch the video below.
Video: "The Story of Middleton Made Knives" by BadJon Photography Videographer Jon Stout, Courtesy of Quinton Middleton. Copyright All Rights Reserved. Charleston Grit, Hidden F&B, 2020.
