You’ve finally invested in a few high quality knives. You won’t regret it. Not only will a good knife make cutting easier, but the materials used will ensure your knives stay sharper for longer. (Unlike the set of knives in the molded plastic box that cut like spoons after six months.) But like any important tool, you’ll get more life out of those knives with periodic maintenance. There are two things you should do to take care of your knives: honing and sharpening.
What is honing?
Credit: Allie Chanthorn ReinmannHoning a knife is different from sharpening. When you use a knife, the metal on the edge of the blade gets dinged-up, especially when you run it along tough surfaces, into a cutting board, or through bone or cartilage. That’s just fine, but if this happens repeatedly (like in daily use), the blade becomes less sharp. Honing realigns the microscoping metal “teeth” on the blade’s edge so they all face the same direction, for more precise cuts and less required force. Sharpening is a completely different action that actually removes metal from the blade (more on that later). I’ve written out the steps, but to see honing in action, you can watch a video where I show you how to do it.
You’ll need a honing steel, and the average one will run you 15 to 30 bucks. In a nutshell, you’ll be running the length of the blade against the steel at a specific angle. Depending on your knife, you’ll do this on one side or both sides of the blade. Most Western knives are sharpened at a 16- to 24-degree angle and beveled on both sides. You can look up the specs on your knife to find out these details. The bevel is visible to the naked eye; just take a gander at the blade and you can see if both sides slope toward the edge, or if one side is flat.
Find your angle
Set a cutting board securely on a countertop. Hold the steel perpendicular to the cutting board, with the tip pressing against the board, and the handle in your non-dominant hand. Hold the knife in your dominant hand and find the angle. The easiest way to find the angle without a protractor is to hold the knife at a 90-degree angle to the rod, as if you were about to cut the honing steel in half. Then move the spine of the knife upward to split that angle in half to 45 degrees. Split that angle and you’re at roughly a 22.5 degree angle (adjust as needed to find the angle specified by your knife manufacturer). You’re also a human, so this angle is an estimate, and that’s okay.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn ReinmannDo this as often as you’d like, aiming to hone at least a few times a week if you cook a lot. Be sure to wash your blade after honing to remove any tiny pieces of metal. Your knife should maintain an optimal sharp edge.
Here are some good honing steels for reasonable prices:
Wüsthof 9-inch Honing Steel
You have a few options when it comes to sharpening. You can bring your knives in to a professional, or mail them out to be professionally sharpened. You could also do it yourself with either a pull-through sharpener, automatic electric sharpener, or a whetstone.
The trouble with pull-throughs is they can remove more material than is necessary off the knife’s edge, possibly weakening the blade and shortening the knife’s lifespan. They also have set angles, which can be good if you’re unsteady on your own, but bad if your knife’s edge needs to be sharpened at an angle that is different from the one set by your sharpener. If you’re on an extremely strict budget, or refuse to learn how to sharpen any other way, this might be the best option for you.
Henckels Knife Sharpener
How to use an electric knife sharpener
Like a pull-through sharpener, the electric sharpeners have set angles, but newer models are said to be less aggressive when it comes to stripping excess material off the knife’s edge. Note that some user complaints center around inconsistent sharpening from the blade’s heel to point. Since the shape of the sharpening notches doesn’t accommodate a knife’s bolster, it’s easy for the sharpener to skip past that part closest to the heel. However, if you need to sharpen your knives quickly and frequently, or aren’t comfortable with a the idea of a whetstone, this might be the option for you.
An electric sharpener can have the biggest footprint and a wide price range:
Chef’s Choice Electric Sharpener with Diamond Abrasives
Credit: Allie Chanthorn ReinmannHow to sharpen a knife with a whetstone
For a beginner whetstone, any of these will do the trick:
Sharp Pebble Premium Whetstone
Whetstone Cutlery Whetstone
A whetstone is a rectangular stone with two sides. One side has a coarse grit. Flip it over, and you’ll see the other has a finer grit. (It’s not like touching the sidewalk though, both sides will feel smooth to your fingertips.) The sides are labeled by their “grit count,” and they can range from as coarse as 400 to a smooth 8000-grit polishing stone. For starters, one whetstone with a coarse and fine side is plenty. I’ll go over the steps to sharpening next, but if you’re a visual learner, check out my video on the topic.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann2. Find your angle and pull
Place the blade toward the top of the stone (farther away from you), with the blade facing away from you. Holding the knife’s handle in your dominant hand, find your angle. Use the same method as mentioned in the honing section–place the knife at a 90 degree angle and then reduce it. Start with the knife’s heel on the stone. Using your non-dominant hand to apply pressure to the edge of the blade, draw the blade back toward you at an angle so all parts of the edge eventually drag against the stone. The knife will never come toward your body, it will move toward your hip on your dominant hand’s side.
4. Switch to the finer grit side
Once you’ve finished both sides, flip the whetstone to the fine grit side and do it all over again. This side will smooth out the sharpening you did with the coarser side. When you’re finished, wash your knife off and you’re ready to chop.
These sharpening methods only address your straight edged knives, serrated ones have a special shape and should not be sharpened with any of these tools, including the whetstone. Each mountain and valley of a serrated edge needs to be specifically sharpened, or you’ll lose those teeth. In this case, and with any knife that has an unusual edge, bring it to a professional, make sure your knife gets sharpened to its specifications. Part of being an adult is knowing when to outsource.
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