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Kitchen Guide

How to Sharpen Knives

Sharp knives in any kitchen are a necessity, not only for increasing productivity and preciseness, but also for safety reasons. Dull knives are dangerous because they represent a higher chance for slipping and cutting you (since you have to apply more pressure with them). There are many ways to sharpen knives, but I have selected the two options I find most effective and reasonable. It is easiest to use sharpeners, but you can keep your knives sharp by using a sharpening steel also.

Tom Tom Founder
Published:
October 18, 2023

Sharpeners

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You can buy a manual (cheaper) or electric (more expensive).

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Generally speaking, sharpeners should mainly be used when your knives are quite dull, but you can also use them for regular sharpening (only on the finest slot).

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Most of them have two sections with different coarseness — one for a regular sharpening and the other for finer sharpening. Electric versions often have a third section, which is even more rough, and can be also used to quickly repair a damaged blade.

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Usage is Simple:

1.

Determine the proper slot based on how dull your knife is. If you knife is not too dull, use only the finest slot. If your knife is dull, start with the coarser slot, and then after a few strokes repeat the process in the finer slot. Start with the third slot only with extremely dull and/or damaged knives.

2.

Place your knife into the slot (the handle touching the front of machine), and while keeping it straight up (do not lean the knife to the sides), pull the blade slowly towards you without applying pressure. Repeat until the knife gets sharper and then if you started with the coarser slot, continue with the finer.

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Sharpening Steel

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It is great for keeping your not-so-dull knives sharp. If your knives are very dull, it is better to start with sharpeners.

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What’s great about a sharpening steel is that it is often part of your knife set, so it doesn’t represent an extra expense.

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Effective usage requires a little practice, but it is not impossible to succeed.

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Usage:

1.

Sweep the blade along the steel to realign its’ edge while making sure to keep a 15° angle during this motion.

2.

The easiest and safest way is to hold the sharpening steel vertically with the tip firmly touching the countertop.

3.

Start every sharpening motion from heel to tip of the knife — pull towards your body (never reverse). When starting this motion, the top of the knife should be pointing up (so the tip is higher than the handle), and during the motion, the tip slowly goes lower until the tip is pointing down at the end of the motion (so the handle is up in the air, and the tip is lower than the handle but not touching the counter).

4.

Repeated this motion 4 – 5 times on each side.

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  • After sharpening wash and rinse a knife after sharpening to remove steel dust before cutting.
  • Never clean your cutting knives in the dishwasher. Most often, they are dishwasher safe, but will make your knives duller.

Sharpening Steel

There are many ways to determine how sharp your knife is, and if you have your own ways which work for you, there is no reason to change it.

I’m going to share with you my two favorite ways how to do so:

A.

Slicing Paper

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If you can slice paper effortlessly without catching and tearing the paper, it usually means that your knife is sharp.

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Hold the paper vertically with one hand and slowly slice down the paper.

B.

Chop a Tomato or an Onion

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The skin of both are slippery, and a thin and dull knife will always tend to move from side to side and have hard time performing the cut.

About the Author:
TomFounder
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