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Professional chefs use various methods, such as whetstones, honing rods, and electric sharpeners, to maintain their blades. Understanding the different types of chef knives and their uses further enhances your culinary skills.
Straight to the Point
The SHAPTON Ha No Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstone Set was the clear whetstone winner. It's an easy-to-use, two-stone set that quickly sharpens carbon and stainless steel knives. If you must use an electric knife sharpener, I recommend the Work Sharp Ken Onion Knife Edition Sharpener.
A 17 to 20 degree angle covers most kitchen knives, pocket knives, and outdoor knives. Some knives (typically Japanese manufacturers) will sharpen their knives to roughly 17 degrees. Most western knives are roughly 20 degrees. In fact, a 20 degrees angle is often considered the best sharing point for most knives.
A sharpening stone, sometimes called a whetstone, uses its abrasive surface to sharpen knives. It's important to note that many people use cutting fluid with their sharpening stone for the best results. Sharpening stones can be made from natural or artificial materials and feature different grit sizes.
Pull-through sharpeners are the most popular way to sharpen knives, and with good reason: They are quicker than whetstones and more precise than sharpening steels. However, they shed the most amount of metal, which weakens the durability of knives.
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So, I always keep my knives sharp at home with my trusty Chef'sChoice 1520 Professional Electric Knife Sharpener in between professional sharpening services. It keeps my knives healthy and working their best no matter what I am sharpening.
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Professionals use whetstones with a grit of 400-6000 to sharpen their knives. How do chefs sharpen their knives? Most chefs use whetstones to sharpen their knives.
In short, sharpening is used to restore a dull or damaged edge by removing metal, while honing is used to maintain and straighten the edge (which can bend over time).
A kitchen knife should be sharpened every 1-2 months. Hone every week if you prefer a razor-sharp edge. For your professional chef's knife, you should have your knives professionally sharpened every 1-2 years.
Most pros would agree that pulling the blade edge across the whetstone produces the best results. Not only will it bring the knife to its sharpest but it's also a much more effective way to remove chips and imperfections from the blade.
Common mistakes include twisting, pressing down or pausing the stroke of knives as you pull them through the sharpener slot. This can cause oversharpening (the loss of too much metal) or result in an uneven edge.
Using a whetstone gives you control over the angle of the blade and the pressure that's placed on the blade—something that isn't true with manual pull-through and electric knife sharpeners. You also won't find a sharpener that works on as many types of knives.
Füri Sharpening Technologies
The Füri Rachael Ray TECH EDGE Pro Knife Sharpening System was developed by the engineers and chefs at Füritechnics Australia after years of new research into cutting edges and has revolutionized knife sharpening.
We love the Chef'sChoice 1520 Electric Knife Sharpener for its all-around stellar performance in our tests and its versatility with various kinds of knives. For a more budget-friendly choice, the Presto EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener simplifies the process of getting the correct angle, at an impressively low price.
Your pull through knife sharpener becomes rounded out
That's good. However, in the same motion smaller bits of of the sharpener scrape off too. Over time your sharpener becomes a "rounder" tool. The groove at the very tip of the sharpener wears and rounds out.
“A sharpening stone or whetstone is used primarily by professional chefs to sharpen knives, razors, scrapers and more. They can be designed to require either water or oil for lubrication, which also helps to clear or wash away the metal that comes off the edge of the implements during sharpening,” he explains.
While whetstones offer a traditional, effective method for sharpening blades, there are plenty of alternatives available, such as electric sharpeners, honing rods, sandpaper, files, and ceramic knife sharpeners.