How to choose a knife sharpener

Knives are one of the most valuable things a cook has. With a quality knife, it is no problem to chop onions finely, slice julienne noodles or debone squab. But you can’t do much with a dull knife. How do we choose the right knife sharpener so that it works well and lasts a long time?

How to care for knives?

A basic set of knives should not be missing for any cook. There are universal sets in which you can find basic types of knives, such as a ham knife, a vegetable knife, a bread knife or a boning knife. Specialized butcher sets often contain cleavers for larger cuts of meat and, conversely, do not contain universal cuts.

An integral part of the care of knives is their storage. The set often includes a knife sheath or a so-called map, i.e. a roll-up cloth sheath. By storing it in the sheath, the blade of the knife is protected, so there is no risk of major damage such as warping or the formation of teeth on the blade;

Professional knife sets usually also include a sharpener for basic maintenance. However, quality knives require more care from time to time in the form of a sharpening stone, electric or manual knife sharpener. These can fix even very stressed blades.

How often to sharpen knives?

In normal use in the home kitchen, knife blades do not wear out as often as in a professional kitchen, where knives are used literally several hours a day. In domestic conditions it is advisable to resharpen knives with a sharpener about once a week, in a professional kitchen this should be done every day;

Knife sharpening is one of the almost meditative techniques of culinary art. Just as a hunter cleans his gun or a smoker cleans his pipe, a chef sharpens his favourite knives. If you automate this process, you can completely switch off your mind and concentrate on the smooth movements that will get your main working tool back in top condition;

How to work with a sharpener

How to sharpen knives with a knife sharpener is one of the basic skills of every good cook. The sharpener is used for basic everyday knife maintenance, not for sharpening dull blades;

It is not difficult to work with, but it does take some practice. A few strokes on both sides of the blade will help the knives get back into shape.

There are two ways to work efficiently with the sharpener.

• • Hold the sharpener by the handle and move the knife from the top of the sharpener tip downwards towards the body at an angle of approximately 15 – 20.

• • Or we can rest the metal part of the sharpener perpendicularly on the table. The knife is then moved away from the body again at an angle of 15 – 20.

In any case, the length of the whetstone must be at least 3 centimetres longer than the length of the knife in order to work safely with it. And after using the sharpener, be sure to wash the knives so that no metal splinters remain on them that could get into the food;

Different ways to sharpen knives

The sharpener itself is used for everyday knife maintenance in between classic sharpening. If we have favorite pieces among the knives, sooner or later we will solve the question of what to sharpen the knives with. There are several options on the market today to avoid dull blades. Among the most reliable knife sharpeners are those from the brands IVO or Wüsthof.

Hand knife sharpener

The hand knife sharpener is still a popular option. Its use is simple and safe. The knife is placed in the correct position for sharpening by means of the guide groove. Then just move the knife back and forth and the grinding blades hidden inside will take care of the rest. The advantage of this type is the lower purchase price, but on the other hand, you will not achieve as perfect results as with professional knife sharpening;

Advantages:

• • lower purchase price,

• • easy to use,

• • compact dimensions.

Electric knife sharpener

A more modern variant is the electric knife grinder. It looks very similar to a mechanical hand knife grinder, the guide grooves hold the knife at the right angle for sharpening, but electricity takes care of the work. Most electric knife sharpeners have three grooves: in the first stage the knife is sharpened, in the second stage the blade is refinished and in the last stage the blade is polished so that there are no burrs.

Advantages:

• • Easy to use,

• • perfect result with almost no work,

• • smaller dimensions.

Grinding stone

The classic method of sharpening knives is the grinding stone. Its use requires deeper knowledge, but it can also handle a knife that looks like it can no longer be sharpened. Most sharpening stones are double-sided: the coarser side is used to shape and sharpen the blade, the finer side is used to sharpen the blade. Grinding stones are knurled and range in coarseness from 250 to 10k. The more serrations, the finer the grinding stone is;

Before use, soak the grinding stone in water for at least 15 minutes. However, soaking can take up to an hour depending on the porosity of the stone – you can tell that it is ready by the fact that no air bubbles escape. Some grinding stones can also be used with oil, this will be written in the manufacturer’s instructions for use;

After sharpening the knives, rinse the grinding stone again with clean water and let it dry well;

Although the sharpness of the blade after using the sharpening stone is almost perfect, it is not easy to achieve this result. Working with an abrasive stone is strenuous and requires a lot of knowledge, practice and also time. Even the grinding stone itself requires care, which is why there is a grinding stone sharpener, with which you can roughen the surface of the grinding stone and thus prolong its life;

Advantages:

• • A perfect result,

• • can handle an almost unsharpenable knife.

What to sharpen knives with – ceramic or diamond?

Knife sharpeners are made of different materials. The main rule is that the material from which the sharpener is made must be harder than the material of the knife you are sharpening;

Cheaper materials include stainless steel or carbon steel. Stainless steel resists corrosion but is not very suitable for sharpening higher quality knives because it is too soft. Carbon steel can handle knives made of harder alloys, but the sharpeners themselves need more care.

The best grinding wheels are made of diamond steel. It stands out for its hardness due to the micro-particle content of diamond, which is one of the hardest materials known. They can handle the finest knives of professional chefs and you don’t have to worry about using them on damascus steel knives either;

There are also ceramic knife sharpeners. Ceramics are mainly used for the production of knife sharpeners or hand knife sharpeners. It is a durable material suitable for everyday knife maintenance. The advantage is the low purchase price and the long service life. The only danger is the brittleness of the material, so if you drop a ceramic sharpener on the pavement, for example, it can easily break;

Grinding angle

The main secret to sharpening knives is to keep the correct angle at which to sharpen the knives. This is an even more important question than what to sharpen the knife with. The size of the angle at which you sharpen the knife varies primarily according to the purpose for which you want to use the knife:

• • Knives for heavy work (e.g. cutting cardboard or carpets) are ground at an angle of 30°,

• • Knives for use in the professional kitchen (i.e. what we are most interested in) are sharpened at an angle of 15° – 20°,

• • Sharpen single-sided knives (e.g. Japanese knives) at an angle of only 7° – 8°,

• • Grind ordinary kitchen knives (or even cutlery knives) at an angle of 20°

• • and scalpels or other knives intended for body care require sharpening at an angle of 17°.

If you are a beginner when it comes to sharpening knives, it is better to start with sharpeners that have guide grooves and will make your work much easier. It is better to try sharpening at a precise angle on a knife you won’t regret, and remember that the smaller the angle, the more fragile the blade is and therefore designed for finer work;

Sharpness test

To find out whether the knives are still sharp, we can use the so-called sharpness test, which tells us whether the blade is in good condition or is ripe for maintenance. The two most commonly used methods are:

1. 1. Paper cut. Grab a piece of paper by the corner and lift it into the air. Use a knife to cut into the paper at approximately a 45° angle. If the cutting is difficult or the paper tears, the knife blade is dull.

1. 1. Slicing a soft tomato. Soft tomatoes can be tricky to slice because, in addition to their soft flesh, they also have tough skins. The sharp blade of a well-sharpened knife should be able to cope with this. However, if you squash the tomato when slicing, take a knife sharpener to help.

Risks of dull blades

Having a dull knife is not only a bad sign of a chef, but also poses certain dangers. The biggest risk of a dull blade is that you have to put more pressure on the knife when cutting. This can lead to the blade slipping and ending up in your hand;

Other inconveniences include the fact that when you cut with a dull knife you exert much more force than you would with a sharp blade, and it also takes more time. And you definitely don’t want that in a professional kitchen, because slicing is supposed to be a menial job and not the main activity we do;