Sharp Knife Tips

A sharp knife is a pleasure in the kitchen. Here's how to maintain your knives with very little trouble.

First, you want good knives. They don't have to be expensive. Here is an article on how to select and buy knives: Nice Knives

The secrets to sharp knives with minimal hassle are:

• Religious use of a steel
• Occasional sharpening using a Chef's Choice sharpener.

Sharpening

Many experts recommend regular sharpening by a professional. It's probably true that a professional sharpener will deliver a -slightly- better edge. You can do pro-level sharpening yourself if you are willing to get the right gear and develop the right techniques. But here's the thing: How many people will send their knives out and take scrupulous care of them between times? If you're not that meticulous, then you won't do better than regular use of the steel and the Chef's Choice. It's a question of an A+ edge for a lot of money and trouble vs. an A edge for a lot less hassle.

Use a Steel

Every time I use the knife, I use a sharpening steel. It doesn't matter whether you do it before or after you use the knife. Make it a habit. When you cut, the very fine edge (at a scale smaller than you can see) is bent and the fine edge compromised. The steel tunes the edge by pushing the microscopic burrs of metal back into place. It takes off very little metal.

Then Sharpen Monthly

Then every month or three, I use the Chef's Choice. It's the only home sharpener I have seen that delivers an excellent result without some practice and technique and is consistently top-rated. They make several models. I believe that all would work well.

I have a Shun Santoku, a Henckels Chef knife, a couple of paring knives, a boning knife, all of which are in top shape thanks to the above routine. I even use the Chef's Choice on my small, 2" pocket knife.

Testing the Edge

How do you tell if a knife is really sharp? Most people use a finger (possible ouch) but better is to use your fingernail. Using very little pressure, scrape the edge along the fingernail, as if you are trying to scratch paint off the fingernail. A sharp knife will grab the nail a bit. A dull knife will slide with little resistance.

This doesn't work so well if you are wearing nail polish.

Protect the Edge

One more tip with regard to sharp knives: A common practice when cutting is to sweep the board with the blade of the knife, to gather whatever you're chopping. Don't use the sharp edge for this. Instead, develop the habit of using the back of the blade.

I was skeptical when I first heard this and tested it. Sure enough, just a few sweeps dulls the edge enough to detect. It took very little time to build the habit of flipping the knife when I sweep material across the board.

Comments

[Zestee]

Thanks man, I just got some brand new Wusthofs in the mail yesterday and I was just about to search tips on knife sharpening... but then I checked Lifehacker first :P

[Christian K.]

I totally agree that you need to get the knife in your hands to make a good decision. Probably the first thing you need to look for is a knife that feels good in YOUR hands. The you start looking at build quality, features, etc.

I have to disagree with you about the Chef's Choice being a close substitute for more professional sharpening, for a few reasons:

1) Different knives have different angles, varying as much as 20 degrees. While your sharpener of choice may work well with the knives you have because the angles match, or are close, they could be way off for another knife. Changing the angle also affects it's sharpness & it's ability to hold the edge.

2) Real sharpening involves removing material from the blade. Every knife sharpener like the Chef's Choice instructs to give a few swipes in both side...that just isn't enough to sharpen. It's more like a hone at that point. Real sharpening takes a little time.

3) For the cost of the chef's choice sharpener, you can get a few stones with varying grit levels and do it by hand. Sure it will take some practice, but you'll get superior results. I would say the difference is more like a B- or B for the Chef's Choice, vs. A- to A+ for the hand sharpen, depending on your skill level. For about twice the price, you can get a pro level sharpening system with guides to get precise angles.

Good tip about using the back edge of the knife for sweeping food bits!

[Moe Rubenzahl]

Thanks for the comment.

Others have commented about the angle. I'm not sure about that but it's worked for me on a Japanese santoku and various Henckels blades. I even use it on my tiny Swiss Army pocket knife!

With regard to removing material, the Chef's Choice has three stages. The coarsest stage is for abused blades. It definitely removes metal. I very rarely use it. The second and third stages use diamond grit and they remove metal too, but very little. I use these two stages maybe three times a year. I hone with a steel after every use.

I think the sharpness of my blades is as good as new but I'm biased, of course. I have no problems with the ripest tomato. At least, none has ever lived to tell about it.

[Jon]

I was sold on the chef's choice at one point but I did some research and apparently my Global knives have a much shallower angle than the chef's choice sharpens at. To use such a sharpener would be to undo the supposed advantage (shallow angle, high hardness) that the Global knife edge has. So I'll have to agree... it's not for every knife. I think it would be fine for most knives. So far, the only solution most people agree on for Global knives is either sharpening stones or the minosharp water sharpener Global sells.

[syntax expert]

Honing is not sharpening!!!!

[Moe Rubenzahl]

Syntax Expert: Well, honing makes it sharper, doesn't it? :)

Interesting note. They do call it a sharpening steel but it's really honing.

Jon (and others): You are right, Japanese knives like your Globals and my Shun use a 15 degree angle, while Western knives use 20. I just noted that Chef's Choice has a new model, the 1520, which lets you choose the angle.