Sharp knives are essential in the kitchen, and if you want to ensure that your knives are always as sharp as possible, they need to be sharpened from time to time. Sharpening knives can be a science in itself, and it can be difficult to get an overview and find an easy way to approach this process.
That's why we've tried to make knife sharpening easy and straightforward. Here you'll find an in-depth guide to sharpening knives, as well as other tips and tricks to help you always have sharp knives in your kitchen drawer.
Why you need sharp knives
A sharp knife ensures that it is the knife and not you who does the work. This means that your movements with the knife become more steady. The knife does what you want it to do – and will therefore not ‘slip’ or do anything unexpected that could put you in danger.
In addition, a sharp knife ensures beautiful cuts. Whether you are chopping vegetables, cutting meat or slicing bread.
Knives become blunt over time
No matter how strong the steel your knife is made of, it will become duller over time. How quickly this happens depends on what you cut, how often you cut, the material and, not least, how well you take care of your knives.
Different knife types require different sharpening methods
When maintaining your knives, it is important to know that different types of knives require different sharpening methods to achieve optimal sharpness and durability. For example, a chef's knife often requires finer sharpening as it is used for precision work such as cutting vegetables and meat. Bread knives, which have serrated blades, require a different method as they cannot be sharpened in the traditional way with a whetstone. Instead, you can use a special sharpening machine or have the teeth of the knife corrected by a professional.
Choosing sharpening tools
When it comes to choosing a sharp ening tool, there are several options, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Whetstone
Whetstones are the most traditional method of sharpening knives and offer the most precise control over the sharpening process. The advantage of whetstones is that you can choose different grain sizes depending on how blunt your knife is.
Honing rods
Honing rods are primarily used to maintain the sharpness of the knife between sharpening sessions. They straighten the knife edge and prolong the sharpness of the knife, but they do not sharpen the knife in the traditional sense.
Sharpening machines
Grinding machines are usually the method used when you have your knife sharpened by a professional. It is an effective way to do it – but it is a solution that is ideal for very few people, as it is a large machine and a significant investment to sharpen your knives once every six months.
Maintain your knives with a honing rod
If you take a microscope and look at the end of your knife blade, you will see a lot of grooves and unevenness in the knife edge. This is completely natural when you use knives.
The best way to keep your knives sharp is to smooth out these grooves with a honing rod.
Click here to see our article on how to use a honing rod.
There is a reason why I say maintain – and not sharpen. Because a honing rod does not sharpen anything. It simply straightens the knife edge, which keeps your knives sharper.
To sharpen your knives, you will need a different tool. Let's take a look at that now⤵
What you need to sharpen your knives
There are several ways to sharpen your knives. You can go to a professional and have it done. You can buy a large sharpening machine for your home or a knife sharpener that you simply run your knife through. Last but not least, you can use a whetstone, which is my favourite method.
The reason I prefer whetstones to knife sharpeners is that they are gentler on the knife than knife sharpeners.
A quick introduction to whetstones
We have a whole article about whetstones, which you can read here. Therefore, in this article, I will only give a quick introduction.
Whetstones can be seen as sandpaper for knives. They are available in different grain sizes - some are very coarse and others are finer. The coarse whetstones are used to straighten the knife edge (like a honing rod) - and the finer ones are used to sharpen the knives.
All our whetstones at Gastrotools have two sides – one coarse and one finer.
To learn how to sharpen your knives with a whetstone, click here. Here you will find a complete guide to choosing the grain size, sharpening angle and everything else you need to know to sharpen your knives with a whetstone.
How often should you sharpen your knives?
As a rule of thumb, you should always take your ceramic honing rod out of the drawer when you take your knife out of the drawer. Then give it a few strokes and put your sharpening steel back in the drawer.
When it comes to whetstones, sharpening them twice a year is often enough to keep them sharp, provided you remember to use your honing rod regularly.
