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A good knife is part of the basic equipment of every passionate cook. Inexpensive knives are inexpensive to buy, but they tend to be simply disposed of as soon as they are dull. However, if you like to dig deeper into your pocket for a good knife, you should also attach importance to proper care. Of course, this also includes regular sharpening of the knife blades. After all, cutting is easier and you get more precise cutting results than with a blunt knife. To be able to sharpen your knives like a professional, the right equipment is crucial.
Check the blade material
Before you buy a sharpening steel, a whetstone or an electric knife sharpener, you should first take a closer look at your knives. Because not every knife sharpener is suitable for every knife. European knives made of stainless steel or chrome-molybdenum-vanadium steel, ground on both sides, can practically be resharpened with almost any knife sharpener, provided that they have a smooth cutting edge. On the other hand, Japanese knives with one-sided grinding should not be sharpened with a manual or electric knife sharpener or a steel sharpening rod. You can also confidently leave the resharpening of ceramic knives to a professional, as the extremely shock-sensitive blade will be damaged very quickly if not properly resharpened.
Test the sharpness of the blade
How dull a knife actually is can be easily checked with the tomato test. The blade should be placed on the tomato without pressure. If the blade goes effortlessly through the skin, the knife is still sharp. If the blade is only slightly blunted, a fine sanding or a short deduction with a sharpening steel is sufficient. On the other hand, severely damaged blades that cut through the tomato skin with difficulty or only with great pressure should be processed in several steps so that they again convince with perfect cutting results.
Sharpening steel, whetstone or electric knife sharpener?
Basically, the question does not actually arise, because to ensure all-round carefree maintenance of your knives, it is best to have at least one variant of each in the cabinet. Unless, of course, you actually only use one knife for all cutting work. If not, here is a small guide on what you need for what and how sharpening works with the individual helpers.
Sharpening with the whetstone: how it works
Before sharpening, the grindstone must be immersed in water for at least 10 minutes – or alternatively in oil. This creates a grinding sludge that ensures an optimal grinding process. For this reason, care must also be taken during grinding that the stone always has enough moisture.
Once you have chosen the right stone, it is extremely important to maintain the correct angle (15 – 20 °) when grinding. If you don’t feel completely safe, you can also use a grinding aid that is simply put over the knife and thus always ensures the desired angle. Now it’s time to find the right rhythm. Start with the tip of the blade and then pull the blade over the entire stone. The rule of thumb is: “push” to the front and “relax” to the back. To get an even result, you should sharpen both sides of the blade with the same number of moves – preferably at least twice from each side. With knives sharpened on one side, on the other hand, you should sharpen the blade at least 80% on the sharpened side and 20% on the unground.
Sharpening with the sharpening steel made easy
So that you can sharpen large chef’s knives with a sharpening steel, it should be longer than shorter. For the first try, you can simply place the steel vertically on the work surface or on a table (top handle) and pull the blade down along the rod on the right and left. This guarantees the correct grinding angle.
Electric / manual knife sharpener
If you do not dare to grind by hand with stone or rod, you can also use an electric or manual knife sharpener. They are usually even equipped with several grinding devices, so that you can use them to sharpen your knives coarse and fine. The grinding angle is also already specified, so you can’t go wrong in that regard either. Such knife sharpeners are only suitable for blades ground on both sides, a few even for knives with serrated edges.
Our additional tips for long-lasting sharpness:
A sharpening stick is not the only way to keep your knives sharp for a long time. For one thing, you should really only use each knife for its intended purpose. On the other hand, cutting surfaces that are too hard, such as glass, porcelain or baking sheets, are harmful to the blade – especially for smooth cutting. And when you push clippings from the cutting board into the pot, you should only use the back of the blade. If you only follow these tips, you can look forward to long-lasting sharp knife blades.
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