John Myers
A sharp knife reduces the risk of injury when handling in the kitchen. Knives should therefore be sharpened regularly. You don’t necessarily need a specialist for this: you can sharpen your knives yourself with a sharpening steel, whetstone, or knife sharpener. Professional chefs even do this before or after each meal.
The correct technique for sharpening knives with a sharpening steel takes a little practice. Good to know: It doesn’t depend on the speed with which you drag the knife over the rough steel. So take your time and place the sharpening steel on a non-slip surface with the tip pointing downwards. Now place the knife on it at an angle of 15 to 20 degrees. Start sharpening the blade at the end of the shaft: Applying slight pressure, stroke the blade down to the tip of the knife in an arcing motion along the sharpening steel. Repeat the process 5-10 times per side depending on how badly the blade is worn.
There are three different materials to choose from for the sharpening steel: chrome-plated stainless steel, ceramic, and sharpening steels with a diamond coating. Chrome-plated stainless steel is quite insensitive to impact and easy to care for. However, it wears out faster than ceramic. Ceramic sharpening steel has a longer service life but is sensitive to impact. With diamond-coated sharpening steels you can achieve a very fine, precise result, but unfortunately, the coating wears off quite quickly. However, you can achieve a good degree of re-sharpening with all sharpening steels. Regardless of the material, you should clean your sharpening steel with water after use to remove fine deposits from the grooves.
You have to soak or moisten a whetstone for a few minutes before using it. It consists of a coarse and a fine side, starting with the coarse side. Place the whetstone on a non-slip surface and place the knife blade at an angle of 15 to 20 degrees. Then stroke the blade up to the knife tip with light pressure in an arc from left to right and repeat the process five to ten times on each side of the blade. Then use the fine side to polish the blade for a more precise result.
The easiest way to sharpen knives is with a tool that already has the correct angle settings. These so-called knife sharpeners are also suitable for beginners, as the blade only has to be pulled through the corresponding sharpening modules. Basically, you can’t go wrong. However, the result is not quite as precise as with the sharpening steel or the whetstone and the right technique.
