How to Sharpen a Meat Cleaver

If you love cooking, your knives are important to you. And perhaps no blade holds a more prominent position in your collection than the one found on your meat cleaver. You must keep your cleaver sharp, particularly if you work with high-grade cuts of meat and beef with heavy marbling

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Meat cleaver
• Sharpening stone
• Mineral oil

1. Lay out the items you need. Place a dish towel down on a counter or solid flat surface. Then place your sharpening stone rough side up. Lay your knife to the side and have your bottle of mineral oil close by.

2. Smear some mineral oil on the rough side of the sharpening stone. It should be moist without dripping any excess.

3. Hold your meat cleaver at a 30-degree angle. Slide the meat cleaver along the stone away from you. Use your free hand as a guide on the top of the blade. This will ensure a consistent sharpen. Meat cleavers do not have a round edge, so you can push the cleaver forward straight against the stone.

4. Flip the knife and bring the edge back toward you across the stone. This is so that you are sharpening the other side of the blade.

5. Repeat this on the coarse side of the sharpening stone 15 to 20 times on each side of the blade.

6. Switch the sharpening stone to the fine side and repeat the entire process. This includes smearing with mineral oil, holding the knife at 30 degrees and pulling the meat cleaver toward you and away from you repeatedly.

7. Test the knife by slicing a tomato. If the knife moves through the skin like butter it's ready. If not, repeat these steps until it is sharpened.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use a steel sharpener. There is a difference between sharpening a blade and honing a blade. The steel sharpeners are good for honing a blade that is slightly uneven, not sharpening a blade which has become dull.

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