How to Sharpen Kitchen Knives

One of the most annoying things to encounter when cooking is a blunt knife, and this becomes very evident when you try to slice a tomato or dice an onion. A sharp knife is a chef's best friend and therefore it's helpful if you know how to sharpen kitchen knives.
Home sharpening methods include using a sharpening steel, drawing knives across a flat sharpening stone, or using a commercial knife sharpener.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Commercial Knife Sharpeners
• Sharpening Steels
• Sharpening Stones

Using a Sharpening Steel

1. 

   Hold the steel - a metal rod designed for sharpening knives - in one hand.

2. 

   With the other hand, hold the knife by its handle.

3. 

   Place the knife just under the handle of the steel, with the knife handle touching the bottom of the steel handle.

4. 

   With the knife at a 10- to 25-degree angle to the steel, hold the steel rod steady and draw the knife blade down the steel.

5. Repeat several times until the entire cutting surface of the knife has been drawn across the steel on both sides of the blade.

Using a Sharpening Stone

6. Use a wet or dry sharpening stone.

7. Place the stone flat on a stable surface.

8. Holding the knife by its handle, put the blade at a 10- to 25-degree angle to the stone.

9. Draw the knife toward you and across the stone.

10. Repeat process on the other side of the blade.

Using a Commercial Knife Sharpener

11. Review instruction booklet that came with sharpener.

12. The process usually involves drawing the knife blade through the mechanism toward you until the knife is sharpened. This method is not recommended for fine knives.

Tips & Warnings

• Serrated or especially fine knives should be sharpened professionally. (Look in the yellow pages under Sharpening Services.) If you have purchased fine knives, the manufacturer may sharpen them for you at a nominal cost.

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[nealn]

on 3/31/2009 This article provides a high level overview of sharpening, but doesn't provide enough detail to enable a beginner to sharpen a knife successfully.1. First, a steel doesn't sharpen anything at all. It merely realigns the micro edge of the blade that gets bent over during use. Steeling is important, but provides no help for a dull knife. BTW, the steel itself should be as smooth as possible, ideally with no pattern at all. A ceramic "steel" also works extremely well, but use a light touch.2. There are dozens of choices in stones, both in their composition and their degree of abrasiveness in the marketplace. Most people will need three stones -- a coarse for removing nicks or blade reshaping, a medium for the bulk of the sharpening work and a fine to put a finished edge on the knife. The stones themselves can be Japanese water stones, naturally occurring materials like Washita or hard Arkan

[bigshnitzel]

on 3/23/2009 Go to youtube.com and search. i found a decent one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkPHyEOpl7I

[chava812]

on 1/15/2009 good article; it leads one to believe that either kind of sharpener is appropriate for any kind of kitchen knife, but I believe that different knives need to be sharpened at different angles according to what they are used for. Is there a difference between the two methods for different knives?

[owoc]

on 12/13/2008 Great, Chef - well explained, but how about the other side of the blade? Explain "switching sides" please.

[owoc]

on 12/13/2008 Chef Brian Dicey gives exceptional instructions...for one side of the knife! Don't you have to sharpen both side of blade? Or do you pull it back towards you? Dum-Dum