How to Sharpen a Serated Knife

A quality knife can last a lifetime if you take care of it. One of the ways to maintain knives is through regular sharpening. Some difficulty arises, though, when it comes to serrated knives. Unlike regular fine edge knives, serrated knives have ridges and points which can be difficult to sharpen. To keep serrated knives sharp, you must sharpen both the point and the valley.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    
   A Lansky Crock Stick set (sharpeningsupplies.com)

   Use crock sticks. Crock sticks are ceramic sticks that stick into a wooden base. The ceramic rods fit into the base forming a V-shape. The flat metal bar at the left of the V is the hand guard. Run the knife, serrate by serrate, across the inside of the V, one side at a time. Depending on the size of the knife, it could take anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes.

2. 
    
   A Henckels sharpening steel (chefscatalog.com)

   Use a sharpening steel. Many knife blocks come with a sharpening steel as one of the pieces. Use it much like the crock sticks. Run the knife, serrate by serrate, down the steel and back up again to sharpen each point and valley. Wipe the steel off with a paper towel or cloth to ensure that no burrs from other sharpening sessions remain.

3. Take a 1/4 inch wooden down and wrap a small piece of coarse sandpaper around one of the ends. Then, much like the crock sticks and sharpening steel, run the knife back and forth along the sandpaper so that the dowel meshes into each groove. While this is a more primitive method, it is effective.

4. 
    
   Chef'sChoice® Professional Sharpening Station® #130: (ChefsChoice.com)

   Purchase an electrical knife sharpener. Many electric sharpeners come with the ability to sharpen serrated knives correctly. By guiding the knife in and out of the sharpener at the serrated setting, you can sharpen the serrates without the fuss of running it up and down a stick or steel.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to wipe off your knife after sharpening in order to remove any burrs that come as a result of the sharpening process.
• The easiest method is to take your knife to a professional and have them sharpened. Individuals who sharpen sporting knives will also sharpen kitchen knives. Their sharpening stones are often superior to any consumer item.

Resources

• Lansky Professional Crock Sticks
• Chef's Choice Electrick Knife Sharpeners
• Chef's Catalog stock of Henckel's knives, as pictured above

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[Gem4544]

on 12/9/2008 I was wondering about this! Thanks, very helpful!