How to Sharpen a Cutlery Knife

Kitchen knife.

A sharp knife is important in any kitchen. While many knife manufacturers and cutlery shops provide sharpening services, you can maintain and sharpen kitchen knives at home. Use a sharpening steel to fix a slightly dull knife and a sharpening stone to sharpen a very dull knife. Both of these methods require special tools and instructions but allow home chefs to maintain knives without traveling to a local store whenever a knife becomes dull.

Things You'll Need

• Steel sharpening rod
• Diamond sharpening stone

Instructions

Sharpening Steel

1. Hold the sharpening steel in your nondominant hand.

2. Pick up your kitchen knife with your dominant hand, holding the handle.

3. Point the blade toward you and place it at the bottom of the sharpening steel. Draw the knife up and across the steel, sliding the entire length of the blade across the steel. Repeat this four times.

4. Draw the other side of the knife up the sharpening steel in the same fashion as you did in Step 3.

5. Cut something small to check the blade for sharpness. Repeat Step 3 until the knife is sufficiently sharp.

Sharpening Stone

1. Prepare your sharpening stone by adding oil or water if its instructions suggest this. Some stones are made for dry use, others wet. You can use either to properly sharpen a kitchen knife.

2. Place the stone on a flat, level surface to prevent the stone from slipping.

3. Place the knife blade on the stone lengthwise. Hold it at a 20-degree angle from the stone.

4. Draw the knife towards you and against the stone, allowing the entire edge of the blade to pull across the stone.

5. Repeat Step 4 on both sides of the knife until it reaches desired sharpness.

References

• Chef Depot: How to Sharpen
• eBlade: Knife Sharpening
• YouYube: Sharpening Stone
• YouTube: Sharpening Steel