Kitchen Knife Sharpener Recommendation?
August 4, 2020 7:34 AM   Subscribe

I recently bought this Wusthof 6" cook's knife which I use for everything/ is my only nice knife. At some point it will need sharpening - any recommendations for a sharpener (preferably less expensive than the knife itself)? Also, how often do folks sharpen their knives/ can you sharpen a knife indefinitely?
posted by my log does not judge to Home & Garden (24 answers total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Accusharp is a great, inexpensive knife sharpener. However, I will also strongly recommend that you routinely have your knives professionally sharpened; it makes such a difference. I sharpen my knives with the Accusharp once every 2 months or so and try to get them professionally sharpened once a year. You may sharpen them more or less frequently depending on how much you use them.
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:41 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]


I am a bit of a heathen in this regard but I just use something comparable to this. A honing steel is a good idea (it doesn't sharpen, exactly, it straightens the edge so it does't dull as fast) and you can go *incredibly* fancy with either electric sharpeners (which I've never used) or whetstones (which give you a ton more control over the angle of the edge but I find just isn't necessary with my knives and the use to which they're put.)

You can sharpen a knife more or less indefinitely, yeah. At some point you may need to get it professionally reground, if you really put a ton of wear on it or you manage to chip the edge badly, but there's a lot of steel there and home sharpening isn't going to significantly remove it.

(My understanding is that some/all Japanese-style knives do not work well with the simple x-type sharpeners, because their edge geometry is different, but I have Wusthofs and they do fine.)
posted by restless_nomad at 7:41 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


I have Wusthof knives and also have a Wusthof sharpener that has a coarse and fine sharpening slot, and has different sharpening slots for Asian and standard knives. Note that the "Asian" portion of the sharpener is for Wusthof's Asian knives, not for Asian knives in general, which sometimes have a single beveled blade that leads to the compatibility problem r_n mentions. My Wusthofs are a santoku and a nakiri (both double-beveled), and I run those through the Asian portion of the sharpener. All other knives I have go through the other part and that works fine.
posted by LionIndex at 7:59 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


I get our knives professionally sharpened every...couple of years. (I calculate this interval by aiming for every year as an easily-distracted person with a tenuous grasp on the passing of time.) My local kitchen store does it for a small fee while you wait; It's something like $3 per blade. Most kitchen stores do this, and at about the same price point, including the fancypants chains like Sur la Table and Williams-Sonoma.

Other than that, I just give the knife a swipe or two on the honing steel frequently. I used to do it before every use, but I'm trying to break that habit after reading that it's overkill.

And yeah, for all intents and purposes, you can sharpen a knife indefinitely. My primary everything knife is an 8" Wusthof chef's knife that I've been using daily for 25 years.
posted by desuetude at 8:25 AM on August 4, 2020


I use this device to keep my kitchen and pocket knives very, very sharp. None of them have ever been sent out for sharpening.

It's not electric. I wouldn't put a good blade in an electric sharpener for love or money. I'm similarly skeptical of "scissor" type sharpeners.

If you (not OP, who has a new knife) have knives that are far enough gone that the theoretical labor savings of an electric is appealing to you, then I'd suggest instead having your knives professionally resharpened and then staying on top of them better in the future. I know this sounds condescending, but trust me when I say an electric can really fuck up your blades. There's no substitute to knowing how to sharpen a knife. It's not hard. You just have to be patient.

I keep my knives very sharp. Most are literally razor sharp. I find this more useful than a blunter edge choice, but it also makes using other people's knives a pain. Most people don't take care of their knives.

A good knife will outlive you. You can sharpen them indefinitely. If you manage to totally screw up the edge somehow, you can have them reground, but you'd have to REALLY REALLY mess up for this to be a problem. I cook frequently, so I use my knives very often.

My set are a hodgepodge -- a Henckels, a couple Globals, a locally hand-made carver, and a fancy Shun I got as a wedding present. All are in great shape, all are sharpened frequently, and all are AT LEAST 15 years old.
posted by uberchet at 8:26 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]


The frequency at which you need to sharpen your knife comes down to how often you use it and how you treat your blade. Things you can do to prolong the edge include: frequently using a honing steel, only using it on proper plastic or wooden cutting boards, never putting it in the dishwasher, properly storing the blade so it doesn't getting damged and not scraping the knife edge on your board.
posted by mmascolino at 8:27 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]


I use an Accusharp, too. It's recommended by America's Test Kitchen. It's easy to use and works great. It also feels safe, as long as you follow the instructions.

I am not a serious cook and am not too precious about my knives. I just want them to be sharp.
posted by Stoof at 8:28 AM on August 4, 2020


Your very good knife is high carbon stainless steel and won't hold a permanent edge. Get a sharpener. I do not ever put good knives in the dishwasher, just wash by hand.
posted by theora55 at 8:34 AM on August 4, 2020


Suggest getting a sharpening steel and polish the blade every time you wash it. And I mean every time. Putting a dull blade in a drawer is a path to damaging the person doing the slicing.
posted by ptm at 8:50 AM on August 4, 2020


The Chef's Choice Two stage sharpener is a good balance of easy to use and effective, it has diamond abrasives which I think are essential when sharpening good knives. They also have a 3 slot version if you have any asian knives.
I think of it as a step up from the Accusharp because it can both sharpen and hone. Though the Accusharp may be easier to use for serrated knives.

A Sharpening Steel will only hone the blade, despite the name, so if the blade is at all blunt it will do nothing.
A whetstone like uberchet is recommending can in theory get a sharper edge, but is a lot more faffing about than I can be bothered with. The Chef's choice actually gets used.
I try to follow a routine of sharpening all the knives on the first day of each month.
posted by Lanark at 9:33 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


I've invested enough time and dollars into knife sharpening to know that everyone has an opinion and that there a lot of of ways to get your knives good enough and very few ways to get a blade scary sharp. For kitchen work I've settled on the Norton Combination Oilstone. I don't like soaking my 4-graded waterstones and they tend to get moldy and it takes time to soak. I get arguably better results that way, but I judge it not worth my time. I use WD-40 as the oil - I would not recommend a natural-source oil like vegetable oil as it will polymerize and gum up the works. With this setup I can sharpen/touch up knives quickly without any preparation, so it is a lot more likely that I do it. The fine side of the stone absolutely does not put a mirror-finish on the blade, but I personally haven't gotten a lot of utility from mirror-polished edges.

There are a lot of tutorials about using a stone, and you should read a couple. I've found that blades sharpen up a lot better with repeatable technique - you won't notice if the edge is at a 25 degree bevel vs a 20 degree nearly as much as if your technique is all over the place. There's a bit of Zen to it. The built-up heel on that Wusthof knives makes it a bit more of a pain the sharpen them on a stone - be prepared to accidentally run the heel right into the stone a few times.

You sharpen your knives when they feel dull or when you are bored and have a lot of old newspaper sitting around that needs to be shredded.

I use a 1/4" diameter smooth hardened steel (homemade) to hone my knives that are lower down on the hardness scale which the Wusthof certainly is. This is a very quick touch up nearly every time you use the knife. Use a light touch - all you are doing is pushing the edge back into alignment. The only time I would consider using a textured knife steel is on a carbon-steel blade and even then it's complicated.

I literally just ordered the Kershaw Ultra-Tek blade sharpener for a bread knife that is under-performing, so I can't give the official endorsement, but I'm looking forward to using it.
posted by Dmenet at 9:46 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]


I would recommend against any sort of pull sharpener or electric knife sharpener for a knife with a full bolster (the thicker metal bit that goes from the handle to the blade) like that. They tend to remove a lot of material and fairly quickly you end up with a dead spot right in front of the heel of the knife that will leave you with food that's cut 99% of the way through but still attached at the bottom. I've salvaged the exact knife you have from a thrift store with a dead spot from poor sharpening and it took a fair bit of filing to get rid of the excess height at the heel. It's not something you want to have to deal with.

I'll second Dmenet on the norton oilstone, it's a great stone to learn how to sharpen on and won't break the bank. It's also a great skill to learn and will let you always have a sharp knife. If you hone frequently and sharpen infrequently that knife should last you a lifetime.

I will also recommend that you either get a slip on cover for the knife if you store it in a drawer or a magnetic knife block, takes up way less space and holds almost any size knife.
posted by Ferreous at 10:29 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


A Sharpening Steel will only hone the blade, despite the name, so if the blade is at all blunt it will do nothing.
This is the sort of thing people say, but that isn't really true. I honestly don't know where it comes from.

There are variety of sharpening steels on the market. I used one from Schrade for decades that absolutely sharpened blades. Maybe a kitchen rod like you probably mean isn't capable of actual sharpening, but even if so that's only one type of steel.
posted by uberchet at 10:36 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


After many failed attempts at home sharpening, I take mine to a knife shop for sharpening every 2 years or so. You can also use knifeaid.com if you don't have one locally.

Also, are you storing it correctly? I prefer in a knife block, blade up. There are other options but never never just stuck in a drawer with other utensils.
posted by amaire at 11:05 AM on August 4, 2020


OK, here comes heresy. Once upon a time when my life was happy and easy, I had my knives sharpened twice a year professionally, I sharpened my knives on a whetstone once a month and honed them on my beautiful horn-handled honing steel every day (I'm not joking). Once I did a catering job at a big national institution and my friend and assistent fell over laughing when the head chef there warned us about his sharp knives (we had brought our own and his were not sharp).
BUT. Today I use a device I bought at IKEA. At some point I thought about it, and it turned out I am not a professional chef. At this point I am not even a caterer, I'm just a mum with a big family. I want very sharp knives but I won't die if the knives can't be passed on to my grandchildren. After all, I will already be dead then.
I have one very very expensive Japanese knife that I never use because I'm scared of ruining it, but the rest are relatively high end knives, both Japanese and European, and I just run them through the IKEA device and then cut my onions so thin you can use them for glasses. They are all fine.
posted by mumimor at 11:23 AM on August 4, 2020 [7 favorites]


I used to get my knives sharpened by a guy at the local farmer's market, until I realized he was blunting the tips on them with the sanding belt he uses. After that, I bought my own whetstone (2-sided, with 1000 and 6000 grit—you'll find numerous examples on the Great River of Commerce) and started doing it myself. I do it every 2-3 months with the knives we use most. It's not a big time commitment. I'm probably not doing it exactly right, but I'm not obsessing over it.
posted by adamrice at 11:59 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


My dad is a Japanese chef and taught me to use a sharpening stone (like one of these). I use a 2-sided stone with 400 and 1000 grit I got off of Amazon for under $20 because my dad said it would suit. Just make sure the stone comes with a container with grip on the bottom so it stays put while sharpening.

This guy's technique is pretty much what my dad taught me. I'm always surprised that people get it done professionally because it's very easy! I sharpen about once a month and it takes me all of five minutes to do it.

I start sharpening on the 400 side (because it's coarser) and end on the 1000 side (because it's finer). As shown in the video, you know your knife is sharp when you can slice paper with very little pressure.

My dad recommended against using the sharpeners sold at grocery stores etc. because they change the shape of your blade in some unfavorable way. I don't remember the full rationale, but his method is so easy that I just go with it.

The more you sharpen a knife, the more it will wear down. You are filing away part of the blade when you sharpen it (like filing a nail). Over time, a two-inch wide knife may become 1.5 inches. It will become a narrower blade, but it will still function beautifully. The speed with which this happens depends on (a) how often you sharpen your knife and (b) the quality of the steel. Your high-end Wusthof won't whittle down as quickly as a cheaper knife.

Once you get the hang of sharpening, you can sharpen any knife and get great results. High-end knives may require less maintenance and have nicer ergonomics, but you may not notice the ergonomics if you're mostly doing light cutting day-to-day. One of my dad's favorite knives is a dollar-store find, and he owns many high-end Japanese knives.
posted by saltypup at 2:02 PM on August 4, 2020 [6 favorites]


I'm always surprised that people get it done professionally because it's very easy! I sharpen about once a month and it takes me all of five minutes to do it.
Hard yes, but I will say this guy's doing a WAY higher-end job than most home kitchens would require.

But still: it's easy. I'm surprised more folks don't do it. I mean, I'm also of quasi-rural southern extraction, and I know how to shoot guns and clean waterfowl and fix the linkage in a '71 Chevy pickup with an axehandle, so sometimes things I think of as normal base knowledge aren't, but holy cow knowing how to take care of your kitchen knives is pretty simple.

Anybody can do it, and it feels really good to take care of a tool, IMO.
posted by uberchet at 2:13 PM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


I'm another vote for learning how to use a stone. I have a two-stone process that involves the stone saltypup mentions above, with a polishing stone for the final touch. I have a strop but haven't used it in quite a while; I'm generally not shaving with my knives.

If you're at all nervous about it I'd get one of those cheapo knives they sell at the Chinese grocery/Wal Mart (or ideally a thrift store), and practice sharpening that. The softer steel will make it easier to get a feel for the work, and you won't worry about screwing up your good knives.

But really, after you get the hang of it you'll never look back. I don't use a steel - I touch my two everyday knives up maybe once a month tops, and only really use the rough grit if an edge gets damaged somehow.

Nthing the thing about storage - no dishwasher, no sticking it in a drawer. Knife block or magnets will give your edge a much longer life.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:41 PM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]


I have that exact knife (Wusthof 6"). I sharpen it maybe 2x a year and use a steel weekly. For sharpening I currently use a Chef's Choice electric sharpener. I've been using it on a near-daily basis for over 30 years, and it's still holding up pretty well.
posted by zombiedance at 10:58 PM on August 4, 2020


Here is what I use sharpener. I like the small size as it easily fits in a draw. It does a real nice job of keep the edge on my knives.
posted by tman99 at 6:25 AM on August 5, 2020 [1 favorite]


I used a very cheap whetstone (the kind with a coarse and a fine side) to sharpen a knife which had been so badly chipped by years of abuse and one of those "easy" sharpeners you pull the knife through that I had nothing to lose. It worked very well, and that's still my sharpest knife years later. I have a nicer knife that I should make time to sharpen as well (it shouldn't take nearly as long, because the current edge on that knife is not a complete horrorshow).

I am by no means an expert; I did some reading and watched some videos. The result was still satisfactory.

(Tangential observation: entire generations of people seem to have been conditioned to believe that cutting onions is "hard" and requires some kind of special device or trick or life hack. The special trick is: sharpen your bloody knives! Then you can actually cut slippery things with them instead of just mashing them into your cutting board.)
posted by confluency at 7:33 AM on August 6, 2020 [2 favorites]


I also try to wash my knives by hand (although I'm lazy and do sometimes stick them in the dishwasher), and I keep them upright in a stand that I made myself by packing a vase full of wooden skewers. You can do the same with pretty much any tall container. I have to warn you that it will require way more skewers than you think.
posted by confluency at 7:36 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


(Tangential observation: entire generations of people seem to have been conditioned to believe that cutting onions is "hard" and requires some kind of special device or trick or life hack. The special trick is: sharpen your bloody knives! Then you can actually cut slippery things with them instead of just mashing them into your cutting board.)

This deserves an honorable mention!
posted by mumimor at 11:32 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


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