Chef's Choice electric knife sharpener?

May 4, 2009 9:45 AM

Chef's Choice electric knife sharpener? What model do you have, and do you recommend it?
posted by markcmyers to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Best answer: I have the EdgeSelect 120, and it's easy to use and works pretty damn well. As evidence I can show you extraordinarily thin tomato slices, and a number of severe finger injuries.

I haven't used other knife sharpeners, so I can't really compare, but I feel like I got my money's worth.
posted by ook at 9:57 AM on May 4, 2009

Thats the one I have too. Works fine for me.
posted by shothotbot at 10:44 AM on May 4, 2009

Best answer: I have had one for many years, the model 110 I think. For traditional Western stainless steel cutlery it works very well. It puts a decent edge on a full carbon steel knife, but not its best edge. Perhaps the newer 120 with its improved honing or stropping stage will do better. Most people don't have any of these knives anyway. They take a great edge, but are not stainless and dull more quickly so need frequent resharpening. I have started to use some Asian knives with the 15 degree edge and this sharpener is not suitable for them (I particularly like the MAC Santakou). They have a new sharpener just for these knives but I have no idea whether it works or not. None of these machines will do as good a job as having your knives professionally sharpened though.
posted by caddis at 11:40 AM on May 4, 2009

I have the cheapest electric model (the 110, I think. It was about $40 at Target). I like it quote a bit, but I find that you have to resharpen pretty often -- maybe about every week. It takes a while to get a good edge, too.
posted by rossination at 12:17 PM on May 4, 2009

The 110 is certainly not the cheapest one, and is more than twice $40. Nevertheless, even the cheapest one will do a good job. (I borrowed one of those before buying.) This may be more about your knives or perhaps your technique with the sharpener. It should hold an edge for much longer than two weeks unless you are using it all day. Do you use a glass cutting board? Those are hard on knives. With some knives I find I have to go through the medium wheel far more times than recommended, or even have to use the rough wheel almost every time. Also, you have to pull it quite quickly through the fine wheel, which is quite different than the slow and deliberate stroke through the other wheels. Anyway, since we are talking knives, you can find more here from Chad Ward. It's quite the treatise. I think I originally found it here on MeFi.
posted by caddis at 1:43 PM on May 4, 2009

I have the 120, because Cook's Illustrated recommended it. It has some feature the 110 doesn't have; maybe the stropping cycle which just straightens the edge without grinding metal?
posted by Nelson at 1:58 PM on May 4, 2009

Best answer: I have the Chef's Choice 130. I sharpened my knives once or twice in the past year. I use a sharpening steel on the knives every time I take them out. They are still super sharp.
In short, I highly recommend it. Also you should get/use a sharpening steel.
posted by jockc at 2:40 PM on May 4, 2009

Best answer: I just got the 120 for Christmas and love it. I always took good care of my knives before but now they are wickedly sharp. Like, my-unsuspecting-friend-took-a-chunk-out-of-his-fingertip-while-washing-the-knife-sharp.

And like jockc said, make sure you use a steel every time you take the knife out of the drawer. I use the honing steel that came with the knife set.
posted by sbrollins at 3:28 PM on May 4, 2009

As a (late) follow-up, my wife and I were inspired by this question, but have a mix of Asian and Western knives. Mostly Wusthof Classic (high carbon steel), including a Wusthof santoku

We bought the Chef's Choice 1520, which does both Western and Asian (It has a 15deg stage, a 20deg stage, and a stropping stage) and it seems to work quite well so far. It was a bit pricey on Amazon, but getting knives sharepened isn't cheap.
posted by JMOZ at 6:30 AM on June 2, 2009