How To Sharpen A Knife

How To Sharpen A Knife

There are three ways to sharpen a knife. These three ways are steeling, honing, and grinding.

There are sharpening tools available for purchase. Electric knife sharpeners make the process of sharpening a knife much quicker. Of course when using an electric sharpener you need to follow the manual that came with the sharpener very closely.

Steeling

Steeling is a cleaning process and doesn't technically sharpen a knife but what it does is make a knife that is already sharp more efficient. You should do steeling often to keep your knives working as well as possible. A professional chef will go as far as steeling 4 times per hour. Most home chefs should use the steeling method atleast once a month.

Steeling is done with the long poker that comes in knife block sets or the poker can be purchased seperately. Professional chefs hold their steels in the air and do this quite quickly. Beginners should try the safer method of bracing the steel on a cutting board. Hold the steel handle firmly and put the tip of it on the cutting board as if you were going to pound it into the board. Place the heel of the knife at the top of the steel by the handle. Gently drag the knife down the steel, keeping the blade at a slight angle. Do this on the other side as well. You will probably notice the residue that comes off the knife. Steeling cleans the blade and makes it safer and more efficient.

Honing

Honing is the process of fine tuning a knife. It can be done once or twice a year. A new knife may need honing before it is used.

Honing is best done with a fine carborundum stone which is available in hardware and kitchen equipment stores. Many stones have two sides: a coarse surface and a fine surface. Place the stone on a damp towel to keep it from sliding. Use the coarse side first and then the fine side. Hold the knife firmly in your right hand and place the heel of the blade against the right corner of the stone. Use your other hand to hold the tip of the knife against the stone at a tilted angle so the beveled cutting edge makes contact. Gently drag the knife across the stone from right to left and then turn the knife over and repeat the process from left to right. Do both sides of the blade a couple of times on the coarse side. Then, turn the stone over and repeat the process on the fine textured side. Reverse the entire process if you are left handed. Be patienct and you will have to only do this a couple of times a year. This process is very important to keep your knife very sharp.

Grinding

This method for sharpening a knife should actually not be done very often but it's important to know about this method when trying to learn how to sharpen a knife. Grinding should not be done that often because it actually grinds away some of the knife. A good knife will only need grinding once or twice in a decade or if it gets chipped or badly dulled. A roll type sharpener grinds a knife and should not be used often.

I hope you found these tips on how to sharpen a knife helpful. If you want more tips like this read the Love You Deer blog of DIY Arts and Crafts and Food and Clothing a sort of an indie Martha Stewart thing going on here.