T
here is nothing more frustrating than a dull knife. Not only does it make prep work a chore and your finished product less attractive, it’s also downright dangerous. A dull blade requires more pressure to cut into a food, and it can easily slip off a tough onion skin, for example, and into your finger.Ouch. Most home cooks should sharpen their knives at least twice a year, much more frequently if they use their knives every day. There are three ways to go about it.
Method 1: Use an Electric Sharpener. A good-quality electric sharpener is an option, but I strongly discourage their use. First off, they remove a tremendous amount of material from your edge.
Sharpen your knife a dozen times, and you’ll have lost a good ½ centimeter of width, throwing it off balance and rendering any blade with a bolster (i.e.,
most high-quality forged blades) useless. Second, even the best models provide only an adequate edge.
If you don’t mind replacing your knives every few years and are happy with the edge an electric sharpener gives you, this is an option. But there are much better choices.
Method 2: Take It to a Professional. Provided you have a good knife sharpener nearby and are willing to pay to have the service performed, this is a good option. But if you sharpen your blades a dozen or so times a year, as I do, this can get quite expensive.
And all but the best pros use a grinding stone, which will take away much more material than is necessary from your blade, reducing its lifespan. Want to forge a stronger relationship with your blade? Choose the next option.
Method 3: Use a Sharpening Stone. The best method by far. Not only will it give you the best edge, but it will also remove the least amount of material.
Additionally—and I’m not kidding about the importance of this one—the act of sharpening your own knife will help you create a much stronger bond with your blade, and a knife that is treated respectfully will behave much better. You won’t believe the difference a sharp knife can makes in your cooking.
Stones are designed to either be lubricated with oil or with water. I prefer water stones.
Shopping and Maintenance
When buying a water stone, look for a large one, at least 2½ inches wide and 8 inches long and an inch thick. Stones come in various grit sizes, ranging from around 100 up to 10,000+. The lower the number, the coarser the grit, and the more material it will take off your knife. The higher the grit, the sharper the edge you will get, but the more strokes it will take to get you there.
I recommend keeping two stones in your kit: one with a medium grit (around 800 or so) to perform major sharpening jobs and one with a fine grit (at least 2,000) to tune the edge to a razor-sharp finish.
For real pros, a stone with an ultrafine grit (8,000 and above) will leave a mirror-like finish on your blade, but most cooks won’t notice the difference in terms of cutting ability. If you only have the budget or space for a single stone, I’d recommend one with a grit between 1,000 and 1,200. Two-sided stones are also available (coarse and fine grit), but these are usually of inferior quality. You will also need a stone fixer to repair any unevenness in the surface of your sharpening stones. I’ve yet to go farther down the rabbit hole to purchase a stone-fixer fixer. Both stones and fixers are available through Amazon.com.
Carefully dry your stone after each use, and store it wrapped in a kitchen towel in a dry, grease-free environment. Oil can soak into the porous material, ruining its sharpening ability (and your chances of
ever slicing your onions thin enough for that soup).
And, again, remember to hone your knife on a steel every time you use it. While this process won’t actually take any material off the blade (see here), it will help keep the blade aligned, making slicing and dicing much easier.
Step-by-Step: How to Sharpen a Knife
Step 1: Work in Batches. Although it’s worth the effort, knife sharpening can take a bit of effort and time. If you’re going to be setting up a station to sharpen a knife, think ahead and sharpen every knife that may need sharpening to get the whole process done in one session instead of several.
Step 2: Soak Your Stone(s). When working with water stones, it’s essential to submerge them in water for at least 45 minutes before using. If the porous stone is not fully saturated, it will dry out during sharpening, causing the knife blade to catch and giving your edge nicks and dings. If you have two, soak both your stones, as well as your stone fixer.
Step 3: Set Up Your Station. Place your stone on a towel laid on a cutting board. Keep a container of water nearby to keep your stone moistened during the sharpening process. The stone should be oriented with a short end parallel to the edge of the counter.
Step 4a: Begin the First Stroke. Hold your knife with the blade edge pointing away from you. Place the heel of your knife on the far edge of the stone and, holding the blade gently but firmly with both hands at a 15- to 20-degree angle and using even pressure, slowly drag the knife over the stone toward you down its length while simultaneously moving the knife so that the contact point moves toward the tip of the blade.
Step 4b: Maintain the Angle. Be careful to maintain the 15- to 20-degree angle as you pull the knife across the stone. Pressure should be firm but gentle, and the blade should glide smoothly across the stone.
Step 5: Repeat. Each stroke should finish with the tip of the knife touching the bottom edge of the stone.
Lift the knife, reset the heel at the top edge of the stone, and repeat.
Step 6: Look for Silty Water. As you repeat the process, a thin film of silty-looking water should collect on top of the stone and on the blade. This abrasive liquid will gradually take material off the edge of your knife, sharpening it.
Step 7: Check for Burr. As you continue to repeat strokes on the first side, a tiny burr will eventually form on the other side of the blade. To check for it, place the blade on your thumb and pull it backward.
If burr has formed, it should catch slightly on your
thumb (with really-fine-grit stones, though say, 2,000 or above, you won’t feel it). It may take up to 30 or 40 strokes before a burr forms, and that is the indication that you should switch and start sharpening the other side.
Step 8: Start Sharpening the Second Side. Turn the knife over so the edge is pointing toward you. Place the heel of the blade near the base of the stone, again maintaining a 15- to 20-degree angle, then gently push the blade away from you while simultaneously dragging it across the stone toward the tip.
Step 9: Repeat. Your stroke should end with the tip of the blade against the top edge of the stone, still maintaining a 15- to 20-degree angle. Moisten your stone between strokes if it begins to dry out. Repeat for as many strokes as it took you to form the burr on the first side. Flip the knife back over and repeat steps 4 through 8, using fewer and fewer strokes per side, until you are down to one. (The blade will not form a burr during this stage.)
Step 10: Fix the Stone. After repeated use, your stone will begin to develop grooves in it, which can lessen its sharpening power. To fix it, use a low-grit stone fixer. Place the fixer flat against the stone and push it back and forth to grind down the stone and create a new flat surface.
Step 11: Clean Up. You should have a dedicated
towel for this purpose, as the grit from the stone will never come out. After thoroughly drying the stone (allow to dry on a rack for at least a day), store it wrapped in its towel.
Step 12: Hone and Test Your Blade. After sharpening, hone your blade on a honing steel in order to get the edge in alignment, then test it for sharpness. Some people recommend trying to slice a piece of paper in half by holding it up and cutting through it. I find that even a relatively dull knife will pass that test but fail at other kitchen tasks. The best test is to simply use the knife to prep a vegetable. Do you notice any resistance, or does it fly through that onion? Can you slice a ripe tomato thin enough to read through it? Yes? Then you’re done!