How To Use Knife Sharpeners
By JamieK. Filed in Cooking Tips |
Keeping a razor edge on your kitchen knives helps keep the wheels of any cooking operation turning smoothly and efficiently, no matter how large or small. Sharp knives also improve kitchen safety, since dull blades cause you to push harder while cutting, increasing the likelihood of slippage. Sharpening steels have been used for many years to sharpen kitchen knives. The problem is that using a steel correctly takes years of practice, and even then a professional sharpening is still necessary twice a year.
This is because as a blade dulls, its fine edge folds over. A steel, if used properly, can grind away the folded edge, but as time goes on this grinding wears down the edge’s angle. As the angle wears down it becomes harder and harder to put a fine edge on the blade, and eventually a professional must reset the angle.
Electric knife sharpeners restore the edge angle quickly and effectively, meaning you can save on costly professional knife sharpening by resetting the edge angle yourself.
The best way to do this is to invest in a two or three stage electric sharpener. Each stage hones the blade into a very fine conical shape that improves the edge’s durability and makes it easier to sharpen. The money you’ll save on professional sharpening services over the lifespan of an electric sharpener more than makes up for the unit’s initial cost.
Diamond knife sharpeners are the best option because they remove metal from the knife edge without heating the blade, which can weaken the steel and cause it to lose sharpness more quickly. Chef’s Choice knife sharpeners are known for their precision sharpening and diamond coated grinders, making them a long-time chef favorite the world over.
Eliminating a professional knife sharpening service from your bills means you can take control of an outsourced expense and do it yourself, making your kitchen more efficient. And since the technology available in modern knife sharpeners takes the guesswork out of the process, you can get a great blade on every knife in your kitchen affordably and reliably every time.
