Tony Zentgraf
Knife Sharpening Series – Demonstrating Different Ways to Sharpen Knives.
Let’s Cut to the Chase on Sharpening Knives (pun intended)
- Honing vs Sharpening
- German vs Japanese Knives
- How to Use a Handheld Knife Sharpener
- How to Use a Ceramic ‘V’ Sharpener
- How to Use a Spring Style Sharpener
- How to Use a Tri-Stone Sharpener
- Knives & Knife Safety Discussion
Before we jump into the Knife Sharpening Series let’s discuss some key things to know about Honing vs sharpening along with differenced in knifes.
Honing vs Sharpening
Knowing the difference between Honing a Knife and Sharpening a Knife is an important component of using a knife. It will allow your knives to remain sharp and lessen the chance of you getting cut. You may be asking, but when do you hone and when do you sharpen?
Sharpening, whether it be on a diamond steel, handheld sharpener, tri-stone or other sharpening implement removes metal from the blade. This process creates a sharper edge than before you started.
Honing a knife brings the blade edge back into alignment. As you use your knives, the edge of the metal becomes frayed or out of alignment. This is where the steel comes in. A traditional steel has striations, or raised ridges, that run the length of the metal
A Diamond Steel has flecks of diamond along an oblong shaped rod. This is specifically used as a sharpener and does not hone the blade. This style of sharpener gives a quick edge on your knife.
German vs Japanese Knives
A knife is a knife right? There are hundreds of brands of knives out on the market. But there are a few things that separate the type if knives. Kitchen knives fall into a couple categories, European or German style and Japanese or Asian style.
The main difference is the angle at which the blade is sharpened. German knives typically have a thicker blade and are sharpened at a 20° angle. Whereas, the Japanese style knives blades are thinner and are sharpened at a 10-15° angle depending on the brand of knife.
German knives are more durable and hold an edge longer. Japanese style knives are more likely to become duller faster, have a thinner blade that could be susceptible to damage because of the thinner blade.
This difference in angle of the blade edge can be greatly affected by using a sharpener that is not intended for a certain style of knife. Example, the Handheld Knife Sharpener discussed below has a set 20° angle of the sharpening stones inside the plastic handle.
Sharpening a Japanese style knife on a handheld sharpener will add some sharpness to the edge. But using this tool over a long period of time, the knife may not retain the original angle at which the blade was first cut. Find a sharpener that will allow you to retain the correct angle of your knives.
How to Use a Handheld Knife Sharpener
A handheld sharpener is commonly found in a commercial kitchen. Somewhere on the cook line or prep area, is where it may be hiding. This style of sharpener is made up of a plastic exterior handle and two stones that are set to a 20° angle. Run the knife through the sharpener 3-5 times and will give a quick edge back to the knife. Don’t forget to run the knife over a steel to ensure the edge gets realigned.
As stated above, you can run a Japanese style knife through this sharpener but may not retaining the sharp edge. Because the stones are set up at a 20° angle, I recommend using this style for a German or American style knife.
How to Use a Ceramic ‘V’ Sharpener
The Ceramic ‘V’ Sharpener is a handy sharpener to have in the kitchen. It stores away nicely in a cabinet or kitchen drawer. Once again the angle is set up for a German style knife preset at 20° but sharpening a Japanese style knife will work just fine.
This is an easy to use tool. You set up the ceramic rods into the wood holder, align your knife to a 90° angle to the cutting board. Then pull the knife from heel to tip along the inside of each rod. The ceramic rods will sharpen the knife. There are also diamond rods on the market as well. The process would be the same on diamond as ceramic rods.
How to Use a Spring Style Sharpener
This style of knife sharpener is one that I would recommend for the kitchen. Its small, compact design stores easily and is easy to use. Plus the need for a steel is mostly eliminated because of its dual purpose.
Set up the sharpener with the blades facing you. Place your opposite dominant hand on the top of the sharpener to steady the base. Angle the tip of the knife down toward the cutting board. Pull your knife through the middle of the black movable bars. You don’t need a lot of down force. As you pull the knife through with a small amount of pressure downward, the spring bars will adjust to your knife’s degree of angle.
From there you can hone the knife, angle the handle of the knife down to the board and pull the knife through the sharpener a few times. Repeat the process a few times. To hone each side individually place the knife over the board and place the tip to the left and pull through a few times. Repeat the process, angle the knife tip to the right and pull through a few times. See video for overhead demonstration.
How to Use a Tri-Stone Sharpener
Tri-Stone Sharpener is a commercial kitchen standard to have on hand. The process of sharpening on a tri-stone gives you complete control over the angle you wish to sharpen the knife as well as three different grit stones to dial in the sharpness of your knife.
There are two sided stones on the market that have a rougher grit on one side and a fine grit on the other side. The process of sharpening a knife on this is the same as a tri-stone setup.
There are two types of stones, oil stones and whetstones. The oil stones use a mineral oil that will be absorbed into the stone but can become messy. The whetstones need to be soaked for approximately 20 minutes to allow them to absorb water. The oil or water will aid in allowing the knife blade to slide across the stone. In the video above, the stone are whetstones.
This is my preferred method to get a very sharp, clean edge to the knife blade. Although this is my preferred method this is really only necessary once or twice a year to dial in the angle of the blade. I will use one or all of the above listed sharpening methods depending on what is handy or want to achieve with the sharpening.
Knives & Knife Safety Discussion
What would a Knife Sharpening Series be without a discussion on Knife safety? An important subject not only in a commercial kitchen but at home as well. In this video I demonstrate how to hold a knife, walking with a knife as well as what to look for when purchasing a knife.
Knife Sharpening Series Roundup
After you have seen a few ways to sharpen a knife I hope you have a better understanding of how to sharpen German and Japanese knives. Many of the knife sharpeners I have demonstrated in this video are under $100 and many are under $30. Find a sharpener and have it handy in the kitchen so you can keep those knives sharp!