When cooking almost anything, be it soups, roast meals, or simple snacks, having a sharp knife to prepare food is almost always a necessary item. But, what do you do when your knives start to dull? What is the best way to sharpen a dull kitchen knife? There are many ways to sharpen knives, some people go for handheld simple sharpeners, some use whetstones, and others even think that you can sharpen knives with a coffee cup.
Simple sharpeners
A basic kitchen knife sharpener is usually made of plastic and has two steel plates.
The plates intersect each other creating a 30-degree angle for sharpening. These are relatively cheap and will quickly sharpen most knives extremely fast.
How it works: place the blade in between the two steel plates and apply pressure while pulling it down through the plates. The 30-degree angle will hone the blade to also be 30 degrees with a razor-sharp edge.
Whetstones
Whetstones have been around since ancient times, so they have stood the test of time by still being useful nowadays.
Whetstones are more expensive to buy and harder to use, however, they can give much better results. Making simple kitchen knives be able to cut through tough meat with no struggle.
To use a whetstone, you need to apply water to the stone and rub the blade across it until you get the edge you want.
Using a whetstone properly and effectively can take a bit of practice but once you get it right, your knives will be sharper than ever.
Many knife sharpeners that use whetstones have a way to hold the blade at the correct angle.
Sharpening rods
A steel sharpening rod is the most basic form of sharpener there is.
It only is a long abrasive stick with a handle. Used similarly to a whetstone, rubbing the blade against it, sharpening rods are much easier to use.
You can feel like a fancy chef when you get a rhythm by working the blade and sharpening rod together.
This type of sharpener is the simplest but still gets the job done. A major drawback is it may not be as sharp as the other options will make it because you can not control the angle as well. Regardless, this sharper still works and will get you a sharp knife, but it is far from perfect.
Other methods to sharpen a dull kitchen knife
Alternative types of sharpeners are still available, like 3 in 1 sharpeners having options for repairing, sharpening, and polishing! These are typically much more expensive ranging from around 15 dollars up to 150 dollars.
Products to consider
Chef’sChoice Trixor XV 3 in 1 electric sharpener
This knife sharpener has a hefty price of $150, but the results are unmatched.
With a 4.7 out of 5 rating with over 7,000 reviews, it undoubtedly works. With sharpeners made of diamond fine grit, this sharpener will make any knife sharper than ever.
The Chef’sChoice Trizor XV sharpens knives in three stages.
- Stage one creates the large bevel using a medium diamond abrasive.
- The second stage creates a smaller bevel on the first rough cut. This stage uses a fine diamond abrasive.
- The last stage polishes the blade
The simple method of just running through one, two, and, three, make this an easy unit to use. The Trixor will work on straight and serrated knives.
If you don’t want the electric version, they make a manual one. The manual version leaves only two facets on straight or serrated knives.
RUIXIN PRO RX-008 Sharpener and Polisher
The Ruxin Pro RX-008 is a table-mounted sharpener. Clamp the knife in place, and grind against the blade. The sharpener also includes several whetstones of different grit for you to use. One major strong point is how easy it is to use; however, it can be hard to assemble. With a 4.2 out of 5 stars, you can be sure the product is functional and works consistently. A good choice for people who want good edges fast and polished blades.
Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener Mk2
Works exactly like a sanding machine however it holds knives at the perfect angle. This simple-to-use belt sander comes with 3 different belts and knife guides.
It has a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Amazon and can be used on a wide range of knives. The knife guides can be removed and the sharpener used as a hand-held belt sander to sharpen garden tools.
