Honing Versus Sharpening
Keeping a sharp edge on your knives will not only ensure easy food preparation, it’s also paramount for safety. A dull blade can skip off the surface of the food and cut you instead. These days there’s a multitude of sharpening options, but just like knives, it’s important to use the right sharpener for the job.
Whenever you feel your knife is less sharp than it should be, try honing first.
A honing rod pushes the cutting edge of the blade back into alignment while removing a small amount of metal from the blade's edge. By honing periodically you can extend the time between sharpening sessions. If you don't own a hone, you can use the final, fine-grit slot of our top-rated manual and electric sharpeners for touching up the blade; this would serve as a stand-in for what a honing rod can do.
However, if you find that honing the blade doesn't make much of a difference, it's time to get out the sharpener. The angle control, overall power, and progressive stages (including a final polish) offered by our top-rated electric sharpener can bring even the dullest blade back to a brand-new, razor-sharp condition in minutes.
REMEMBER: If you don't want to purchase another piece of equipment for your kitchen, you can always have your knives sharpened professionally once or twice a year. Figure $1 to $2 per inch of blade. If you've invested in a quality knife, this service might be a great option to consider.
Manual Sharpener
Pros:
Very good and quick at sharpening most kitchen knives. Features a guard, which protects the hands while sharpening. Able to sharpen blades that feature a full bolster. Very inexpensive.
Cons:
Certain manual sharpeners can only be used for blades with a 15-degree angle.
Electric Sharpener
Pros:
This sharpener features multiple grinding slots, each with a different coarseness of blade to control the amount of sharpening. Some models include a honing slot, which easily realigns a misshapen blade. Spring-loaded guides ensure the knife is held at the right angle for sharpening. Our winner can convert a 20-degree edge to a sharper 15 degrees, so it can be used with both styles of knives.
Cons:
Cannot be used for knives that sport a full bolster, as the entire blade cannot be run through the sharpener (creating an unevenly shaped blade). Relatively expensive.
Sharpening Stone
Pros:
Extremely adaptable; because the cook holds the knife at a specified angle to match the blade (Western, hybrid gyutou, Japanese), a whetstone can be used to sharpen any knife. Can sharpen knives with a full bolster. Most stones feature a coarse and fine side, which determines the amount of sharpening at each pass. Relatively inexpensive.
Cons:
Takes practice to master; need to hold the knife at the correct angle to ensure a proper edge. Can take time to restore a very dull blade.
