Keeping Your Chef's Knife Sharp
You do not need an arsenal of gadgets to keep your blades useful. Mastering the angle between the steel and the stone is the only way to ensure your knife cuts through a tomato skin without crushing the flesh underneath.
Consistency beats speed
Your goal is maintaining a steady angle throughout the entire stroke. If your angle wanders, you will round off the edge instead of sharpening it.
- Whetstone (dual-grit 1000/6000)
- Honing rod
- Towel to stabilize the stone
- Water
Finding the 15-degree window
Hold the spine of the knife about the width of two pennies off the stone. This creates the primary edge angle that balances sharpness with durability.
The method.
Prepare the stone
Submerge your whetstone in water until the bubbles stop rising, usually about ten minutes. Place it on a damp towel on your counter to prevent sliding.
Establish the burr
Start on the coarser side (1000 grit). Place the heel of the blade on the stone at your 15-degree angle. Apply moderate pressure as you slide the knife forward and across the stone, moving from heel to tip. Repeat until you feel a slight wire edge, or burr, on the opposite side of the blade.
Refine the edge
Flip the knife and repeat the motion on the other side. Once you have a burr on both sides, switch to the 6000 grit stone. Use lighter pressure and fewer passes to polish the edge.
Hone
Hold the honing rod vertically with the tip on the counter. Draw the blade down the rod at a 15-degree angle, alternating sides with each stroke. Five passes per side is usually enough to align the metal.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Test your edge by slicing a piece of paper; if the blade tears the paper rather than slicing it clean, go back to the coarser grit.
Never use a honing rod to sharpen; it only straightens the edge, it does not remove metal.
Clean the metal filings off your stone after every use to prevent the pores from clogging.
The ones that keep coming up.
How do I know when it is time to sharpen?
When the knife feels like it is sliding off the surface of an onion rather than biting into it, the edge has become dull.
Can I use a pull-through sharpener?
Pull-through sharpeners remove significant amounts of metal unevenly and often ruin the geometry of a quality blade over time.
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