For the sharpening of knives, you’ll find several tools that are pretty much common in the market. But, to find the best sharpening tool, according to your needs and knife type is the thing that matters the most. Different tools that are used for knife sharpening include the specific type of stones, hones, steel rods/ honing steels, electric sharpeners, and serrated knife sharpeners.
If you’re wondering “What is a good knife sharpener?”, here’s the answer to this. The Chef’sChoice Trizor XV is the best of the best knife sharpeners available in the market. This is an electric knife sharpener that is pretty much simple to use and works wonders! It is a great sharpener to bring back your dull knives to super sharp edges and can be used for all types of Japanese as well as German knives.
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What is a Knife Sharpener Called?
As there are several types of knife sharpeners, there are also plenty of different names for them. Knife sharpeners are often called sharpening steels, whet steel, whetstone, sharpening stick, sharpening rod, electric knife sharpeners, etc. Furthermore, a chef’s steel may also be known as the steel rod.
Do pull-through sharpeners damage knives?
Yes. This is the drawback of the Pull-through sharpeners that their continuous usage may cause harm to the knives. This is because they remove the material layer from the knife and bring out the new layer, resulting in the shortening of the lifetime for knives.
Types of Knife Sharpeners
The purpose of all knife sharpeners is the same that is, the sharpening of knives. But the difference occurs in their usage and ease of useability. According to that, there are few different types of knife sharpeners that we’re going to discuss.
Here are some of the types of knife sharpeners.
- Sharpening Stones
- Steel Rods/ Honing Steels
- Handheld Sharpeners
- Electric Sharpeners
1. Sharpening Stones
These are basically stones and are the most common tool for sharpening knives. For normal household uses, many people prefer using stones to sharpen their knives. There could be three types of stones that are much effective and popular.
- Arkansas stones – naturally produced and are made of Novaculite.
- India stones – made up of Aluminium Oxide and are man-made.
- Crystolon stones – made of Silicon Carbide and are man-made.
These stones are placed horizontally on a table and the knife blade is rubbed over the surface, moving the blade forward and backward. A few strikes may be enough if the knife is slightly dull.
2. Steel Rods/ Honing Steels
The honing steels are often considered as the tools for honing the knife blade rather than sharpening it. Mostly, the chefs make use of these steel rods to hone the blades and get the perfect edge between the cuts. The actual job of the honing steel or steel rod is to prepare the blades for certain cuts and styles. These can be used for preparing the knives for regular, combination, diamond, and ceramic cuts.
These steel rods are added in the types of knife sharpeners because they can actually be used for minor sharpening of knives. Many people, who do not have to deal with heavy knife works, often use them at home.
To learn about how to use a honing steel, you may visit Here.
3. Handheld/ Manual Sharpeners
Handheld sharpeners are simply manual sharpeners that actually work great for sharpening knives. These sharpeners do not have many slots for the intensity of sharpening but are super portable. They are perfectly sized to fit in your hand with a strong grip and let you sharpen the knives easily.
For the use of handheld or pull-through sharpeners, you can either place the sharpener on a table and move the knife blade through the slots. Or, you can place the knife on a table, with the cutting side of the blade directed upwards, and move the sharpener down the length of the blade. Both the ways work.
4. Electric Sharpeners
Electric sharpeners are the ones mostly used by professionals for the sharpening of their high-end knives. Most of these sharpeners have 3 to 4 slots which can be used according to the intensity of sharpness your knife needs. The advantage of electric sharpeners is that they work on their own, no manual working is needed.
Do knife sharpeners really work?
Knife sharpeners work wonders. You can by no means, sharpen a knife without any kind of sharpener. Knives do require sharpening over time, and knife sharpeners do the job. All professionals sharpen their knives because when the knives are being used for a long time, they do get dull. A knife can obviously not be replaced every time it gets dull, so sharpening it with the right knife sharpener is the only option.
Best Knife Sharpener for the Money
Chef’sChoice Trizor XV is the best knife sharpener in the market. It might be costly for being a knife sharpener but is totally worth the money. It is a super fast and easy-to-use sharpener.
Work Sharp Culinary E2 is another electric knife sharpener that comes at an affordable price. This sharpener is also simple to use and works better than all its competitors within the same price range.
Best Way to Sharpen a Knife
The most common and affordable way, without destroying the knife’s lifetime is using the sharpening stones, also called the Whetstones. Most people prefer this method over the electric sharpening ones because no doubt, electric sharpeners are way more convenient to use but the electric sharpening of knives may damage the knives over time and reduces their lifetime as well.
The usage of stones for the sharpening of knives, however, is considered the best way. You can sharpen your knives manually, according to the intensity of sharpness you need. It can be used for both household and professional uses. While electric sharpening is often recommended for the knives that are to be used for heavy duties, such as for the ones used for professional uses at hotels or butcher shops.
Difference Between Honing and Sharpening
Honing is basically maintaining the edge of the knife. The honing steels do not sharpen the knife, rather, they push back the sharpened edge of the knife back to its place. Many people prefer honing their knives after every use, in order to make sure that the edge remains fine.
On the other hand, sharpening the knife means removing the thin layer from the blade of the knife by rubbing it against a surface and bringing out the new sharpened layer on the front.
In short, honing brings back the sharp edge of the knife to the center, while sharpening actually removes a layer from the blade and brings out the new layer. Honing is a better option if you need sharpened knives for normal household use. This is because it won’t reduce the lifetime of your knife and at the same time, keep the edge in its place.
Our Verdict
Sharpening the knives is definitely a necessary thing to do but excess of everything is bad. The same goes for the sharpening of knives. Sharpening your knives is extremely important for easier and quicker use but too much sharpening may also reduce the lifetime of knives to a great extent. Also, choosing the right sharpener for your knife is an important thing. So, make sure you research well before you make a purchase for that.
