How To Sharpen Your Kitchen Knife

A kitchen knife becomes blunt after repeated use, and that’s where kitchen knife sharpening comes in. Sharpening your kitchen knife is more practical and less expensive than buying a new one. Here are some useful tips to help you do a good job in sharpening your trusted kitchen knife.

1. Sharpening a blunt kitchen knife. Almost all blades that have become blunt with frequent use can be made sharp again. The outcome will depend on the bluntness of the blade, the material of the blade, the equipment used for sharpening, and the force, angle and manner at which it is sharpened.
2. Using a stone. A kitchen knife can be sharpened by rubbing it against a stone. Sharpening stones are made of variety of materials. They are the following, ordered from least effective to most effective: steel, hard stone, ceramic and diamond.
3. Using water or oil when sharpening. You can choose whether to pour liquid on your stone or not while sharpening; it doesn’t make the knife any duller or sharper. However, there are certain types of stones such as the Japanese water stone, which needs water for it to be used.
4. Using sharpening tools. A good knife sharpener can sharpen your entire knife set without wearing down. This is more expensive yet more convenient than sharpening your kitchen cutlery with a stone. This consists of angle guides, holders, and gadgets to take off the burden from sharpening manually. Before you buy any sharpening tool, read the reviews and the manual to see whether it is reliable or not.
5. Different angles. You may have noticed that different knives have different levels of sharpness, depending on how the knife is used. The sharpness of a knife is determined by the size of the angle on its edge. A scalpel used for surgery has a very small angle, while an axe has a very wide angle. A utility knife differs from a bread knife in sharpness because they serve different purposes. Consider the purpose of your kitchen knife to determine the angle at which you will sharpen it.
6. How to use angles in sharpening. By modifying the angle of sharpening, you modify the sharpness of the knife as well. If you want your knife to be extra sharp, lessen the angle between the blade and the stone while sharpening it (around 10 degrees). Take note, however, that the sharper your kitchen knife becomes, the thinner its edge, and the frailer it will be. Because of this, if you want your kitchen knife to become tougher, widen the angle at which you sharpen its blade. No matter what angle you use, keep the angle steady for best results.
7. Sharpening directions. To sharpen your kitchen knife adequately and evenly, sharpen in alternating directions. First, stroke the knife against the stone from the knife tip to the knife bottom. Next, turn the knife to the other side, and stroke it from the bottom to the tip. After doing this for a while, lessen the pressure at which you sharpen your knife to prevent the knife from wearing down.

Done sharpening? Test the sharpness of your kitchen knife. The shinier the edge, the sharper it is. Also cut items with it. Examine how smoothly it glides through the material to determine whether you still need to do more sharpening.