Honestly, I was sharpening my knives wrong for like five years

Tbh, I always thought a quick pull through a sharpener before service was good enough. The tip off was when a new guy, fresh from culinary school, asked to borrow my knife and winced. He showed me his Shun and the edge was a completely different world. I spent a whole Sunday with a whetstone, following a video, and it took me over an hour to fix my main chef's knife. The difference in how it cuts through a tomato skin is insane. How many of you actually use stones versus just hitting the steel?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_baker612d ago

I read an article in Cook's Illustrated that said pull through sharpeners can actually damage the edge over time. They recommended a 1000/6000 grit combo stone for home use. I switched and it's a night and day difference, especially for delicate herbs.

avery_flores2d ago

How long did it take you to get the hang of using the stone? I've always thought those pull through sharpeners seemed too good to be true.

abby_martinez2d ago

That first hour on the stone is rough, but it gets way faster with practice. @avery_flores, the real trick is keeping a consistent angle, which just takes muscle memory. Once you get it down, a quick touch-up only takes a few minutes.