How to Sharpen Your Knife

How to Know if Your Knife Needs Sharpening

There are a couple of ways to see if your blade needs sharpening. One is the paper test – simply hold up a piece of paper with one hand and slice through it with the blade with the other hand. A sharp blade will cut effortlessly through the paper. Another way is slicing a tomato – if your knives struggle to cut into the thin skin and soft flesh of a tomato, they probably also need to be sharpened. Otherwise, let frequency be your guide. For normal home cooking, we recommend you sharpen your knife after every 30-40 uses. Some pros prefer to sharpen their blades before every new culinary project.

The Difference Between Honing and Sharpening

There are actually two processes involved in knife maintenance – sharpening and honing. What’s commonly referred to as sharpening is actually honing. Any blade can become dull – which essentially means its fine edge has become bent through use – and needs to be honed regularly. Honing lines the edge of the knife back up, reestablishing the full effect of its razor’s edge. You can do this yourself at home with a honing steel.

Sharpening, on the other hand, is a process where bits of the blade are ground and shaved off to produce a new, sharp edge. This can be done using a knife sharpener or an electric sharpener. And you don’t need to do it as frequently as honing – just a few times a year, or after every 300 uses or so. But don’t forget to always use the honing steel after sharpening! This is because sharpening removes material from the blade and then honing smooths the newly sharp edge, so it should always be done in this order.

With years of use and resharpening, the cutting edge of a knife blade will become thicker, making the resharpening process more difficult. In this case, we recommend a professional sharpening service. Our stores also offer this service for anyone who doesn’t feel like honing and sharpening their knives themselves.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Knife Sharpening

• Take your knife sharpener and place the blade inside. Pull the knife towards you five times with pressure and five times without pressure.

• Next, use the honing steel. If you are not experienced at using a honing steel, it’s best to place the tip on a folded tea towel or damp dish cloth for extra stability. Experienced users will be accustomed to holding the steel in mid-air. 

• Hold the blade at a 20° angle to the sharpening steel. 

• Pull the knife downwards and towards you, moving from the heel to the tip of the blade.

• Repeat five times on each side of the blade.