It is the exact moment to polish your kitchen knife if it crushes tomatoes instead of slicing them or slipping when chopping onions. How to sharpen a kitchen knife is a technique that every household cook should acquire. Regardless if you choose to sharpen manually, use an automated sharpener or a whetstone.
Sharpening kitchen knives regularly will improve their usability and performance. Precise blades can rapidly and securely slice through food, reducing overall your cooking time. Here are some methods about how to sharpen a kitchen knife. You can use a few simple instruments to sharpen knives at home.
With this much different variety of blades, sharpeners are available on the marketplace; deciding which one is right for you can be difficult. This equipment goes by various names (sharpening steel, sharpening rod, or honing steel). Still, the theory behind them is the same. Today we all will talk about how to sharpen a kitchen knife using several techniques.
Knife Sharpening Method 1: Sharpening a Knife With a Rod
You will have the desired result if you glide the knife across the rod’s body at a proper angle. In reality shows, you’ll watch chefs slapping their blades against the rod at breakneck speed and afterward slice a bunch of tomatoes at the same clip.
The majority of us, on the other hand, lack the necessary experience. The vertical stroking technique of sharpening your knife using a rod is a more effortless and secure method. Here’s the method for it:
Step-1:
Firmly press the rod tip on a wooden chopping board or any non-slippery tabletop surface. You would like to keep a sufficient distance from your body that a mistake won’t put you in danger, but not too close that it’s challenging to handle.
Step-2:
With the knife side facing down, insert the bottom of your cutting blade against the upper portion of the rod. The tip of your knife should be angled mildly upward.
Step-3:
Make a 15-degree curve between the blade and the rod by turning the bottom of the knife outward. Based on the slope aspect of the knife, the angle may differ.
Step-4:
Now, pull the knife toward you while sliding it downward. It would help if you got to the knife’s tip before hitting the rod’s end. Maintain a 15-degree angle the entire way down. Continue this movement a total of 4-5 times.
Step-5:
Repeat the whole process for another side of the blade. (Only polish one side of your knife if it is only inclined on one side) Before using the knife, make sure it’s clean.
Whether you are indeed utilizing a ceramic or steel sharpening rod, you should do this at least once every few days.
It will improve chopping easier and prolong the life of the blade. Nevertheless, if you use proper honing rods, you’ll only have to repeat this many times annually.
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Knife sharpening Method 2: Using Knife Sharpening Wet Stone
You can start honing your knife once you have found the right angle. You’ll use the same sharpening method whether you buy a sharpening stone built of Novaculite, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide. If there are any peculiarities, double-check the manufacturer’s guidelines. The following are the steps for sharpening your culinary knives:
Step-1:
Place your honing stone on a solid platform and cover it with a damp towel. Start by placing the rougher part of the stone on top of the knife blade, as this is the fastest way to return it to its original shape.
Step-2:
Using the company’s guidelines, lubricate the stone. Some alternatives, such as diamond stones, do not require additional lubrication whatsoever, so read the stone’s requirements carefully.
Step-3:
Slide the blade up-down over the stone through a swift movement, continuing to the heel, then ending at the 22.5-degree angle tip together with the knife. You have to do this at least five times. Based on how dull the knife is, you probably had to repeat this motion multiple times.
Step-4:
Utilizing the exact procedure, turn the blade to another side and polish the opposite side. To maintain regularity, polish this other half the precise quantity of strokes as another. Draw the knife back to the same side; however, you should do this five times across the top to the bottom.
Step-5:
Switch to the other side and polish five times as well from top to bottom. Resume processes 1–5 using the fine side of your honing stone.
However, bear in mind that consistency is essential whenever sharpening blades with a honing stone. As a result, make sure you maintain a similar angle every time and polish both sections of your knife evenly.
Knife sharpening Method 3 – Sharpen Without Sharpener
There might undoubtedly come a time when you require honing your blade but lack the necessary tools. However, the reality is sometimes, in certain extreme circumstances, you can re-sharpen your knife using everyday household objects. Below is a quick and easy technique to polish your blades by yourself to save time and effort.
- Select a ceramic mug or cup with one rough edge on the bottom to apply this technique.
- Turn the cup or dish facing down on firm, stable ground.
- Ensure the plate or cup won’t slide around on the floor.
- Put the dull knife on the rough surface of the mug or other dish at a 10-degree angle and glide the blade over the border in fast, consecutive motions.
The hard side of the edge will sharpen your knife.
Conclusion
Whenever it concerns knife security, a dull knife is more unsafe since kitchen personnel must struggle their route into chopping meat and slicing vegetables. Honing stones make it simple to keep knives sharp daily. This editorial will assist you and other home cooks in correctly sharpening their kitchen knives so that they do not block up their kitchen when cutting materials.
