How to Choose Kitchen Knives : Using Honing Steel to Sharpen Kitchen Knives

Learn how to use honing steel to sharpen kitchen knives and learn more about kitchen cutlery in this free instructional video.

Expert: Brandon Sarkis
Bio: Brandon Sarkis has been a professional chef for more than 12 years, and he has worked in Austin, Texas, Columbus, Ohio, and Atlanta, Ga.
Filmmaker: brandon sarkis

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• kitchen knives
• choosing kitchen knives
• choosing utensils
• kitchen knives tips
• kitchen knives help

[bushputz]

When was the last time you saw an expertvillage video when it wasn't made by the village idiot?

[svensby]

that is NOT how to hone.

[c2thedub14]

@krizzle1983 wusthof's are elegant, but shitty. thick blades, wide edges. go with something like a MAC , or Tojiro, and even Victorinox Forged are better.

[c2thedub14]

@willthethrill0001 false. you should learn to use stones and do it yourself. factory edges arent very good 90% of the time, with few exceptions like MAC and Victorinox, and misono as they have superb quality control. some knives dont even come finished, which for the most part are traditional japanese knives to protect the edge from breaking in route to you, and sometimes by companies like global, Wusthof, and Henckels, where ones or two unfinished edges slip through due to high production volum

[RebelWrestler45]

@c2thedub14 Any abrasive material has a raised 'grit' that removes material from its contact surface, consisting of ridges and valleys; the grit of spyderco's ceramics is more uniform in height and size than most rivals. Surface flatness and uniformity are what distinguishes cheap whetstones from high grade Shaptons; same thing goes with ceramics. Spyderco's ultra fine ceramics are somewhere over 3000 grit, though it is not east to 'grit' ceramic, as the grit on ceramics is very shallow.

[c2thedub14]

@JustifyJustin he means it bends the steel back into shape, or "trues" it, so nothings actually removed. if you use a diamond steel, a quick wipe will do. and ceramics remove metal, but its a negligable amount.

[c2thedub14]

@Chaospanic87 i found that a UX10 doesnt come very sharp from the factory. i put about a 11 degree double bevel on it with stones (50/50, instead of stock 70/30 angle) and it cuts ALOT better. plus, i only have to sharpen it about every month (heavy use, i work in a kitchen).

[c2thedub14]

@RebelWrestler45 not sure what you mean by smoother/more uniform. but the spyderco rods are just 1000-1200 grit, i believe, and the MAC rod is 2000 grit, so its smoother. and uniform: they're both very flat, and since its a circle its a point that you're hitting the the blade, that eventually wears down a little.

[RebelWrestler45]

@c2thedub14 I just use the ceramics off of my Spyderco sharpmaker for a quick edge realignment; smoother and more uniform surface than most ceramic honing rods on the market.

[c2thedub14]

@RebelWrestler45 or use a Ceramic "steel." they're made by company's like MAC and Kyocera, and are essentially a waterstone in the shape of a steel. white ones are about 1200 grit, and about $20 for 8.25", and the black MAC ones are about 2000 grit and a 10.5" costs $45

[RebelWrestler45]

@rjpra2 No, the steel will not cause microchipping on VG-10, unless you really try to beat the crap out of it. Personally, I don't like steels at all, for my kitchen knives I use a high grit stone hone to realign a rolled edge.

[rjpra2]

is that the shun honing rod? I read that the grooves are a bit thick and makes many shun knives chip. Did you experience this? I'm asking because I'm considering buying a shun cook's knife but not sure if I should get this particular honing rod