Here's a question from reader artichoke queen. How do you keep your knives sharp?
Looking for a good, manual knife sharpener that will work on Global knives and others. The Furi has been recommended. Any suggestions?
We confess right now that we are not as diligent as wes should be at sharpening our knives, so this is a learning point for us as well. Sara Kate initially suggested just getting a steel and stone. You can buy a steel and stone at many cook's resource shops - here's one page of listings that we considered:
• Chef Depot Diamond Sharpeners
If you are going this route, read this eGullet guide to knife sharpening. It is absolutely helpful and fascinating. We learned a lot about sharpening our knives from this piece, and now we just need to put it into practice!
Ideally you will hone your knife on a steel almost every day before use. See the eGullet tutorial for photos and guides on how to do this. If you do this faithfully you actually won't need to have your knife sharpened very often at all. If you just hone your knife with a steel, we recommend getting your knives professionally sharpened only when they need it - maybe twice a year.
If you really want a sharpener at home, see Cook's Illustrated. They often update their guide to the best knife sharpeners. Most recently their top pick wasn't a manual sharpener, which surprised us. (We have always been suspicious of the electric versions, which don't allow you adjust very much for the different geometry and angles of different blades.)
Their electric pick:
• Chef'sChoice Professional Sharpening Station 130 - Platinum, $149.99 at Amazon
You can see a PDF of their recentop manual picks here. They actually do not recommend the Furi as they found it damaged some of the knives they tested.
Their top manual picks:
• AccuSharp Knife and Tool Sharpener, $9.95 at Amazon
• Anolon Universal Sharpener, $29.95 at Amazon
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Keep in mind that different styles of knives may require different methods of sharpening and honing.
Global knives should only be honed with a diamond or ceramic sharpening steel. They should only be sharpened with a ceramic wet stone.
Personally, for sharpening knives like the ones above, I like the simple plastic hand-held sharpener that has the crossed sharpening bits. But these must be used with great caution--I have seen some nasty accidents with these things. But for choosing the right piece of equipment Cook's Illustrated is a great guide! Adam Reid does his homework!
I am not good at manual sharpening - and the sound really bothers me, like nails on a chalkboard. If you live in Chicago, I recommend taking them to Northwestern Cutlery on Lake - it's about $2 a knife and the do them while you wait, about 10 minutes tops!
No question: Spyderco Sharpmaker. End of discussion, unless you want to pony up $200 for an EdgePro. I'd never in a million years trust an electric sharpener to take care of my chef's knife, which is the most heavilty used tool in the house.
You'll get a much better 'feel' for what sharp is and isn't when you use a manual sharpener. As for in-between sharpening honing, the Sharpmaker pretty much lives on the counter in my kitchen and I give my knives a quick pass or two down its ceramic stones, which takes off a negligible amount of metal and keeps the edge hair shaving sharp.
Anything that doesn't give you at least the option of 20 degree and 15 degree edges is a waste of time. High tech steel japanese knives love that 15 degree (or less!) edge, while something like a carbon steel knife should be at 20 or you'll be sharpening it twice a day.
Like any tool, you need to spend a little time learning to use it, but it's really worth the effort.
I certainly wouldn't bother with a $150 electric sharpener when an EdgePro doesn't cost much more and can put an INSANELY good edge on a blade.
I sharpen all my knives one against the other. Learned how to do it as a kid from my grandpa.
EdgePro, Give me a break! What are you a salesmen?
First off, Get japanese Knives. They use the correct steel for a knife. Not that Butter soft stuff the Germans sell you.
Then use any of the Cook's Illustrated sharpners before every use. You will never have a dull knife!
(until the spouse opens a can with it)
I assume you are asking about honing rather than sharpening. HOning should be done on a regular basis to maintain the edge of your knife, sharpening should only be done once or twice a year (or if the edge is far too dull to hone).
For Global knives, or any other Japanese knife, DO NOT use the honer from Furi. Japanese knives, like Global and Shun (and some German Santokus as well) have a edge angle of 15 to 17 degrees. The Diamondfingers from Furi will try to force the edge to a 22 degree angle. This could destroy your edge. It works great for German blades though, and I use it all the time on my Henckel Five-Star chef's knife.
For your Japanese knives, try the Minosharp from Global, or the Wusthof Asian Edge Sharpener. Both of these units have notches for sharpening and honing.
Regarding electric sharpeners: if you are going to use one on Asian knifes, again you need to make sure that is it suited for a 15 to 18 degree edge. Honestly, I'm terrified of electric sharpeners. They can dramatically change the profile of your blade.
The best solution is a regular honing (before every or every other use), and professional sharpening once a year. But be careful, some "professionals" just use electric sharpeners instead of stones.
I bought one of these Wusthof 2-stage sharpeners before I could find any reviews of them (now there are over 50 on Amazon alone):
http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-2-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B0009NMVRI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1204919568&sr=8-1
It's been very easy to use, and I definitely get good results from it.
However, I am not by any stretch deeply informed about knives and their maintenance, and I would be happy to learn if anyone sees any reason not to use this item. If it's not if fact doing terrible damage to my knives that I don't yet know about, then I would strongly recommend it.
The Wusthof two stage is a good sharpener and honer. The ceramic stage is good for everyday use.
It comes in both a traditional and Asian model.
I use the manual Accusharp recommended by Cook's Illustrated (and Ted Nugent!). It works well and has a finger guard for klutzes like me.