I Tried Ina Garten’s Favorite Knife Sharpener — And It’s a Total Game-Changer (All My Knives Look New!)

I am a proud grad of the French Culinary Institute. But I’m not too proud to admit that I almost flunked out at one point because of my poor knife skills. I even had to get extra tutoring to better understand the art of chopping, slicing, and, um, generally handling a knife. Hey, it’s harder than it looks!

It likely won’t surprise you then to learn that I also never got the hang of the whole “knife sharpening” thing — which would explain why all my chef’s knives are dull.

Unfortunately for me, I cook with a lot of butternut squash and other winter veg, which are notoriously challenging to chop through. I’ll never feel comfortable with a whetstone or steel, but my knives needed help. Thankfully, I knew just where to turn. After asking myself WWID (What would Ina do?), I ordered the electric knife sharpener that she lists as one of her all-time favorites.

Initially, I was intimidated by the Chef’sChoice FlexHone/Strop Professional Electric Knife Sharpener. I don’t even know what a third of those words mean! But it came highly recommended by Ina, so I knew I’d be in good hands.

The electric sharpener works with both straight-edge and serrated blades (like bread knives), and has a two-stage sharpening process. The first stage uses diamond abrasives to sharpen, and the second stage handles the stropping and polishing. Stropping is part of the polishing process; it helps remove inconsistencies and is usually done with a leather strap.

After unboxing the electric sharpener, I realized it couldn’t be easier to use. It’s small — about the size of two mini ciabatta rolls — and has a simple, straightforward design. After reading the instruction manual, I was ready to sharpen.

Within five minutes, every knife in my kitchen was good as new! It only took a handful of runs, and it was just so easy and efficient. You just pull the knife through the grinding mechanisms and let the machine do all the work. That’s it.

I was especially pleased with how easy it was to get the right angle to sharpen my knives. I was never able to nail that part with manual sharpeners, but the electric sharpener took all the guesswork out of the process, helping me feel confident as I ran the blades through the machine.

I honestly can’t think of any downsides to this tiny, but mighty electric knife sharpener. It’s small enough to fit in any drawer, and it’s not nearly as dangerous or scary as I was anticipating. Best of all, it’s cut down (hehe) on my prep time. Now, I now chop and slice veggies much faster, thanks to my brilliantly sharp knives. I wish I’d gotten this efficient knife sharpener much sooner. As Ina would say, “How easy is that?”

Buy: Chef’sChoice FlexHone/Strop Professional Electric Knife Sharpener, $60.35

How do you sharpen your knives? Share your methods with us in the comments below.