how can i sharpen my chef's knife?

Question

i have nothing at home to sharpen it with. what can i use? what can i not use? it's so dull, it used to be so sharp but now it's not. =(
please help me. i am always cooking for my family and that knife is more than just a necessity. thanks for any help.

Answer 1

most knife companies will sharpen thier knives for free, it just takes a while to send them and to get them back. A steel, is a tool just used to hone a knife not actually sharpen it, you should hone the knive everytime you use it. A sharpening stone works well, if you know how to use one. My advice would be take it a get it professionally sharpened. I take my 5 professional knives at a time and it takes about 10 mins and costs about 15 bucks and is well worth it

Answer 2

In a emergency, which this doesn't seem to be, take another knife and run you primary knife along the back of the second. Now go to Wal-mart and purchase a steel knife sharpener for under $10. The first time you sharpen, 5 strokes on one edge, the 5 on the opposite edge. Next 3 strokes first side, and 3 the opposite. Then one time each side. If you really are in bad shape, repeat the program again.

Answer 3

one of those handy knife sharpener at the grocery store is the best tool you can use.

Another quick and easy way is to use the bottom of a ceramic bowl or cup as your sharpening stone. Flip the bowl over. While holding it in one hand, press and slide your knife forward against the bowl's bottom at a flat angle a number of times. Repeat for the other side of the knife. Wash the knife under running water afterwards


Ace

Answer 4

Unknown to a lot of the general public, knives and other tools of the trade are sharpened in the back alleys and rear entry doors of some of the best 5 star resturants by a professional knife sharpener. This is a dissappearing trade found in a very few major metropolitian cites across the country. What truly professional chief will trust his "equipment" or his professinoal tools to any off the shelf knife sharpener. Even a pro - wood worker like myself, will take some of my better blades to be "touched up", by the pro at the hardware store. Trades men that have for years, learned how metals behave under the pressure and heat of the grinding wheels. And which wheel to use. There are many differences. What file works best with Tungsten, carbide, stainless and so forth. What true professionals use is either they take the time to do it themselves, which is not often, and requires a lot of tools in and of itself... or they put them in the hands of the professional... I have seen one such man in Macon, Georgia. He could put a finer, sharper edge on my Swiss Army Knife than what it came with... Waving it at paper and it would split in fear... His edge would hold longer than anything I ever did... These tradesmen go to the back doors and are welcomed. They often work out of the back of pick up truck or work vans... They hook up to an outlet in the kitchen, their grinding wheels, buffing wheels and what ever else they need... The common charge is around $5.00 - $7.00 per edge. So unless there are several blades to do, the man can't make much. The trade is an old one. Yet a few still hang onto it, a few still use it... I would like to reccomend one tool that takes the place of this artist, but I can't. Keep Clear Spartan Caver

Answer 5

If you have a carbon steel knife( one that would rust if you do not dry it after getting wet) the best kind to have, draw the blade across the opening to a crockery pot/jar. If the knife is stainless steel you will need to have it sharpened by machine. Most stones will not do a good job stainless steel because of it's hardness. 15*-20* to the face of the sharpener is the perferred angle to sharpen at.

Answer 6

You will be best to wait until you can go purchase a good knife sharpener. Anything else you try to use will most likely ruin your knife.

Answer 7

It sounds like you don't want to buy the obvious answer. It you don't want to buy a knife sharpener, call the knife stores in your town, they'll probably sharpen it, for a smaller fee.

Answer 8

Kitchen shops and grocery stores do it around here. You just drop off the knife (at the grocery it's free!) and do your shopping. It's a lot better than trying to sharpen it yourself.

Answer 9

Buy a stone, or take it in to be sharpened. 20 degree angle on a stone, or pay a few bucks to get it sharpened, your choice!

Answer 10

Buy a honing steel, and read the directions that come w/ it to use correctly.