How do you keep kitchen knives sharp?

Question

I have a good German knife set, but it is getting dull and when I try to use the sharpening stick, I seldom make them sharper, and when I do, they don't stay sharp. Do I need to have them done by a professional, or is there a better way?

Answer 1

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036


go to the site listed above...it is very informative....and interesting reading about knives, steel hardness, sharpening, angle etc etc.......

Answer 2

I have several things I use.

My knives are Henckles "S" knives. I use a Chef's Choice 3 stage electric sharpener when/if they get really dull. I also have a Henckles two position sharpener - this one is manual that you pull the blade towards yourself. I also have a steel.

90% of the time I use the two position sharpener and the steel.

Answer 3

I take my knives (which cost a fortune!!!) to a guy that professionally sharpens them.....nothing worse than a dull knife......Sharp is supposed to be sharp ALL the time.......We have a joke here in the neighborhood, a lady friend went to cut a lime for her Gin and Tonic the other day, and said "will you cut this, your knives are like weapons........" Get them professionally sharpened.....not too pricey, I pay probably 20 bucks, but I use all my knives a lot..........Enjoy!!!

Christopher

Answer 4

I have a sharpening tool that you draw the knife through it several times to hone the edges. The sharpening stick you mention is only to remove any burrs from the knife after sharpening and for a touch up job.

Answer 5

At my old place I had a magnet bar for hanging them on the wall. Unfortunately I moved and this house doesn't have wall space for another magnet bar. So mine get dull too from being in the drawer. There's a supermarket here that will sharpen them free while you shop. You just drop them off at the meat counter. Check out any kitchen shop too. They charge me $3 a knife and return them in plastic sleeves.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Those long metal rods will work to keep the blades even and the tiny tiny grooves unbent, but that is not the same as sharpening. DO NOT use any of those gadget sharpeners, they are all crap. A whet stone will work if you take a course or learn to sharpen correctly; you can destroy a knife in a minute if you don't know how to do it right. Otherwise use the metal rod to keep the blade straight and have them professionally sharpened every 6 months or so.

Answer 7

I have high carbon steel knives and I use a whet stone to sharpen them. Really gives them a good sharp edge.

Answer 8

http://www.altonbrown.com/shun/shun_edge.html

watch the little video. he's talking about a specific knife, but there's a lot of good general info about knife care in there.
why blades go dull, what the steel (sharpening stick) is for, how and when to use.

if they're good quality knives you should have them professially sharpened. i remember i tried to do it myself once...wow, i didn't cut anything after that, i just clubbed it to a pulp.

!Alexiis

Answer 9

You can buy an electric knife sharpener. I can't imagine it would cost over 20 dollars at Walmart.

Answer 10

You may want to check this out from ehow.com:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2282_sharpen-kitchen-knives.html

Or this:
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/lib2/knife.htm

Hope these are helpful!

--Bill Pardue
Arlington Heights Memorial Library http://www.ahml.info
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