If you’d like to find out more about sharpening your own knives read on ...
- Knife Sharpening - An Introduction
- Sharpening steel or sharpening stone - Which should I choose? >>
- How to use a sharpening steel >>
- The truth about pull through knife sharpeners >>
- Sharpening stones - All you need to know >>
- How to use a sharpening stone >>
- Knife sharpening classes >>
- Knife sharpening videos >>
- Knife sharpening service >>
Knife Sharpening - An Introduction
In a perfect world we would all have time to spend 5-10 minutes everyday (or every week for home chefs) to sharpen our kitchen knives to a razor's edge on a Japanese waterstone. This is in fact how the very best Japanese or French chefs finish their shifts – They sharpen their knives religiously at the end of each day. Remember the best time to sharpen your knife is when it’s still sharp. If you wait until it’s blunt, it will take much greater effort and time.
A sharp knife is important in order to preserve the true flavours of fresh ingredients. Cutting with a dull knife will damage food on a cellular level and alter it's taste and appearance. The quality of the cut is becoming an increasingly important issue in professional cooking.
A sharp knife is also important for safety. A dull knife is more prone to slip on food and may result in bodily injury. Sharp knives are also important for kitchen efficiency. It will take more time and effort to cut with a dull knife than a sharp knife.
Using a sharp knife is also undoubtedly much more enjoyable.
Knife Sharpening Options
To sharpen a knife you really only have two options:
A) Give to someone to sharpen
B) Sharpen it yourself
Giving to someone to sharpen
A quick look in the directory will unearth a wide selection of people advertising a knife sharpening service. Many hard and fast methods can quickly deteriorate the quality of your knife so be careful.
Owner and togishi - Leigh Hudson has trained extensively in knife sharpening under Masters of kataba and ryoba blades in Japan. Chef’s Armoury knife sharpening is done on our premises in Sydney and Melbourne. Read more about our knife sharpening services.
Sharpening Knives Yourself
There are many options available when sharpening knives at home. Although it is tempting top go for a quick fix you really should read – the truth about pull through knife sharpeners.
Sharpening, or honing on a steel is a good in between measure. Read our advice on How to use a sharpening steel.
If you are really keen to learn more we run regular knife sharpening classes where you will learn how to use Japanese waterstones.
Got the stones and just itching to have a go at sharpening your own knives, don't do anything until you watch this video on how to sharpen a chef's knife.
