How to Sharpen a Knife: Easy Steps to Restoring a Dull Blade
Any cook will tell you that having a sharp knife in the kitchen is not a luxury—rather, a necessity. An efficient knife is one that will help you prepare your meal quickly, more safely, and with delight. What if your knife had become blunt and difficult to use? Before rushing out to replace it, why not rejuvenate it with these few simple steps using a knife sharpener?
The Problem with Dull Knives
A blunt knife is not just an inconvenience, it’s dangerous. Excessive force, needed to cut through ingredients with a blunt knife, causes slips and accidents. Another point is that a blunt blade will tear rather than cut cleanly through food. This results in affected quality and presentation of dishes.
The Sharpening Solution
You don’t have to be a pro to turn a less interesting knife into a razor-sharp, highly accurate tool. Actually, anybody can get pretty good results with the right gear and technique. Here’s a simple technique to sharpen and re-angle your knife using a diamond-wheel sharpener.
Step 1: Inspect the Knife
First, check how dull your knife is. If it won’t even cut through a piece of paper, you definitely need to sharpen it. As you can see in this video, this knife hasn’t been sharpened in quite some time—this thing won’t even cut paper.
Step 2: Selecting the Appropriate Sharpener
Diamond wheel sharpeners are really good for this purpose. They have three different stages for sharpening:
Coarse Grinding: This first step smooths out the roughness and reshapes the blade.
Honing: The middle process refines the edge for smoothness and sharpness.
Polishing: The final process razor-finishes the sharpness of the blade using a finer diamond polish.
Step 3: Sharpening Process
Coarse Grinding: Reset the original 22-degree angle of your knife to a much more acute 15-degree angle, typically preferred by Japanese knives for their sharpness. Run the blade through the coarse grinding wheel about 20 times. Do this to grind away the old, dull edge and set a new, sharper angle.
Honing: Move on to the honing stage; run the blade through the wheel a few times—normally twice. This should be with light pressure, making sure that the whole blade is in contact with the honing surface. This stage irons out any irregularities that may be left from the coarse grinding.
Polishing: Use the diamond polish wheel to finally polish the blade. A few passes, three or four, should suffice. This further improves the edge and gives it a smooth finish with a bright glow.
Step 4: Testing the Sharpness
Cut a piece of paper with your newly sharpened knife. A sharp knife will glide effortlessly through it. Indeed, the knife not only has been sharpened but also has been re-angled to a more efficient cutting edge.
Advantages of a Sharp Knife
Apart from making the process much more pleasurable, a sharp knife is also safer. It requires less force, hence allowing very minimal potential slips and injuries. Another good thing about a sharp blade is that it will cut more cleanly; this affects the flavor and, hence, presentation of your dishes.
Conclusion
It’s pretty easy to revive a dull knife. With a diamond wheel sharpener and a little patience, the worst of blades can be revived to their brand-new sharpness. If someone as technically inexperienced as me manages to do so, then so can you. Give it a go and enjoy the benefits of a well-sharpened knife in your kitchen.
