How to Sharpen a Knife Carefully?

Common belief states - sharp knives are dangerous. But in reality, it's much safer than a blunt one. Sharp knives can cut through meat and veggies precisely without slipping or bouncing off ingredients, causing injury. Injuries happen due to lack of maintenance or proper blade sharpening.

Knife sharpening is not a difficult task but does require a bit of skill and concentration to do it carefully. If you are not good with tools, you can always hire a professional sharpening service for the job.


Here Are A Few Ways to Sharpen a Knife Carefully

Honing Technique

It is a knife sharpening technique via abrasion to create a finer edge. It's called steeling when you use a honing steel rod to straighten out the blade's edge. Honing steel is the best method to maintain your knives. In honing, you perform the blade sharpening with a sharpening steel or sharpening rod.

● Secure the rod with your fingers tucked behind the base of the steel.
● Hold it in one hand and hold the knife in the other, positioning the blade at 20 degrees.
● Take long strokes with the knife heel at the base of the steel and slide towards the top of the steel in one smooth motion.
● Make sure the knife moves diagonally across the steel rod.
● Repeat the steps and then alternate the knife on the underside of the steel rod to sharpen the opposing side.

Always slide the blade away from your body to minimize the risk of any injury during knife sharpening.

Grinding Technique

Grinding is another blade sharpening technique that removes minute pieces of metal from the edge of a knife and helps to refine its angle. You do it with a sharpening stone or a knife sharpener. In grinding, the worn-away pieces of metal get removed, leaving new metal at the surface.

● Whetstone or Blade Sharpening Stone

It has two abrasive sides - one coarse and the other smooth. First, immerse the whetstone in water for 10-minutes, then put on the holder/towel with the coarse-side up. Second, place the knife at a 20-degree angle, pressing its heel first then gliding towards the tip. Apply multiple strokes on one side, then flip the knife and repeat the process. Make sure to keep the whetstone wet and free from debris for the best knife sharpening results.

● Electrical or Manual Knife Sharpeners

Knife sharpeners are the modern fix for blade sharpening. In electric knife sharpeners, you can find the abrasives on a motorized wheel that spins against your knife when you place it. Then, you insert your dull knife in the electric knife sharpener from the base and pull backward in a slow straight position to the tip.

Manual knife sharpeners have V-shaped chambers in which you pull the knife from base to tip repeatedly to sharpen it. Its unique shape grinds both sides simultaneously.

Conclusion

Honing and grinding maintain your knives sharp. For severely dull knives, hire a professional knife sharpening service now.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Best Technique to Sharpen a Knife

Most Crucial Points to Think About Before Hiring a Knife Sharpening Service

Everything Essential You Need to Know About Knife Sharpening