Sharpening tool recommendation needed?

[Julio]

Hello,

My wustof knives lost their sharp edge and it's ripping my chicken apart. I have a wustof smooth steel but is not working at all. I have been thinking about buying the electrical sharpening tool that has 3 sections that cost around $150.00 but I would like to get something cheaper if possible.

Does anyone know of a cheaper solution that works?

[GotGarlic]

I take mine to the butcher at the grocery store. Works great and it's free

[Andy M.]

If you want to do your own sharpening, there are options directly related to how involved you want to get.

1. "I just want these knives sharp!" Buy an electric sharpener. America's Test Kitchen just did a comparison and recommended the Chef's Choice three stage.

2. "I've always wanted to try sharpening my own knives." Buy a manual sharpening kit that includes various grit stones and angle guides along with instructions to keep you from messing up your edges. Lanky and Apex Edge Pro of systems at different price points.

3. "Knife sharpening is where it at! I can slice a car in half with one swipe of my chef's knife" Buy a set of quality sharpening stones, pixie dust etc and go to Japan and apprentice for 10 years to learn how to use them.

[tenspeed]

I have the Chef's Choice Trizor, and am very impressed by it. I'm on ATK's email list, and they were running a promotion late last year for $130, and I bit. I sharpened 3 of my own knives, 5 for my daughter, and 4 for a good friend. The cost per knife has dropped!

If you know your knives are dull, be very careful after a good sharpening. I didn't think mine were too bad, but was startled at how fast the knife went through veggies. My daughter had the same reaction.

The steel doesn't sharpen the knife, it just realigns the edge. Go to https://chefschoice.com/ and check out the video section for an explanation.

[Cooking Goddess]

I just bought a Wusthof. The "care-and-feeding" pamphlet that was in the box mentioned using a pull-through sharpener as the first choice.

[jennyema]

I get mine professionally sharpened twice a year for pretty cheap.

[Rocklobster]

I like to sharpen my own knives. They only have to be so sharp, after all...I have been using this stone for years...once you get on to a stone, it is very easy and effective...cheap, too..

[Dawgluver]

We have the Chef's Choice three stage. DH loves it, and is disappointed when I don't have anything for him to sharpen. It does a nice job.

[caseydog]

I have a Chef's Choice three stage sharpener that has served me well for many years. Then, for day-to-day honing, I have a Wusthof pull-through sharpener. It does the same thing as a steel, but is easier to use, IMO.

Like tenspeed said, a steel (and my Wusthof sharpener) don't actually create a sharp edge, they just maintain an already sharp edge. I use my Chef's Choice electric sharpener when I need to restore a dull knife to a sharp edge, and use the Wusthof sharpener as needed to keep my knives sharp.

CD

[Stock Pot]

If you go the sharpening stone route, there are Edge Pro Chinese knockoffs that are really quite good at around $40 - $50, including a set of stones. Very easy system to master and great results. I also have the Chef's Choice electric sharpener but in my experience it is too slow and the end result is adequate, but never great.

[Bigjim68]

I use the Edgemaker Pro on my other than Japanese knives. It works very well on Wusthof, Henkel, Forschner, and similar.

Available at around $25.00, virtually no learning cure, and easily stored.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Edgem...&wl13=&veh=sem

[Dawgluver]

Well, apparently now we have a Chef's Choice two stage. DH reported that a big chunk was broken out of the middle stage. Oh well. It's only 20 years old.

[buckytom]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

If you want to do your own sharpening, there are options directly related to how involved you want to get.

1. "I just want these knives sharp!" Buy an electric sharpener. America's Test Kitchen just did a comparison and recommended the Chef's Choice three stage.

2. "I've always wanted to try sharpening my own knives." Buy a manual sharpening kit that includes various grit stones and angle guides along with instructions to keep you from messing up your edges. Lanky and Apex Edge Pro of systems at different price points.

3. "Knife sharpening is where it at! I can slice a car in half with one swipe of my chef's knife" Buy a set of quality sharpening stones, pixie dust etc and go to Japan and apprentice for 10 years to learn how to use them.

Lol.

On your advice, Andy, I got a Lansky system. It's taken me a while to learn how to use it. I started out using an old but quality knife that had a broken tang to practice upon. I scratched the crap out of the sides of the blade, but boy is it sharp.

I often hear about people worrying that using a lower-end knife sharpener will grind their knives down too much. Unless your knife costs hundreds or thousands of dollars, who cares? Think of how much you spend on electronics, or on dinners out.

[Bigjim68]

Originally Posted by buckytom

Lol.

On your advice, Andy, I got a Lansky system. It's taken me a while to learn how to use it. I started out using an old but quality knife that had a broken tang to practice upon. I scratched the crap out of the sides of the blade, but boy is it sharp.

I often hear about people worrying that using a lower-end knife sharpener will grind their knives down too much. Unless your knife costs hundreds or thousands of dollars, who cares? Think of how much you spend on electronics, or on dinners out.

Even if you have the $20 Wallyworld Special knife set, why would you want to grind it away on a poorly designed knife sharpener?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by buckytom

Lol.

On your advice, Andy, I got a Lansky system. It's taken me a while to learn how to use it. I started out using an old but quality knife that had a broken tang to practice upon. I scratched the crap out of the sides of the blade, but boy is it sharp...

Glad you like it, BT.

[RPCookin]

I have the Chef's Choice 3 stage electric sharpener, and I also have a Wrenwane pull through that I use for my smaller paring/utility knives that don't work as well in the Chef's Choice. The Wrenwane works quite well, and at about $15 on Amazon is priced right too.

[buckytom]

Originally Posted by Bigjim68

Even if you have the $20 Wallyworld Special knife set, why would you want to grind it away on a poorly designed knife sharpener?

I'm not sure where you got "poorly designed" out of what I said. I mentioned lower end, but I only meant that for price.

Still, my point was that removing metal from an inexpensive knife isn't as big of a deal as an expensive or heirloom knife.

[Julio]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you all for the wonderful replies,

It was suggested about a butcher shaper the knives but I didn't want to walk around NYC with knives in a bag.

A few moments ago I was looking at my boning knife edge and it was super dull. I haven't seen my mother do this in a while but I remember that when the knife is dull. She would the knife on the edge of the kitchen sink a few times and that would sharpen the knife back again. I was cutting chicken breast into slices and my wustof knife was like new again.

[tenspeed]

Originally Posted by Julio

It was suggested about a butcher shaper the knives but I didn't want to walk around NYC with knives in a bag.

I was told not to go to NYC because that's what everybody does.

But seriously, I think that running the knife along the sink is more like honing on a steel rather than actually sharpening.

[Caslon]

My knives get pretty sharp with my pull thru sharpener, but there's always burrs left on the edge. It may be the quality of the steel. It's almost as if pull thru sharpeners could use a fine honing part to take the burrs off. I never use the coarse part.