Keeping your kitchen knives sharp makes slicing, dicing, and chopping easier and safer.
When I teach kids how to use kitchen knives, I use a freshly sharpened blade. While this might seem dangerous, a sharp knife is safer for them. A dull knife increases the likelihood of accidental cuts.
That’s not to say you need to throw your knives away once they lose their edge. Resharpening can return any knife to factory condition over and over until you eventually run out of material on the blade. With proper care and sharpening techniques, your kitchen knives can last a lifetime (or more).
Today, I’ll explain how to sharpen a kitchen knife properly, keeping it ready for even the most challenging culinary tasks. I’ll also share some ways I maintain my blades between sharpening sessions.
How Often Should You Sharpen Your Kitchen Knives?
Sharpening happens in two ways: honing and traditional sharpening.
Honing realigns the burrs on the edge of your blade, reconditioning its existing edge. Sharpening removes material from your knife’s edge, creating a new cutting surface with new serrations.
If you use your kitchen knives frequently, sharpening them once a month is a good rule of thumb. Hit the edge on a honing rod once a week to keep the knife precise between sharpening sessions.
Different Sharpening Tools and Methods
Using a honing rod is quick, easy, and effective. My mom has exclusively used a honing rod to sharpen her knives for years, and they’re always in good shape.
However, using a honing rod alone isn’t the correct way to maintain a kitchen knife. Eventually, even the best knife will need a new edge.
Honing rods come in many shapes, sizes, and materials. While we prefer ceramic honing rods here at MKC, steel rods and diamond-encrusted rods can also do the trick. However, each material produces different results.
Steel honing rods tend to work best with soft metal knives. They’re not as effective on our MKC knives, which often feature hard, high-carbon steels.
Diamond honing rods, on the other hand, are often too rigid. They shear away your knife’s edge instead of realigning the burr. While they work fast, diamond honing rods can do more harm than good.
Ceramic honing rods are the best of both worlds. They’re mildly abrasive, but with a very fine grit that won’t wear away the micro-serrations on your blade. Our Work Sharp Ceramic Honing Rod has built-in guides to help you maintain the perfect angle.
As far as sharpeners, I prefer a Work Sharp Combination Whetstone with 1,000 grit on one side and 6,000 grit on the other. On the finer side, you can remove some steel and reset the edge (sharpening). On the rougher side, you can refine the edge and reduce the burr (honing). This gives you two tools in one.
I don’t like the popular pull-through knife sharpeners you see at big-box retailers. Because there’s only one point of contact on the sharpener, they wear out quickly, and they don’t do as good a job as whetstones.
A sharp chef’s knife is handy, and it makes preparing food faster and safer. Many people don’t realize what they’re missing out on by using a dull chef’s knife, especially since resharpening isn’t difficult.
Let me teach you how to sharpen a kitchen knife via a whetstone. It’s not as easy to use as a pull-through sharpener, but once you learn good form, a whetstone pays for itself in performance and longevity.
How to Sharpen a Kitchen Knife: The Best Method
When sharpening a knife with a whetstone, keep the knife at a 15° angle. It may take some practice to get this correct, but you can use your knife’s existing bevel as a guide.
Start on the 1,000-grit side of the whetstone. Reestablish the bevel on one side of the knife until you feel you’ve worked out the “dings” and flat spots on the edge. Then flip the knife to the other side and repeat. Create a burr before moving to the fine side of the whetstone.
Next, flip the whetstone to the 6,000-grit side. With lighter pressure, take alternating passes from side to side on the blade until you’ve honed the burr down to a consistent, fine, clean edge. Finish the knife with a leather strop or a fine ceramic rod to remove any excess burr.
How to Sharpen a Kitchen Knife at the Correct Angle: Tips and Tricks
I’ve met many knife owners who are hesitant to use a whetstone, mostly because they’re afraid of getting the angle wrong.
I always encourage these owners to try a Work Sharp Combination Whetstone. The sharpener comes with reversible pieces at the ends of the stone that are preset at 15° or 17° angles. These trainers are also removable if you ever want them out of your way.
If you’re still nervous about ruining your nice kitchen knives, practice on a cheaper knife until you’re comfortable. If you take your time and follow the instructions above, your knife will come out great.
Before you begin sharpening, make sure you know whether you’re using a water whetstone or an oil whetstone. As the names imply, they need different lubricants. An oil-based whetstone works best with oil, while a water-based whetstone works best with water.
If the whetstone is dry, it’ll take damage during sharpening. Water stones are softer than oil stones, so wash them with soap and water to clean off excess material after a sharpening session.
What’s the Best Way to Test a Kitchen Knife’s Sharpness?
You can test a kitchen knife’s sharpness in a few different ways. Some owners like to run their knives along a fingernail, but I prefer cutting paper. It’s safe, and the paper will show you if there’s a dead or damaged spot on the blade.
Use fine paper, such as newspaper, for the best results. The knife’s edge will either hang up, slide across the paper without cutting, or glide through the paper. You want the entire length of your sharpened blade to cut through the paper without catching.
Keeping Your Kitchen Knife Sharp: Other Essential Knife Care Tips
Caring for your kitchen knives might begin with sharpening them, but it doesn’t end there. While honing and sharpening will recondition your knife’s edge when it dulls, there’s a lot you can do to slow or stop that dulling.
The first trick is to store your knives properly. All knives do best when stored dry and sheathed. A sheath protects your knife’s edge when it’s in storage, and it protects you (and others) from injury when reaching for the knife, too.
Do your best to handwash your knife with warm, soapy water when you’re done using it. Avoid running it through the dishwasher, and soak it in water only as a last resort.
Gentle hand-cleaning is the best way to keep it in excellent cutting shape between sharpening sessions. If you store it in a holster or sheath, clean the sheath regularly, too, and allow both knife and sheath to fully dry before storing them again.
If you prefer not to store your knife in a sheath, consider investing in a knife block or knife hang instead. A magnetic knife hang keeps your kitchen knives handy and prevents them from sliding around in a drawer. This keeps wear and tear on the edge to a minimum.
Consider the surfaces you use your kitchen knives on. Unless you have a cutting-safe countertop, your cutting board is best kept handy. Wood cutting boards are the friendliest to knives, and stone and glass cutting boards are the most unforgiving. Silicone and plastic boards can do the job, too.
Finally, consider conditioning your most-used kitchen knives regularly with a good knife oil or wax. Our MKC Blade Wax is food-safe and protects your precious blades from damaging moisture. The wax will even give a bit of extra lubrication when cutting food. It’s also great for conditioning handles and sheaths, keeping them hydrated and supple.
How to Sharpen a Kitchen Knife: Final Thoughts
Now that you know how to sharpen a kitchen knife, you no longer have any excuse to keep a dull blade in the kitchen.
However, if you ever feel like you can’t keep up, remember that the MKC Generations® promise covers your MKC blades. Just send them back to us, and we’ll resharpen and restore them, free of charge.
by Josh Smith, Master Bladesmith and Founder of Montana Knife Company
