What is the best knife/sharpener setup for an active cook?
There are several posts that get close to this but I am looking for a specific knife(ves)/sharpener(s) combo(s) that can be used routinely and that work(s) well. My opinion is in this answer.
Best Answer
If you have top quality knives, I generally discourage the use of any do-it-yourself sharpeners. I take my knives yearly to a professional knife sharpener who puts that amazing 17 degree edge back on my Shun knives.
In between sharpening you should be using a quality honing steel every time you use your knife.
Additionally, your knives shouldn't need routine sharpening. Unless you intend routine to mean every 6-18 months. If you're sharpening knives more frequently than that, you're doing it wrong. From what I've seen the quality sharpeners on the market are just too expensive to justify their space in my kitchen. Maybe if I charged friends for sharpening services?
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What do chefs use to sharpen their knives?
A honing steel is a tool used by many professional cooks to realign knife blades.How do I sharpen my kitchen knives like a professional?
In fact, a 20 degrees angle is often considered the best sharing point for most knives. It is our experience that kitchen knives sharpened to 17 to 20 degrees cut very well and are still durable. For pocket or outdoor knives, a 20 degree angle would be on the low side of ideal.What is the best angle for sharpening kitchen knives?
Most of the knives are sharpened with my two main methods; the WickedEdge system or the Tormek, but there are exceptions even to these two methods. For most knives, I use the Tormek slow wet grinding sharpening system. The wheel on this system only rotates at 90 rpm. I use two Tormek machines in my process.More answers regarding what is the best knife/sharpener setup for an active cook?
Answer 2
If you're using cheap knives (which you suggest to the answer you linked to, and I admit, I have quite a few), feel free to sharpen them yourself ... I have both a stick-style diamond dust sharpener, and a set of whet stones.
But I don't sharpen my good kitchen knives myself, and I tend to go a few years between sharpenings (but I also have two chef knives and a santuko, which get the majority of the use, but it's spread across three of 'em, so they likely don't get as much wear if I only had one) ... but I agree with @hobodave -- I hone 'em, but I'm not going to sharpen them myself.
Answer 3
The best sharpener is the old italian man in a van who comes by on Saturday morning ringing his bell.
If you have good knives, don't try to sharpen them yourself. You need a grinder with the exactly right stone on it, and you need to have destroyed a couple hundred practice blades before you get the technique right.
I get my knives sharpened every 18-24 months, and steel them about 15 strokes per side before use.
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