High-quality kitchen knives require some maintenance in order to stay in fighting shape. Regular usage wears on your blades, occasionally requiring a little TLC to bring back their razor-sharp edge. Regular sharpening and honing of your knives is necessary to be able to cut with precision and ease.
A dull knife is often obvious. You’ll find yourself damaging tomatoes during cutting or using more pressure and force than usual. That can be dangerous because it creates more opportunities for accidents in the kitchen and will leave you with uneven, sloppy cuts.
Honing vs. Sharpening: What’s the Difference?
When your knives aren’t cutting to your standards anymore, it’s time to either hone or sharpen them. Regular usage, cutting surfaces, cleaning techniques, and even the product you’re cutting can all affect how quickly your knife dulls.
Honing
Honing is the process of realigning the knife’s teeth edge that have become bent from usage. The misalignment of the razor’s edge is microscopic and likely not even visible to the naked eye, but you’ll notice the difference when cutting.
A honing steel is a large metal or ceramic rod, like Messermeister’s Fine Grit Honing Steel, which is used to straighten the metal teeth out and realign your edge. To hone, you’ll just align the flat side of your knife blade at a slight angle, or use Messermeister’s Angle Guide Set, and gently pull the blade down the steel from the heel of the blade to the tip of the knife and honer. Honing will be done much more frequently than sharpening, because it’s just realigning and not shaving steel off of your knife. Some chef’s hone their knives every day, some less frequently, depending on your usage and sensitivity to sharpness.
Sharpening
Sharpening, on the other hand, is the process of removing metal from your knife blade in order to create a new, clean, sharp edge. Because it’s much more invasive on your knife, you’ll want to do it less frequently than honing, preferably only when honing is no longer effective at creating a sharp edge.
Sharpening is done on a whetstone, like the Messermeister Sharpening Maintenance Stone, where the grit of the stone helps refine the knife’s edge back to its original glory. To use a sharpening stone, you’ll want to hold your knife at a 15 degree angle and slowly drag it towards you across the whetstone. You can then refine your blade even further with a Polishing Stone, which is a much finer grit to smooth, refine, and polish your blades to a mirror finish.
Frequency of Honing and Sharpening
Dull knives are dangerous ones. They require more pressure to cut, leading to a larger chance of the knife slipping and injuring you. Sharper knives are generally much safer to use because of the ease of cutting and the less pressure they require.
Properly cared for knives should be honed regularly and sharpened less frequently. You can test your blades sharpness by cutting through a tomato or a piece of paper in the air, both of which should be cut with ease and precision. If not, it’s time to try honing your blade. Honing can be done weekly or daily, depending on your preference.
If you still find yourself struggling to cut through a tomato with ease, or notice yourself tearing up at cutting an onion after honing, it’s likely time to sharpen your blade. Home chefs can sharpen once or twice a year, while professional chefs might sharpen their knives once a month.
Proper Knife Maintenance Makes a World of Difference
Ultimately, knowing when to hone and when to sharpen is the key to getting the most out of your knives and protecting your investment for years to come. Regular honing keeps your edge aligned and ready for everyday prep, while occasional sharpening restores your blade when time and use have taken their toll. By paying attention to how your knife performs and incorporating simple maintenance into your routine, you’ll enjoy safer cutting, cleaner results, and the effortless precision that Messermeister’s high-quality knives are known for.
