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Keep your Knives Sharp for Under $10

June 24, 2010 By Lisa Rose 15 Comments

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knives and knife sharpener

I never liked using a sharpening steel (the metal rod that comes with many knife sets) to keep my knives sharp. I did get a whestone (a sharpening stone) which many professionals use, and used it – once. It was too time consuming to be practical.  If I need to prepare dinner for three cranky kids, the last thing I want to think about is sharpening my knife. But maintaining your knives makes food prep smoother and easier. Knives can go dull quickly and if you spend any time in the kitchen keeping your knife sharp is essential.

A chef friend of mine introduced me to the AccuSharp Knife Sharpener years ago. (If you live in Los Angeles, they are available at Surfas). It’s small enough to keep in the drawer for easy access, there is no set up or expense involved like an electric sharpener, and is easy and safe to use each time you pick up your knife- even when hungry kids are hovering nearby.  Cook’s Illustrated also rated it as one of their favorite manual knife sharpeners. The AccuSharp is great for day to day sharpening, but if your knives are really damaged and full of ridges you probably need an electric knife sharpener or a professional to restore its sharp edge before you continue with your own routine.

My most used knives are a chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a pairing knife. You can easily get by with just these three in your kitchen and are worth investing in- I’ve had mine almost ten years.  Take care of your knives: always use a cutting board, keep them out of the dishwasher, and keep them sharp. Now go chop some veggies!!

How do you sharpen your knives? What other tips can you share?

More from my site

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Filed Under: kitchen tip Tagged With: knife sharpener, knives

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Comments

  1. Julie says

    April 4, 2011 at 10:47 pm

    What a find! I think I will get one of these knife sharpeners. I appreciate word of mouth recommendations, and to also have “Cooks” give it high marks makes it all the more appealing. Our usual way of sharpening knives is to send them to the manufacturer (life time knife sharpening from them), but that is a hassle, and it leaves me without my favorite knives for about 2 weeks.

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      April 4, 2011 at 11:13 pm

      If you do get one of these please let us know what you think!

      Reply
  2. Dina says

    November 6, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    can you also tell us the brand of knives you’ve been using for almost ten years? I love all of your suggestions and trust that these are great knives! Thanks

    Reply
  3. Dina says

    November 6, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    also do you keep all these knives pareve? do you have other knives that you use for meat? do you think a carving knife is important?

    Reply
    • lisa says

      November 6, 2011 at 8:36 pm

      When I got married we registered for a set of Wusthof knives (now I realize I didn’t need a full set). Since 90% of my food prep is vegetables and fruit – I keep my chef’s knife and some pairing knives pareve (and I use a pareve wooden cutting board for the vegetable prep), the smaller size serrated knife (for cheeses) and the rest of the set for dairy, I also got a Santoku Wusthof knife later on that I really like. I bought Henckels knives for meat to make it easier to keep them separate- a chef’s knife, bread knife, pairing knife. I prefer the Wusthof chef’s knife than the Henckels – it’s lighter. I also bought a Wusthof classic carving knife with “hollow edge” which I find useful cutting thin slices of brisket or turkey breast – but you could really do fine with a good chef’s knife for that.

      I haven’t tried other brands so I can’t say if these are the best out there and I know much of this has to do with how they feel in your hands.

      David Lebovitz has a post on his blog on which knives he likes; http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/05/how-to-take-care-of-your-knives/ that you may find useful – or confuse you more…

      Anthony Bourdain in “Kitchen Confidential” recommends the Global chef’s knife, you can read an excerpt of his knife picks on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Confidential-Adventures-Culinary-Underbelly/dp/product-description/0060934913 – I’ve never tried them but it’s worth looking into

      Reply
  4. Dina says

    November 7, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    Lisa, I truly appreciate your thorough answers. I employ a similar system in my kitchen re knife/cutting board status. I do need new knives and I am going to check out all of your suggestions. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • lisa says

      November 7, 2011 at 8:05 pm

      Let us know what you end up deciding on!

      Reply
  5. Billy @ Best Knife Sharpener Guide says

    August 26, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    Thanks for the information, Lisa. I haven’t used this tool before. How is it holding up over time? It is very affordable, which makes me wonder how long it will last. I use a Gatco sharpening system that has been working well for me.

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      August 27, 2013 at 8:34 am

      I’m still using it. And it’s easy to change the blades when the time comes.
      Lisa recently posted..Roasted Carrots and Orange

      Reply
  6. Matt @ Kniferating.com says

    January 16, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    One small nitpick, and that is that a honing steel doesn’t actually “sharpen” your knives. It just straightens the bur on the cutting edge of the blade, which helps hold your edge longer. You still do occasionally have to use a sharpener in addition to a honing steel to maintain a truly sharp edge.
    Matt @ Kniferating.com recently posted..Kitchen Knives: Zwilling Cronidur Review

    Reply
  7. Lisa says

    January 29, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    I appreciate that feedback Matt!
    I had clarified that on a later post so appreciate you bringing that up here!
    Lisa recently posted..The Ultimate Breakfast Recipe Collection

    Reply
  8. Roger C. Boger says

    July 9, 2017 at 4:51 am

    Thanks for the tips. Just like anything, it requires practice. And I think everyone has a couple crappy knives lying around to practice on before they take a swing at sharpening their best one(s).

    Reply
  9. Gloria Diaz says

    August 10, 2018 at 3:33 am

    Thank you very much for sharing this article.

    Reply
  10. Charlotte Norris says

    April 17, 2019 at 8:54 pm

    The accusharp knife sharpeners is fine. It is the best. It will work better.
    Charlotte Norris recently posted..Best Pocket Knife Sharpener of 2019 Complete Reviews With Comparison

    Reply
  11. EL Mehdi says

    August 2, 2019 at 4:28 am

    I’m always confused with sharpening knives especially with all different types of knives and materials used to make kitchen knives. But, the one I find hard to sharpen is ceramic knives. Any tips on how to deal with this specific type of knives?
    EL Mehdi recently posted..Top 5 Best Nakiri Knife Reviews In 2019

    Reply

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Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner passionate about real food and sustainable living.
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