The correct way to sharpen a kitchen knife

The correct way to sharpen a kitchen knife, the correct angle: Diagonal sharpening method, whether it is vertical sharpening or horizontal sharpening, should be sharpened at an angle so that the knife contacts the whetstone evenly when sharpening front and back to avoid curling and grinding. Damage to the stone surface. When the knife is sharpened, the blade is held by the hand so that the force cannot be applied evenly, and the two sides of the knife will not be too thick, causing injuries to the fingers. Only in this way can a good knife be sharpened.

Methods/Steps

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First, you need to choose a good whetstone. It doesn’t need to be too coarse, nor too fine. It should be fine as long as you can see coarse sand on the surface.

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There are many kinds of kitchen knives, made of stainless steel, cast iron and so on. It can be used for chopping bones, cutting vegetables, etc. The kitchen knives used for chopping bones are generally thicker and heavier, while those used for cutting vegetables are lighter and thinner. Here we use a thinner kitchen knife to demonstrate the process of sharpening a knife.

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The picture below shows an incorrect way to sharpen a knife. The angle between the kitchen knife and the whetstone is too steep. Rubbing the knife back and forth or sharpening it left and right against the whetstone will only make it duller.

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The picture below also points out a bad way to sharpen a knife. 1. The whetstone is placed randomly, resulting in low sharpening efficiency; 2. Grinding back and forth will cause the sharpened blade to return; 3. Grinding against the direction of the blade will cause the blade to lose its edge; 4. Single-handed operation results in uneven force, resulting in uneven sharpness of the blade.

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The correct way to sharpen a knife is to have as much contact surface between the kitchen knife and the whetstone as possible, with an angle of about 15 degrees.

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The picture below shows the correct way to sharpen a knife. First, hold the kitchen knife with both hands, with one hand holding the handle and the other hand holding the back of the knife; make sure the knife is in full contact with the whetstone and the force is evenly distributed; the contact area between the knife and the whetstone should be as large as possible, tilted about 15°, and then grind diagonally along the direction of the blade. After grinding, pick up the knife and separate it from the stone, then pull it back to the original position and grind it along the blade. Repeat this action. Do not press on the whetstone to grind it, as that will make the sharpened blade dull again. After grinding one side several times, turn it over and grind the other side in the same way. You can add some water to the whetstone to moisten it, which will make the kitchen knife wear faster. Of course, the whetstone will also wear faster, but sacrificing the whetstone is inevitable.

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After grinding the knife repeatedly in this way for a few minutes, try it and see if it is much sharper.

Precautions

Be careful when sharpening the knife and avoid cutting your body, hands, feet, etc.