Common Mistakes to Avoid When Sharpening Kitchen Knives

Sharpening your own kitchen knives can be a great way to get more use out of them, and have them cut, chop, slice, and dice the way you want them to. In order to keep them at their peak, though, you need to make sure you're sharpening them the right way. Here are a few mistakes you'll want to avoid.

Your whetstone should be properly soaked and lubricated before you use it to sharpen any of your kitchen knives. If you don't prep it properly you won't get efficient sharpening, and you might shorten the lifespan of your knife.

It's important to maintain a constant angle when sharpening and to also make sure you're applying the right amount of pressure. Too much, and you could end up with damage to your knife. Not enough, and it's not going to get sharp like you want it to.

Knife sharpening isn't a rush job you do right before you need your blade for food preparation. You'll want to take your time and make sure you're getting the knife sharp and working evenly along the blade. Don't hurry, or you could damage the knife or even injure yourself.

Because sharpening can create tiny burrs and small imperfections on the edge of your knife's blade, you want to make sure you're using a logical grit progression to carefully remove them. If you very gently move your finger along the blade you can feel these burrs and know where they are, allowing you to remove them.

Honing is used to realign the edge of your knife and keep your blade performing as well as possible in between sharpening, and stropping helps polish and refine the blade. When you perform both of these actions on a regular basis you can keep your kitchen knives in great condition for the long term.

Sharpening the knives you use in your kitchen doesn't have to be difficult. By understanding how to avoid mistakes you can use your knives more comfortably for years to come.

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Until next time,

Knifey Wifey