rayc89•14d ago

Warning: sharpening my own knives changed everything...

I used to just run my knives through that cheap $20 electric sharpener every few months and thought that was fine. Last month after a shift I grabbed my chef's knife to slice tomatoes and it just smashed them flat. A line cook I work with in Chicago took me to his bench and showed me how to use whetstones step by step. Now I spend 10 minutes twice a week maintaining the edge and it cuts like butter every single service. Has anyone else switched from electric to manual stones and noticed a huge difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

taraj1114d ago

You just smashed them flat" - yep that was me with a sad-looking avocado last week. I switched to whetstones a few months ago and honestly my first few attempts left my knife looking like I tried to sharpen it with a brick. But once I got the angle right it's night and day. Now I do a quick pass every other day instead of that loud electric grinder that probably took off more metal than it kept.

roberts.troy14d ago

Hold up, let me defend the electric grinder a little here. @taraj11 I get that whetstones feel like the "proper" way, but for most people who just want their kitchen knife not to slip off a tomato, the electric route is way more practical. That sad avocado probably met its match against a dull blade, not a grinder. Plus, those stones take forever to learn and you can chip a edge if you sneeze at the wrong angle. At least with the electric one you get a consistent edge in 30 seconds flat, even if it eats a bit more metal over time.