Sharpening kitchen knives at home

A sharp knife is a convenient and simply necessary tool in the kitchen for preparing absolutely any dish. Proper sharpening of kitchen knives at home is a very important skill that everyone should possess. In addition, a lot of devices have been invented for the fair sex today that help to correctly and quickly make the device sharp without the use of force and waste of valuable time.

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Choose a knife sharpening angle

Before you start sharpening knives at home, you need to know the subtleties of this craft. The most important nuance is the angle of the blade in relation to the working surface. This parameter must be selected depending on the hardness and type of metal, as well as on the basis of what the device is intended for.

For example, different tools should be sharpened under such degrees:

• 10-15 degrees - so sharpen scalpels and razor blades.
• 15-20 degrees - suitable for bread, meat and vegetables.
• 20-25 degrees - it is advisable to grind cook tools.
• 25-30 degrees - for hunting knives.

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Which knife sharpener is better?

Today, the market for goods presents a huge selection of grinding tools. Choosing the right tool is not so simple, because classic sanding stones have a wide range of options. Sometimes prices reach up to several tens of dollars.

Among the sharpening devices are:

• Machine tools
• The stones.
• Mechanical sharpeners.
• Electronic sharpeners.
• Musat.

To properly sharpen a knife at home, you should know the distinguishing features of each of them. It is important to figure out in advance how to sharpen knife blades with a particular tool so as not to spoil it.

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How to sharpen a knife?

Before you start processing knives, you need to know a very important rule - you do not need to save on tools. You can be sure that a good block at an average price can make the blade as sharp as possible.

Important! Poor quality appliances will not only not give the desired level of sharpness, but can even spoil your favorite kitchen item.

Let's take a closer look at the different tools for sharpening knives, because knowing how to sharpen a knife well is useful to everyone.

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Musat

One of the most popular sharpening tools is musat (steel). He is a frequent guest both in home kitchens and in restaurant ones. Basically, musat is needed to straighten the blades of devices, which are often used in the cooking process. It is advisable that a few correct actions with the musat become a habit.

Important! Blades with steel should be corrected before the direct use of the knife and immediately after its use.

Application Rules:

• A device similar to a file should be held with one hand, and the blade should be held by pulling the blade to the handle from the tip with the same movement along the musata (similar to planing).
• Sharpen should be on each side of the cutting object about 4-5 times, but no more.
• Blades on steel should be corrected at a 20-25 degree slope without much effort and pressure.

Important! Experts recommend during the operation to keep the musat strictly upright, resting one end on a hard surface, for example, on a table.

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Grindstone

The most popular tool to sharpen a kitchen knife at home is a grindstone, which can be either artificial or natural. Using this tool you can quickly and efficiently sharpen your favorite device.

Often on the shelves of hardware stores there are very inexpensive items - stones in the form of boats. They differ in grain size. For instance:

• Stones with a large abrasive surface are used to properly align the shape of the cutting edge.
• Medium grain devices are suitable for blade repair.
• Fine-grained - good for fine-tuning sharpness.

Important! It is recommended to purchase a set of stones with a different abrasive - so you can process objects in several ways at once.

To sharpen a kitchen knife with a grindstone:

1. Wash the blade in cold water (chilled steel is slightly better sharpened).
2. Place the knife over the stone at a 30 degree angle.
3. Drive with a blade in the direction from the handle to the tip.
4. Sharpen each side of the edge evenly, making 30-50 movements.
5. At the end of the process, process the blade with the same method on a fine-grained stone (approximately 15 movements).

Important! As an alternative to fine-tuning, a special leather belt lubricated with abrasive paste can be used.

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Bar

A bar is considered a professional tool for sharpening a knife blade. It can be made of different materials, the best of which experts call a stone, which is coated with diamond spraying. This sharpener is able to handle almost any tool the fastest.

The principle of correct sharpening the blade with such a bar is not particularly different from the identical process with stones with a standard abrasive. In addition, you can choose tools with silicon carbide and electrocorundum spraying.

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Grinder

One of the fastest and most effective ways to sharpen a knife well is to use a special circular machine with abrasive discs (with emery).

Unfortunately, such machines are not often found at home - they are quite bulky and require special knowledge in their use. As a rule, such devices are found in factories where cutting tools are produced.

Important! The blades that are sharpened with the help of such machines are heated to high temperatures. Therefore, when using them, it is necessary to know an important rule - the number of revolutions of the machine should be minimal.

The correct sharpening of knives is performed in this way:

1. The knife blade should be pressed against the circle (plate, cup, straight profile) evenly, and the movements should be smooth.
2. Sharpening is carried out at an angle of 25-30 degrees (the smaller this figure, the blade will be more fragile and thinner).
3. The operation will take a lot of time - if you try to sharpen it quickly, you can damage the blade.

Important! For beginners and people with little experience in this business, it is undesirable to carry out such a procedure at home.

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Electric sharpener

Today, electric sharpeners are very popular in the market for goods. They are very easy to use, and the blade with their use becomes sharp in literally a few minutes.

Important! The main advantage of these devices is that they themselves can choose the angle of sharpening and are suitable for any type of blade - screwdrivers, scissors, etc.

Many do not know how to sharpen a kitchen knife at home made of ceramic correctly. Instruments made of such material are very fragile, and one awkward movement along the musat or bar can ruin the blade. In this case, electric sharpeners do an excellent job.

Sharpening ceramic knives is very simple.It is only necessary to set the desired mode, bring the tip to a special hole in the device, smoothly place it there and gently press it. The device will perform all other sharpening actions by itself.

Important! An electric sharpener can work even with the most blunt knives, so many experts advise it to purchase. If before such a tool could only afford large restaurants, today it is available to almost everyone.

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Which knives do not require sharpening?

Cutting devices that do not need to be sharpened in principle are also represented on the core market. Moreover, it is contraindicated in many products in general. These include the following knives:

• Diamond-coated or magnetic-coated tools are very high-quality tools that can cut high-density objects. However, when you try to improve the cutting properties of such blades, you will get the exact opposite effect.
• Ceramic knives - are sharpened only in the factory or with the help of electric sharpeners.
• With a serrated blade - damage and violation of the uniformity of the teeth can disable the cutting tool.

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Tools at hand

It happens that in the house there is not a single suitable tool to sharpen the knife well. But there are no hopeless situations - you can take an ordinary ceramic mug. It must be thoroughly washed and wiped dry.

Important! The knife must be immersed in cold water, quickly washed and thoroughly wiped.

You can sharpen the knife using the bottom of the cup, for which the tip is driven alternately by each side. Our grandfathers did roughly the same when they sharpened the blade with a taut leather belt. But this method in our time has lost relevance.

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Stock footage

As you can see, sharpening a kitchen knife at home is not so difficult. However, if you doubt your abilities, even despite all our advice, then it is better to look for a good master who will certainly help you deal with this problem. Only the master should have an impeccable professional reputation, so that later he does not regret the spoiled beloved knife. Therefore, no matter how much this service costs, saving is inappropriate here.