I don't want to sharpen my knives

[ndcaster]

So I'm thinking about getting one of those self-sharpening sets that have ceramic wheels in the block slots, so every time you take it out or replace it, it sharpens the knife.

My concerns are metal filings and premature material loss. The latter should be no more than regular sharpening, though, I'd think.

Anyone have one of these? What's your experience?

Please note, I'm NOT looking for suggestions on how to sharpen knives.

sharpen your knives

it's for you, not the knives

 

[StratDal]

Thought it was the name of a punk song or the like...

 

[telepraise]

A sharpening steel is just as fast IMO. Good German knives to begin with saves a lot of sharpening.

 

[String Tree]

I don’t have one of those nor can offer any advice, but I just wanted to say that I thought “I don’t want to sharpen my knives“ would be a great song title. Or at least a great first line.

I’ll work on it and see what am can come up with.

Oh Hell yes!

 

[AmpHandle]

Chefs Choice sharpeners are great, the will turn a cheap knife into a sharp meat cutter. Totally worth it for under $100

 

[String Tree]

So I'm thinking about getting one of those self-sharpening sets that have ceramic wheels in the block slots, so every time you take it out or replace it, it sharpens the knife.

My concerns are metal filings and premature material loss. The latter should be no more than regular sharpening, though, I'd think.

Anyone have one of these? What's your experience?

Please note, I'm NOT looking for suggestions on how to sharpen knives.

I have one. It works ok.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

A sharpening steel is just as fast IMO. Good German knives to begin with saves a lot of sharpening.

Keep in mind that the steel is just "dressing the edge", removing any burrs and straightening out any deviation in the edge from the act of cutting. It does sharpen a little bit, of course, because the steel is harder than the knife and has a texture, but it's minimal relative to any metal removed. It's "knife care" between actual sharpening where a new edge is created, but using the steel religiously helps keep the knife sharper, longer.

 

[metalicaster]

Leave the gimmick in the store. Grinding your knives on the front porch is where it's at. Smile and wave at passers by.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

on the bettor of a coffee mug

Ha ha, I had to look that up, to see whether it’s a typo or an actual French word or something for that unglazed ring on the bottom, or I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Night.

Pax/
Dean

 

[JL_LI]

Hi.



Ha ha, I had to look that up, to see whether it’s a typo or an actual French word or something for that unglazed ring on the bottom, or I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Night.

Pax/
Dean

You caught me being lazy. There is an autocorrect function on my iPhone that sometimes substitutes bizarre words for what I type, even when I type in a word correctly. My computer doesn’t do that. It underlines misspelled words.

Thank you teacher for the reminder to proofread my essay before handing it in.

 

[TomBrokaw]

I appreciate all the input. From the people who have them, it sounds like they're adequate but not amazing. That might be sufficient for me, although it sounds like it's not worth paying any extra for.

I realize that my thread title is going to attract people who are already interested in maintaining knives and therefore I've encouraged some bias in the responses, which is fine. Info is info. I will say that for those who think there is no replacement for a stone: can you prove that? In other words, what alternatives have you tried?

 

[telepraise]

Keep in mind that the steel is just "dressing the edge", removing any burrs and straightening out any deviation in the edge from the act of cutting. It does sharpen a little bit, of course, because the steel is harder than the knife and has a texture, but it's minimal relative to any metal removed. It's "knife care" between actual sharpening where a new edge is created, but using the steel religiously helps keep the knife sharper, longer.

I have waterstones for sharpening my chisels and plane irons and love the mirror the 6000 gold stone puts on a bevel. I even have one from Lie Nielson made specifically for sharpening kitchen knives (1200 grit I think). I find that the steel puts just enough texture on the edge that the knife will slice tomato skin (much like a surgeon's scalpel has a fine texture on it). The steel happens to be very quick and produces an edge that works great for vegetables for me. My knives are good enough that I don't have to do it more often than once a month or even longer.

Steel quality is still the biggest factor in edge retention IMO. The carbon steel French peasant knife I have holds its edge better than anything, but requires washing and drying immediately after use to avoid rust.

 

[telemnemonics]

I appreciate all the input. From the people who have them, it sounds like they're adequate but not amazing. That might be sufficient for me, although it sounds like it's not worth paying any extra for.

I realize that my thread title is going to attract people who are already interested in maintaining knives and therefore I've encouraged some bias in the responses, which is fine. Info is info. I will say that for those who think there is no replacement for a stone: can you prove that? In other words, what alternatives have you tried?

Fair question.
I've been a woodworker and professional cook so sharpening is endless and varied.
Stones are made of natural or synthetic stone, they vary between great and useless but require stuff like grit matched to the task.
If you sharpen once a year, a fine grit is useless.

I used natural Arkansas stones, and synthetic stones made with I guess carborundum, plus even the sandstone wheels that used to be common like on farms with the footpedal crank on a stand for sharpening axes and such.
The right stone for the right degree of how dull the tool is can be terrific, but you need to keep up.
The once a year style might require three stones to sharpen, coarse medium and fine since you won't be getting to it again for a while. Or just coarse and medium.

Now I use diamond stones from the DMT brand for most knives, and have one by the dish drain to sharpen a small meat cutting knife maybe weekly so it is very sharp.
The grit is medium, so the blade needs to be sharp but getting dull, and I do not then go to a fine diamond hone/ stone because it's sharp enough, not shaving sharp though.

Sharpening steels were presented in pro kitchens and I used them but they really make more of a saw tooth than a sharp edge. Some chefs skip that whole thing and have a sharpening truck once a week then toss each blade as it dulls in a day or two.
Legit sharp blades have no substitute.

I've used some of the "modern" sharpening tools for folks who feel they cannot learn to sharpen a knife, and they seem to do a similar half assed job to a steel, not the same but only decent. Really not terrible if you really have no hand skills or no patience.

Key to kitchen knives is to just take the 30 seconds and freshen the edge before it's super dull.

Funny, I was living with an ex GF and we dated other people; she had a rugged tree guy who spent his days climbing trees with a chain saw.
He freaked out and said I should not keep my kitchen knives so sharp because somebody might get cut.
Hilarious!

DMT stones are color coded for grit and I use a 2"x6" blue which cuts quick enough and makes a very sharp but not shaving sharp edge. Figure it takes some practice to learn the pressure and angle etc but if you sharpen once a week it's just a few minutes, water so no cleanup, diamond stone thing sits in the kitchen so no going out to a special workshop etc.