When discussing knife sharpening, one of the questions we commonly get is, "how often should a chef's knife be sharpened?" A chef's knife is one of the most versatile kitchen knives. It features a broad and sharp blade that can be used for various kitchen tasks ranging from cutting meat to dicing vegetables and slicing herbs. Because of its many uses, a chef's knife is used more often than other kitchen knives. This being so, you may think that it requires sharpening more often as wellthis is not exactly true. To properly maintain the blade sharpness, a chef's knife does not need to be sharpened more than a few times a year. Because of the size and the quality of the blade, these knives will remain sharp for longer than most.
Another way to preserve the sharpness of your knife is to hone it regularly. Honing your chef's knife once or twice a week will ensure that the knifes edge remains straight and that your food is cut correctly. Of course, these are just general recommendations.
The amount you sharpen your chef's knife yearly largely depends on how often you use it and what you're using it for. If you're using it to chop veggies a few times a week, it will remain sharp for a lengthy period. However, if you're using it daily to cut meats and poultry, you'll want to increase the sharpening to every three months. When sharpening any kind of knife, it's important to remember that you should only do so if the blade needs it. If your knife feels sharp and is cutting through foods with ease, avoid oversharpening it.
There are several different ways that you can sharpen a knife. For at-home cooks that wish to keep their knives in pristine condition, we recommend using two different types of whetstone: one with fine grit and another with heavy grit. When using both types, begin with the heavy grit and switch to the fine once your knife starts to feel sharp.
That being said, the type of knife sharpening tool you use is based on your preferences. Here's a quick overview of the most common devices.
Many of us at-home cooks have a mixture of quality and cheap knives in the knife drawer. This is entirely normal! As you continue your cooking journey, you may be tempted to purchase more quality utensils, or you may find that the cheap knives you're already using get the job done fine. If that's the case, you're probably wondering if cheap knives can be sharpened in the same way that expensive ones canthe answer is yes!
An inexpensive blade can be sharpened just as a costly chefs knife would. While the cheap knife will sharpen, it's important to note that it will lose that sharp edge faster than a more quality knife would because it's made of weaker steel. Because of this, cheap knives need to be sharpened more frequently, depending on how often you use them.
