Knife Sharpening Class

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You should hone your knives after every two or three hours of use—about once or twice a week for most home cooks or twice a shift for busy chefs. 

Don’t know if it’s time? Roll your fingertips over the knife surface away from the cutting edge. If the edge catches your finger pads, the edge has been rolled over and it’s hone o’clock.

When to Hone

The three main materials for fashioning honing rods are ceramic, steel, and diamond. Knife folk may argue some over the merits of each, but here are some general guidelines from Daniel O’Malley. 

A ceramic rod—O’Malley’s favorite and also generally the least-expensive option—can straighten a knife’s edge while removing almost no steel. It will also create a fine pattern of scratches along the edge that can improve your blade’s cutting prowess.

In addition to being more expensive than a ceramic rod, a hone made from steel tends to rip the knife’s edge while straightening, which means the knife will soon need to be straightened again. Also, it’s always essential that your hone be harder than your knife—otherwise, you risk pulling chunks out of the blade. And a lot of high-end knives are harder than steel hones but not harder than ceramic or diamond.

The surface of a diamond rod is peppered with millions of diamond grains. Diamond-dusted rods are often very aggressive, and—unlike the other two options—will shave material from your blade as you hone. What’s more, over time, a diamond honing rod will create a lamentable wavy pattern along the cutting edge. Basically, diamond rods aren’t well suited for everyday use and should make contact with your blades only once in a long while, like, say, when you really need to sharpen your knives but don’t have access to the necessary equipment. 

You’ll often see rods marketed as “coarse grit” or “fine grit.” As a rule, coarse rods are more effective for lower-end and midrange knives; you’ll want a fine one for your fancier tools.

Ceramic, Steel, or Diamond?

Honing Technique

Grab the handle of the honing rod and hold it vertically in front of you and straight down, as if it were the sword in the stone and you were a young King Arthur about to claim your kingdom. Rest the other end of the rod on your work surface to help keep things nice and steady. If you’ve got a slick surface, place a towel under the rod to keep it from slipping.

NOTE: You’ll often see people holding the rod out in front of them and facing away, like maybe they’re going to start fencing someone with it. That’s okay, but the vertical position will make it way easier to get the angles right—and thus get the honing right—because you’ll be able to see what you’re doing better.

Rod Placement

You want to apply between four and six pounds (or 1.8 and 2.7 kilograms) of pressure as you hone. To test what this feels like, grab a kitchen scale and press the blade of your knife on it. Apply pressure until you’re there.

Pressure

This is the most critical aspect of honing. To get the angle we’re after, imagine there is a paper matchbook between your knife and the rod and position the knife accordingly. 

Why is this so important? If the angle is too wide, you’ll wind up rolling your edge to the side or even ripping it off. If the angle is too narrow, you’ll risk scratching the knife.

The Matchbook Angle

Draw the knife down the rod and toward you in a fluid motion, maintaining the matchbook angle as you go. As you move the knife down the rod, bring it closer to your body by moving your arm back so that the steel makes contact with the entire edge from heel to tip.

Hone the edge six times on each side, alternating sides with each stroke.

Hone!

Over time, a ceramic rod will build up metal particles that will clog its abrasive surface. Go ahead and clean it with a fibrous eraser called a <a href="http://www.epicedge.com/shopaff.asp?affid=1&id=80229">Superaser</a> to remove these pesky particles so that you can continue honing like a boss. (Bonus: You can use the eraser to clean porcelain and other ceramic stuff as well.) Every time you use your Superaser (about every 2–3 months), you should rinse and dry your hone as well.

Keep It Clean

Honing—righting a bent cutting edge so that it’s straight once more—is the most basic way to ensure your knives serve you well over the long haul. The more you hone, the less you have to sharpen, and that means your knives will work great and last a lifetime. Why’s honing so important? Think of it this way: a knife’s edge is microscopically thin, yet this slender surface spends its days getting whacked against a hard cutting board. Is it any wonder, then, that this once-straight edge can get knocked out of alignment in the space of a couple of hours of cutting? It is not. The question is, how do we get that edge straight again? And the answer is: by honing it on the reg. If you don’t know the difference between honing and sharpening, you’re certainly not alone. The two things are frequently confused but in fact are quite distinct. Each time we sharpen a knife, we remove material from the blade. Sharpen that tool enough times, and you’ll eventually run out of blade entirely. When we hone, however, we’re simply straightening the knife’s cutting edge. By keeping our knives well honed, we can cut down on the frequency with which they need to be sharpened, thus allowing them to stay in our lives a lot longer. As <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/meet-daniel-o-malley">Daniel O’Malley</a> demonstrates in the video above, proper honing technique is easy to get down. The key components are picking the right rod—also known as a “steel” or “hone”; setting yourself up for success with the correct positioning and angles (honing correctly is all about the right angles); using a smooth, fluid motion to right that errant edge; and caring for your hone so that it continues to serve you well. Read on for everything you need to know to keep things on the straight and narrow.

How to Hone a Knife