Lend Me A Hand

Electric knife sharpeners are one of those kitchen “gadgets” that you would never really realized how much you appreciate it until you’ve had the opportunity to use one and then go without. It really doesn’t matter what kind of kitchen knives you use, whether they are top-of-the-line or especially if they are of the cheaper kitchen knife or IV, they’re going to get dull sooner or later. The big difference is that the cheaper knives get dull sooner. The other side of that however, is that whether you have a professional kitchen knife costing hundreds of dollars or a “as seen on TV” type of knife, when they are sharpened to a razor-sharp edge, your work in the kitchen is going to be much, much easier. The problem has always been getting your knives sharp. Not anymore. With today’s electric knife sharpeners you don’t need to take your knives (whether kitchen knives or sporting knives) to get professionally sharpened; just do it right there on your kitchen counter.

With most of today’s electric sharpeners, you have a nearly foolproof system for getting a razor’s edge on your knives. While it does take just a little bit of practice and know-how, we’re only talking about a couple of minutes practice more than likely. You just need to get the feel of lightly gripping the knife and slowly pulling across the sharpening wheels. Some newer models such as the Chef’s Choice 300 Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener actually have magnetic guides built in so that the knife blade is always positioned at the exact proper angle, leaving no guesswork whatsoever.

And even if you are electric knife sharpener of choice doesn’t come with the magnetic guides, you will undoubtedly still be amazed at the results you get. Whether using dual orbiting diamond sharpening wheels or the Sapphirite grinding wheels that you not only typically find in most professional cutlery sharpening shops, but also in units such as the Presto Pro EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener , Your knife edge will be transformed from dead and dull to razor-sharp in practically no time.

Most electric knife sharpeners come with a two-stage sharpening system. The first stage is the sharpening stage in the second is the honing stage. The first stage take out all the relatively big nicks, dings and burrs that inevitably happen to a knife edge that’s being put to use. Grinding those out and putting a clean edge happens in the first couple of passes through the first stage. The honing stage is the second stage that basically polishes the blade to a hairsplitting razors edge. By using two different stages in this way, you are able to put a “shoulder” on the blade edge instead of leaving it with just a single bevel. What this does is strengthen the edge, allowing it to stay sharper longer.

It’s a real pleasure to use one of these machines and to see the difference of a before and after slicing effort. The tomato is a great target for you to check the effectiveness of your sharpener. Even if you feel like you’re knife is in pretty good shape, if you have a fairly ripe tomato and you try to slice it, you will probably see the tomato give and flex a little before succumbing to the blade. Take 30 to 45 seconds to run your knife through one of these electric knife sharpeners, through both stages, and then try cutting the tomato again. You will get a new appreciation for the term, “like a hot knife through butter”.

Another great thing about these little units is just that; they are little. Typically about six or 7 inches long by about 4 inches high and 3 to 5 inches deep, they take very little room on your counter or in your cupboards. And really there is very little reason why you would need to leave it out on your counter anyways. Even with lower end knives, you should be able to keep a good edge for a while. Higher-quality metal who obviously holds an edge even longer.

Some purists like to stick with the old-fashioned method of sharpening their knives with a steel rod. While it certainly is impressive to see someone handle sharpening in this manner. It takes a lot of practice. That’s probably why you only see it being done at the finest restaurants or on TV. And truthfully, sharpening your knives in that manner is not only not any better, it’s probably not even as good as the simpler, quicker, safer method of using an electric knife sharpener. There are plenty of professional, semi professional and at-home kitchen chefs that can vouch for this.

In fact there is a story of one very handy “home” chef who is committed to getting his entire set of Chicago Cutlery properly sharpened. Being an old-fashioned purist he opted to do this by hand and it took him three hours to get the job done. By the time he was done, use ready to consider an electric sharpener. After doing some research he realized that he may be looking at spending between $75 and $150. However, after reading many reviews on electric knife sharpeners he felt willing to give the Presto Pro Ever Sharp a try.  It had received a lot of positive customer feedback on sites like Amazon.com, and he felt confident ordering from such a reputable online vendor. When he received the sharpener he was able to get his entire set of cutlery sharpened, to better than new condition, in about five minutes. For a knowledgeable knife man to do this, And following up with a close inspection of his work leading to an amazed whisper of “oh my God”, I should tell you something about the effectiveness of these powerful little electric knife sharpeners.

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