Thinking back on knife sharpening with a stone vs. today's methods

Back in my first kitchen job, the head chef would spend an hour every morning sharpening knives on a wet stone. He said it was calming and kept the blades just right. Now, I see new cooks using pull-through sharpeners or sending knives out. The edge isn't the same, and you lose that link to your tool. I tried teaching an apprentice the old way, but they thought it took too long. Still, when I do it, the slices are cleaner and the knife feels like part of my hand. Maybe some old habits are worth holding onto.

4 comments

4 Comments

alexlewis1mo ago

Honestly, that daily routine sounds like quiet time with a point. How can you really know your knife if you never put in the time to care for it? Pull through sharpeners are fast but they wreck the blade bit by bit. Maybe we care more about speed than skill these days. But what do I know, I just miss the sound of steel on stone.

oliviadixon1mo agoMost Upvoted

Read a chef saying pull-throughs basically grind the edge off.

the_sarah27d ago

It's just a kitchen tool at the end of the day, not a museum piece. My pull through gets it sharp enough to cut stuff, and that's all I need. People can get a bit too deep about this stuff lol.

river18227d ago

But what happens when your pull through can't get it sharp enough anymore? Like @alexlewis said, they wreck the blade bit by bit, so you might end up needing a whole new knife way sooner. That seems like more trouble than just learning the stone.