I'm frustrated to the point that I just joined this forum to get your advice: I have decent - or what i consider decent - knives. They were wedding gifts - perhaps a $200 set, for 5 knives. They don't hold their edge. I purchased a $150 knife sharpener and have used it for almost a year - Chef's Choice M130 or similar. The knives are sharp for what feels like 5 minutes. I use a steel. Can someone offer advice on how to rescue my knives, and whether my decision to buy and use a high-end home sharpener is a good one! Help help help. Thanks all.
Frustrated - $200 knife set, won't hold their edge
- Thread starter Foodie888
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Hi Foodie - Welcome. I understand your problem - I guess the knives in question are possibly of sub-par quality. If you let us know what knives exactly do you have we could help you more. In principle the Chef's Choice sharpened should do good job on 'normal' (i.e. not japanese) kitchen knives. Most German/US knives are relatively soft and thick and do not hold edge too long.
Your solution may be (as for very most of us) - get better knives, get Japanese water stones - and lear to use both properly. It will cost you much more than $200 though
Your solution may be (as for very most of us) - get better knives, get Japanese water stones - and lear to use both properly. It will cost you much more than $200 though
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I don't know what kind of knives you' re speaking about, but it sounds like a wire edge, a burr sitting on top of the edge. Quite common with poor mechanical sharpening. Doesn't mean anything is wrong with the knives. Start your own stone sharpening, or send them out.
I think your problem started at "knife set" unfortunately. If you ever go down this rabbit hole, you'll be much better off spending $200 on one or two decent knives (e.g., chef and slicer, or chef and paring, or chef and petty . . . Or really, their japanese equivalents, which is a talk for another day), a combo 1K/6K stone for sharpening, and something to keep it flat and level. Yes I know this was a gift but I'm talking in the future
But, that doesn't mean you can't troubleshoot what's going on with the knives you have. Difficult to say without knowing exactly what kind, but probably euro stainless? Whusties or henckels? If so the problem is probably softer stainless that can't hold its integrity at the angle/edge geometry created by the electric sharpener, or has been pulled out into a "wire edge" (thin bit of floppy metal at the edge that folds over and rounds the cutting surface). It's difficult to sharpen soft stainless because it is prone to that exact problem.
To fix try sharpening at a less acute angle and to a lower grit. Buy a cheap stone to learn how, like a King 1K/6K. Then get a moly or vg10 gyuto like Fujiwara FKM or Tojiro DP. You won't look back.
But, that doesn't mean you can't troubleshoot what's going on with the knives you have. Difficult to say without knowing exactly what kind, but probably euro stainless? Whusties or henckels? If so the problem is probably softer stainless that can't hold its integrity at the angle/edge geometry created by the electric sharpener, or has been pulled out into a "wire edge" (thin bit of floppy metal at the edge that folds over and rounds the cutting surface). It's difficult to sharpen soft stainless because it is prone to that exact problem.
To fix try sharpening at a less acute angle and to a lower grit. Buy a cheap stone to learn how, like a King 1K/6K. Then get a moly or vg10 gyuto like Fujiwara FKM or Tojiro DP. You won't look back.
Smurfmacaw
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Concur, the sharpener does an ok job at first but the knife quickly gets thick behind the edge and then even if it's sharp it won't cut well. I recommend you fill out the knife form and shoot for a quality gyuto or santoku. You can get a good cutter for not too much money (a lot of the guys here can recommend something in whatever price range you set). You'll be shocked by how much better a decent japanese knife cuts. I have a couple of German knives but I save them for the really tough stuff that would damage a harder knife like frozen things and bones. You can get a 1000/6000 whetstone for not too much money and once you learn to sharpen it'll be a lot more fun.
You know the old saying, "Buy a man a knife and he'll cut things for a day, teach a man to sharpen it and he'll spend a fortune on Japanese natural whetstones!"
Yes, learn to sharpen well/thin with waterstones and you may suddenly find your knife set much more usable. Through sharpening and using the knives you will have the knowledge and experience to be able to judge whether any knives you will now upgrade to are an actual upgrade in quality.
jacko9
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I have two set of German knives that I acquired over the past 50 years and recently I started buying Japanese knives but, I have kept my older knives and have been using them to learn to sharpen my new knives and the older ones get real sharp on water stones even though they don't hold that edge as long as my new Japanese knives. Let us know what knives you have and we can share our experiences sharpening them.
To address your concerns, it certainly sounds like you have a wire edge coming off the Chef Choice gizmo. The knife will seem sharp until the edge breaks off. Stropping the blade will help eliminate the wire. Stropping can be done on a stropping device, a stone or even a piece of newspaper.
Or you can step it up a notch.
Your German knives can be the sharpest knives in your zip code if you'll buy and learn to use a basic water stone or diamond plate set. We tend to spend a lot of time at the stupid end of the bell curve here, debating nuances of different steel, different stones and different technique. It really doesn't need to be that hard.
Or you can step it up a notch.
Your German knives can be the sharpest knives in your zip code if you'll buy and learn to use a basic water stone or diamond plate set. We tend to spend a lot of time at the stupid end of the bell curve here, debating nuances of different steel, different stones and different technique. It really doesn't need to be that hard.
Smurfmacaw
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I think the Japanese makers refer to us as knife dorks....:cool2:
That's kind when compared to what the wimins say.
That's true! Thankfully, I rarely understand their conversations.
I looked last night and the knives are J.A.Henckels with a 6x2 vertical 12-box icon, a single black square filled in the second column 3rd position from top, and a #9 below it. The sharpener is definitely a Chef's Choice "Professional 130". I have dutifully followed the instructions from Chef's Choice in using the sharpener, though I note that I have never been able to have the knives pass the "newspaper test" after sharpening with the 130 (as explained in their manual).
I'm afraid I'm starting down the rabbit hole (as someone else mentioned in a reply that I might)...
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One question nobody has asked is "What kind of cutting board are you using?" A glass or hard plastic board can dull an edge quickly. Wood, especially end grain, is recommended.
