Best Knife Sharpeners for Chef’s Knives
We evaluated these models by sliding a dull knife over a sharpener a dozen times and then tested each one's ability to dice onions and cut tomatoes
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I’ve used hundreds of knives—in culinary school, in professional kitchens, and now at home as the resident chef—and I can tell you that the real magic isn’t always in the knife so much as in the sharpening. If you’re investing in a high-quality chef’s knife, you should maintain it right with a good knife sharpener.
That’s not to say any knife is fine. We found significant differences and clear favorites in CR’s evaluation of chef’s knives. But I’d rather cut with a crummy knife that has been recently sharpened than a stellar knife with a dull blade.
Best Knife Sharpeners (and the Worst)
Every sharpener I tried did a decent job of returning an edge to the tested knives, but some sharpeners clearly produced a finer edge than others, and a handful were tedious to use. At times, some even felt dangerous.
