Is This Controversial Device Exactly What Your Knives Need?

If, like us, you’ve cooked more in the past few months than EVER (even though thankfully plenty of hospitality venues are open for delivery and picking up the best sandwiches and dinners), there’s a very good chance your knives have also been put through more than they were in, uh, your former life. And those knives therefore need a little more attention than they used to! With this gadget, you’ll go a long way…

And indeed, we previously also sang the praises of the simple, old-fashioned whetstone. And we told you that finding the right angle can be a bit of a thing, and that it’s advisable to look up some tutorials about it online. Because simply swiping back and forth over that wet little block won’t get the job done. But what if you really don’t feel like doing that? If you don’t use a whole bunch of fancy expensive knives, and are simply attached to your one good chef’s knife, and it’s just not happening for you to dutifully visit the professional sharpener? Then this might be a really good solution:

Plug it in and go

An electric sharpener. Now, no doubt there are all kinds of people—hardcore knifegeeks perhaps, or fancy chefs—who are currently screaming loudly and throwing their phone or laptop into the corner in anger, but there’s really no need for that! And what a waste… because to each their own, including when it comes to knives. So if you’ve shoved that little whetstone somewhere at the back of the kitchen drawer, where it now lies beneath the old plastic flower-food envelopes (which you’ll NEVER use again either), then an electric knife sharpener might just be THE answer to your blunt knives.

TLC for your knife

Because the most important thing is—and remains—that you do some maintenance on your good knife. And you can let yourself be thoroughly talked into the ground by ‘experts’ who say that an electric sharpener will ruin your knives and is ugly to boot. But be honest; most of us ordinary mortals really don’t need to be able to slice raw fish at home as if the Japanese emperor himself were coming over for sushi tonight. Or butcher half a pig. So if you don’t want to use a whetstone and you don’t occasionally visit a professional knife sharpener (which is completely impossible right now), this could be just the solution for you.

Pretty is another matter

Most electric sharpeners really don’t look like much; as if the nineties decided to have a love child between a hole punch and R2D2. But for a few bucks and with careful study of the instructions, you can once again get your knife through the pumpkins for risotto, root vegetables and chops of this winter without risking your life.

In short: don’t let anyone drive you crazy and just order one of these things if it means your knives will get the attention they need! Rrrranggg!

Also read:

• A knife set is handy? No way!
• How to really clean a knife block properly
• Is a cleaver the knife still missing from your collection?

Source: Food52