Chef Knives Reviews

I found this product very unsatisfactory. After 20 minutes of working with a Chicago Cutlery knife, some edge was produced but still not as sharp as factory edged. This product might be alright to throw in a camping box to be used where there is no electricity, but certainly no more than that.

I got one of these recently, and put it to the ultimate test. I have an old "mixed" set of knives, which were dull beyond the ability of using the honing steel. At the time I got this sharpener, I also got a Brand New set of Sabatier Commercial knives, which had been hand sharpened from the factory.

The test was could I get the old knives to be as sharp as the brand new ones. The answer, No I couldn't. In a sense, this is unfair, since the old knives (with the exception of a Wustoff paring knife) are of lower quality. Further, the sharpener did restore the older knives to a very respectable edge. My old Hoffritz Chef's knife, for example was sharp enough to cut through a piece of paper held in one hand (a test recommended in the manual)with little effort. (The Sabatier Knife did this effortlessly).

One hint -- the manual says that a reasonably sharp knife can be sharpened in 20 or so strokes, while a dull knife might take 50. This, in my view understates the process. While my old knives were very dull, it took a couple of minutes per knife to get a good edge on them.

Overall, I recommend this product, for all but the best knives. I will probably have my Sabatier knives professionally sharpened, but will certainly use this for my second set of knives.

I'm an avid semi-professional cook/chef and have an extensive collection of knives and sharpeners, including an electric Chef's Choice. I bought this sharpener as a gift and had to try it out first (against my wife's express order). I sharpened one serrated and one regular knife just to see if this would do a good job. Today, I'm ordering another one to send as a belated Christmas gift to my son since I kept the one I tried out. If you need a sharpener, buy this -- you will not be disappointed. It's easy (fool-proof!) to use, doesn't take up space, and puts on a razor-like edge in seconds (OK, maybe a minute or two). If your knife has a decent edge already, it hones with just a few strokes. This is a winner.