How To Sharpen Knives With a Wetstone – Get A Razor-Sharp Edge With Very Little Effort
Producing effortless, beautiful, even cuts with a razor-sharp edge makes you feel capable and in control, and enhances your cooking experience no end.
The feeling of sawing away at vegetables and (particularly) meat with a dull blade makes prep work feel like a chore. Basically, if you’re willing to pay out for a good quality non-serrated kitchen knife, you should also be willing to pay out for the means to keep it sharp. In the case of a Global knife the blade curves toward the edge, making this harder to judge. Having a really good, sharp knife is one of the fundamental necessities of good cooking, and most of all enjoying your cooking. Knives are not self-maintaining, a good quality blade needs regular attention to keep that lovely razor-sharp edge on it.
If it doesn’t, back to the stone.
It should slide cleanly through, without catching or tearing. The easy sharpen gadget went right in the bin. With patient work on and off, after about 6 months that knife is finally coming back to being excellent again. Fortunately there’s an easy way out – most good kitchen shops should be able to sell you a little clipon guide which keeps the knife at just the right angle. I went with long strokes for a good while, but recently I found a great article from Cook’s Illustrated (it’s no longer available, unfortunately) where they’d done some real research on the different methods. The first time I put my blade on it and turned it back to that cut-anything edge I knew it was worthwhile. Vintage Pocket Knives
Many people advise stropping the knife after sharpening on a steel or a leather strip – it’s supposed to make the edge more durable. When you’re done, test the blade to make sure it’s up to scratch. A good wetstone – and the Japanese ones are pretty much the best – should actually be two stones in a sandwich (or two separate stones). Just continue this for a minute or so on one side, then flip to the other. You keep the blade moving round and round in small circles on the stone, and slowly move up and down the length of the edge. The following applies to straight-bladed kitchen knives, penknives, camping knives and pretty much anything with an edge.
Not worth the savings in time or money.
Sharpening is time-consuming but strangely satisfying, particularly with some good music on and real concentration. I spent £45 on my Global chef’s knife (in a New Year’s sale), and have never regretted it. But it might be something to try.
I spent £60 on my double-sided wetstone, and only regretted it briefly. Then you rest the blade against the top surface of the stone, starting on the rough side, and move it back and forth.
Hold a piece of paper up by one end, and use the knife to cut a strip off it from top to bottom, moving the knife back and forth in a slicing motion. There is a heck of a lot of debate about this issue, whether you should make vertical or horizontal strokes, pull or push, away from or toward the edge. Once you’ve got the angle right, there’s the action. Once both sides are done, switch to the fine side of the stone and repeat the action – it doesn’t need as long on the fine side as you’re just smoothing off the rough bits left by the first side. On most knives the edge is a bevel, with a distinct angle which makes it easier to pick out, but it’s still hard to judge when you rest it against the stone. One warning based on my own experience: Gritty slurry from the stone will tend to work its way under the guide while you’re sharpening. The angle is vitally important – it must rest on the stone at the angle of the edge.
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