Electric Knife Sharpener – Is it worth it?
Here’s why I bought an electric knife sharpener – the Chef’s Choice 15VX
@backyahdbbq Electric knife sharpener. Is it worth it? Dull to sharp in 3 minutes #knifesharpener #knifeskills #bbq #bbqtips #chefschoice #howto #learnontiktok ♬ Out of My Mind (Live at the House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois, September 22, 2005) – John Mayer Trio
I have many knives that I bought from Costco many years ago that I recently sharpened with the AccuSharp, but the AccuSharp isn’t a 15-degree sharpener and I wanted to get all my knives to 15 degrees. So, while it was sharp for a little while, it quickly dulled. I’m also growing my knife collection with many knives that are 15 angles.
I debated for a long time on if an electric sharpener was worth it and recently decided it was. Considering the amount of time it takes to sharpen with a whetstone, I decided that my time was worth the upfront cost. The Chef’s Choice 15XV is $150ish, which sounds like a crazy amount to spend on a sharpener at first, but if you consider the amount of time it takes to sharpen with a whetstone, it might be worth it for you. You can get fast with a whetstone, but for myself, I don’t find pleasure in the art of sharpening knives, I just want sharp knives so I can cut food and experiment with recipes and cooking technics.
You don’t have to buy this model, they have plenty others, but I would encourage the 15-degree model as that is what Victorinox ships all their knives with. I chose this one because it got good reviews, has diamond abrasives, and sharpens serrated knives.
While not as sharp as what I would get with a whetstone, it’s sharp enough for me.
This model has three stages, sharpening, honing, and polishing.
Stage 1 Sharpening
For really dull knives, you’ll want to do 20 pulls for 3-4 seconds on each side in stage one and move to stage 2 when you fell a burr along the whole edge of the right side of the knife.
Stage 2 Honing
Then do 1-2 pulls for 3 seconds each in stage 2 until you feel a burr.
Stage 3 Polishing
Then 3 pulls for 3-4 seconds each in stage 3, followed by 2 pulls for 1 second. You can continue to do more 1 second pulls to get it even sharper. At the end of this stage you shouldn’t feel a burr, just check for sharpness by cutting a piece of paper for the full length of the knife.
Serrated Knives
For serrated knives, do 5-10 pulls for 2-3 seconds in stage 3, and if damaged, do 1 pull for 2-3 seconds in stage 2, then back to stage 3 for 3-4 pulls.
Resharpen Knives
To resharpen, start with stage 3, if it takes too long, then do stage 2, and if that takes too long, to stage 1. You work your way back from Stage 3, to Stage 2, to Stage 1 following the instructions above in reverse order.
Hope this helps you decide if it is worth it for you.
Jonny
