How do professional chefs sharpen their knives?

Question : How do professional chefs sharpen their knives?
I have good quality knives (mostly Wusthoff). I use a Chef’s Choice to sharpen them. what do professionals think of this sharpener? How do professionals sharpen their knives?
chefs choice knife sharpener

Best answer:

Answer by Tom Barrister
Sharpening devices tend to grind away too much of the blade. The best chefs use (or have an expert use) a whetstone and/or a knife steel (honing steel), meaning that the blade is sharpened manually.

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Comments (7)
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#1 written by Jennifer 1 year ago

Most professionals have a sharpening stone or stick, that they run the knives over – it is usually a little rough to take the edge off the knife to sharpen it.

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#2 written by Iowa State Baller 1 year ago

they use massive boulders

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#3 written by Stephen Thaggard 1 year ago

Devices like Chefs Choice remove to much metal. But are ok for home use. Professionals usually use a three sided whetstone. Each side has a different size of grit on it. You start with the side with the largest grit. when you are done you get rid of the burr with a steel. Actually od you “steel” your knives every few days you will rarely have to sharpen them on the whetstone. I have been a professional chef for 20 years.

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#4 written by Kallie 1 year ago

But those things scare the heck out of me. If you watch them, they draw the knife toward their arm. That’s not for me.

I take it you mean the Chef’s Choice three-stage sharpener. I used to have one of those. I switched to the item I’ve linked, and it’s wonderful. It works just as well, and takes about 4 seconds to use.

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#5 written by chefgrille 1 year ago

I take mine to the meat department at the supermarket. They sharpen them for me for free.

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#6 written by solve 1 year ago

Unknown to a lot of the general public, knives and other tools of the trade are sharpened in the back alleys and rear entry doors of some of the best 5 star resturants by a professional knife sharpener. This is a dissappearing trade found in a very few major metropolitian cites across the country. What truly professional chief will trust his “equipment” or his professinoal tools to any off the shelf knife sharpener. Even a pro – wood worker like myself, will take some of my better blades to be “touched up”, by the pro at the hardware store. Trades men that have for years, learned how metals behave under the pressure and heat of the grinding wheels. And which wheel to use. There are many differences. What file works best with Tungsten, carbide, stainless and so forth. What true professionals use is either they take the time to do it themselves, which is not often, and requires a lot of tools in and of itself… or they put them in the hands of the professional… I have seen one such man in Macon, Georgia. He could put a finer, sharper edge on my Swiss Army Knife than what it came with… Waving it at paper and it would split in fear… His edge would hold longer than anything I ever did… These tradesmen go to the back doors and are welcomed. They often work out of the back of pick up truck or work vans… They hook up to an outlet in the kitchen, their grinding wheels, buffing wheels and what ever else they need… The common charge is around $ 5.00 – $ 7.00 per edge. So unless there are several blades to do, the man can’t make much. The trade is an old one. Yet a few still hang onto it, a few still use it…

I would like to reccomend one tool that takes the place of this artist, but I can’t.

Keep Clear
Spartan Caver

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#7 written by Meaghan Cloke 1 year ago

A lot of professional chefs have their knives professionally sharpened. The Chef’s Choice is a great sharpener (and I use it myself) but it usually can’t get the very heel of the knife (right near the handle). Over time, that will keep the edge of the knife from making perfect contact with the cutting board, since the rest will be ground away a bit.

That takes a LONG time to happen, so the Chef’s Choice is a fine sharpener for home use. It puts an excellent dual-angled edge on knives, which is both sharp and durable.

Remember, that you don’t actually have to sharpen it very often. It usually needs to be “steeled”, which is the rightmost non-spinning slot on your sharpener. Or you can use one of those long steel sticks, which takes a bit of practice but is quicker than getting your sharpener out from storage. That doesn’t remove any metal, the way sharpening does, but just straightens the edge.

If you do end up with a hollowed-out knife, just take it to a professional sharpener. They use a grinder to to it and can sharpen it all the way to the bolster. It doesn’t have to be expensive, either: a local guy does it for me for about $ 2-$ 3 per knife.

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