Tips to Choose your Electric Knife Sharpener

If you are amongst the lot who love to display their culinary skills, then you might be well aware of how much importance does a sharpened knife have in a kitchen! There are many modern and conventional means to sharpen the knives, but these days electric knife sharpeners have become quite popular as compared to the traditional water stones, oil stones, ceramic stones and diamond stones.

If you are considering getting one Electric Knife Sharpener for your kitchen toolkit, there are certain things you must consider before buying one. Let us look into some of the tips below:

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What are Electric Knife Sharpeners?

Here are some basics listed about electric knife sharpener, before we get into the details. As the name suggests, electric knife sharpeners are knife sharpeners operated by electricity. The biggest advantage of an electric knife sharpener is that it is automated, easy to use, takes less time and gives great results, provided you use it carefully. Majority of the electric knife sharpeners use an abrasive surface that rotates rapidly, thereby wearing away the knife’s damaged edge and bring out the sharper one. The abrasive surface can be anything from a wheel, a belt to an array of disks.  You just need to plug in the device, turn it on and draw the knife through the slots (one slot for each side of the knife), so that the abrasive disk can spin against the edges. Most of the electric knife sharpeners come with a fixed angle, but are quite versatile and can sharpen the knives at various stages of dullness.

Since, electric knife sharpeners work at extremely high speed, there are chances of over-sharpening the blade. Even few more seconds of usage can grind away too much of your knife’s blade thereby leading to extra wear and lesser life. Also, an electric knife sharpener takes more space and weight as compared to the other manual sharpener stones, so you need to have sufficient storage space for it. Though, I don’t think that could be a problem, seeing the convenience it gives and moreover, you won’t need to use it on regular basis.

Another disadvantage of using an electric knife sharpener is that it creates a lot of noise even for 30-40 seconds of usage.

It is always advisable to go through the instruction manual of your electric knife sharpener to get the best results out, without causing any possible damage to the knife.

Now, as we know what comes with an electric knife sharpener, let us get into the details of what you must ask before shopping for one.

What to look for in a sharpener?

Irrespective of any knife sharpener you are planning to buy – manual or electric, you must check for the following things from the retailer:

-         Strength and weaknesses of the particular models

-         Durability (e.g. ceramic rods are quite prone to easy breakage)

-         Is the knife sharpener easy and intuitive to use? Can it be folded and carried off?

-         Easy storage.

Knife sharpeners are something that you won’t use on a daily basis, so it is important to see if the sharpener is compact enough to store easily.

Once you have decided on the above points, ask about the angle, number of stages and the abrasive of the knife sharpener. (Note: You can always carry a dull knife with you to see the demo)

Abrasive

A knife sharpener’s abrasive can decide how effective is the sharpener in removing the metal and polishing the edges. For instance, tungsten carbide and diamond trim off a lot of metal rapidly, and might leave a rougher finish. Ceramic abrasives on the other hand grind a bit slowly but give a finer edge. Steel abrasives almost remove no metal at all. They are usually used for final polishing after the real sharpening is finished. Some sharpeners are equipped with two or more materials together in one single unit.

Angle

A lot of models might not declare their angles, although you might find the “Standard angle” written on their model description details. This usually means around 20 degrees and a bit more or less, which is considered to be standard for European knives.  If you get a sharpener with adjustable angles, then it can be a plus as you can customize the edge according to your needs. If you own a Japanese style knife, go for the sharpeners that are built particularly for the Asian knives that sharpen at smaller angle.

Number of Stages

Generally, the sharpeners that have two or more stages are considered to be more versatile and efficient on dull knives. The first stage usually works with a harsher abrasive at narrow angles and delivers thin edges. The further stages use finer abrasive to smoothen out and polish the edges.

Apart from the above mentioned points, you should always check online reviews of the sharpener you are considering. You can also check for the top rated products mentioned at various product review websites and blogs and go for the one that suits your needs the best.