British BBQ Society Forums

The Chef's Choice sharpener arrived this morning - duly subjected my knives to it and hey presto I have sharp knives again. The tomatoe test worked a treat. So to my Global knives, I apologise. To the crappy sharpener that was recommended to go with them, ebay beckons....

For reference this is the one I ordered: 'Chef's Choice 3 Stage Angle Select 4623 Knife Sharpener' - £31 on Amazon. This enables you to sharpen to 15 degrees and 20 degrees as well as serrated blades such as bread knives.


Thanks for the advice - worked a treat.

I would be wary of using it on serrated knives as most serrated knives are sharpened on one side only. This sharpener will sharpen both edges which after a while will wear out the edge.
Glad you are happy though as blunt knifes are really dangerous, not as dangerous as an axe weilding maniac but still dodgy

Do the manual ones work as well as the electric ones (minus the elbow grease of course)?

IMHO the electric sharpeners, especially the cheaper ones, can act as more of a grinder than a sharpener. I think you'd have to go off forum and check out some similar sites to Which or the US equivilant to get an accurate assessment. Unless there are some on the forum who have done tests or have both setups.

keith157 wrote:IMHO the electric sharpeners, especially the cheaper ones, can act as more of a grinder than a sharpener. I think you'd have to go off forum and check out some similar sites to Which or the US equivilant to get an accurate assessment. Unless there are some on the forum who have done tests or have both setups.

Grinding is not the problem, you need to grind a knife to sharpen it, the problem is that electric sharpeners can remove too much of the metal of your knife.

If you are really fussy you would not use a slot sharpener either electric or manual, you would use a sander or waterstone/waterstone system.

Here's a knife being sharpened on a sander:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREokC4MPM0

Waterstone systems:
http://www.edgeproinc.com/
http://www.wickededgeusa.com/

That was in essence my point as a grinder would take too much metal away. However the gist of the post is how to keep your knives sharp rather than grinding a profile. When I refurbished my Victorian(esque) carving set I gave them to a friend who had the full Tormek water sharpening system. I cannot imagine running to the garage and setting up the correct jig just to finish boning the 3rd leg of lamb. That is where IMO the manual sharpening devices come in.

For all the knife collectors,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kochling-Wooden ... B0042FAKWC

I got one of these.

It s very nice indeed - finally have a place to keep all my knives in one place. Expensive, but I got a refurbished/second for £20 (there is one left if anyone wants to grab it) - had a small scratch on it - bargain! Ony annoying thing is there is no slot for my steel.

I'm considering the chefs choice 1520 sharpener. It is almost double the price as the us though!

Two options I can see, depending on your steel of course. If it is a tradional round profile metal steel then there appears to be sufficient room under the second row of slots (a darker layer) to carefully bore a hole to fit. If you don't have a drill press, then a chat to a mechanic or similar eqipped person may help, OR again assuming a metal steel embed a couple of rare earth magnets to one side to hold the steel. Most steels are either manufactured with or acquire a magnetic field, albeit a small one in most cases.

If you have a diamond or ceramic "steel" then sorry no ideas at the moment. Looks a good buy I got a slightly chipped ProCook block one from a cookshop at a vastly reduced price. I also have what was an absolute cheapy glass & metal one for my longer knives I got from TCM in the old days

Steel is in the drawer. Not a biggie.

keith157 wrote: Looks a good buy I got a slightly chipped ProCook block one from a cookshop at a vastly reduced price. I also have what was an absolute cheapy glass & metal one for my longer knives I got from TCM in the old days

ProCook.......now you're talking my language Bought my 15 piece set about 15 years ago and still get a buzz everytime I sharpen and use them

aris wrote:Steel is in the drawer. Not a biggie.

NO!!! They have to be together! Much easier to grab the steel and knife of choice in one swift movement