The best sharpening method is the one you’ll actually do

The best sharpening method is the one you’ll actually do

Lisa McManus Executive Editor, ATK Reviews

I wish it weren’t true, but there’s no such thing as a knife that never needs sharpening. When I first came to the test kitchen, I had a drawer full of knives at home, each knife duller than the last. After testing knife sharpeners as one of my first reviews, I went home and sharpened every one of those blades, and I’ll never ever go back to struggling with a dull knife.

If you want to keep your cooking much easier and your kitchen blades performing at their best, you need some kind of sharpening method—one that you will actually use on a routine basis. Powered by you, manual sharpeners don’t need to hog an electrical outlet. Nor do they typically take up much counter space. Our favorite tucks in a drawer, so it’ll be ready to touch up your knife the moment you feel it’s not as sharp as it could be; the sharpener restores the sharp edge in minutes. It can even sharpen serrated knives.

Yeah, you’re going to become that fussy. I did, and it’s 100 percent worth it for better, safer cooking.

Read our full review of manual knife sharpeners.

On pull-through sharpeners, the best had narrow slots of at least ¾ inch depth (left) that made it easy for us to hold the knife at the correct angle. Too-shallow slots (right) let the knife wiggle and slide out of position as we worked.