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Nerdy Science in the Kitchen

What is the Best Home Knife Sharpener

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To a degree, the best home knife sharpener is a matter of personal preference. It will depend on the types of knives you use, how often you sharpen them, and your budget.

When I was selecting the best home knife sharpener, I considered two things:

1. Convenience

If you cook as frequently as I do, you’ll need to sharpen you knives frequently to maintain a sharp edge. If you’re going to sharpen your knives before each use, or even before every few uses, electric knife sharpeners are the way to go. Manual sharpeners put a great edge on your cutlery, but it takes much more time and effort. Electric provides the most convenient way to sharpen often.

2. Sharpness

I like to keep my knives as sharp as the day I bought them or sharper. While some newer chefs may not be accustomed to working with surgically sharp knives, seasoned chefs demand a fine edge. Certain sharpeners will add a more durable edge, and that is important to me. I should also specify that I consider this to be the best sharpener for kitchen cutlery. If you use this sharpener to sharpen hunting knives or pocket knives, you will still achieve a sharp edge, but it will dull more quickly since the edge of those blades should ideally be sharpened to a broader point. Learn more about sharpening angles.

chefs-choice-trizor

The best home knife sharpener is…

Hands down, the best home knife sharpener is the Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener.

It is easy to operate, solidly constructed, and gives my knives an ultra-sharp edge with minimal effort on my part.

I have used a lot of knife sharpeners over the years, but I always come back to Chef’s Choice. The company has been around since 1984 and is now a global leader in the knife sharpening industry. This model is built like a tank, but if it ever does break the company stands behind their work with a three year warranty.

For those of you that like to use both Japanese and western style knives, this versatile little sharpener comes equipped with EdgeSelect technology, which means it can toggle between a fifteen degree angle for Japanese style knives and a twenty degree angle for western style ones.

kitchen-knives-steel-with-knife-cutting-board

It has three stages of sharpening, hence the name Trizor. These stages use different angles and grits to create a durable beveled edge. It is also called a compound edge. Since the abrasive surfaces are the key components of any knife sharpener, let’s take a look at each stage.

Stage one

The first stage is the coarsest sharpening stage. It uses conical disks coated in a diamond abrasive which create tiny grooves to give your final edge added bite. This stage creates the first portion of the bevel.

Stage two

The second stage also uses a conical disks, but with a finer diamond abrasive that creates even smaller micro-grooves. This stage creates the second surface of the arch shaped bevel. For regular, routine knife sharpening, you will only need the use the second and third stage.

Stage three

The final stage uses patented, flexible stropping disks. It utilizes a very fine abrasive to polish the grooves created in the first two stages. Stage three can also be used the restored a sharp edge to serrated knives as well, which is a handy feature I use for my bread knives.

Final thoughts

Overall, I am very impressed with this knife sharpener. If you use high end kitchen knives, it’s important to use a quality sharpener to keep them in good condition. The Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener delivers.

Chef'sChoice Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener With 100-Percent Diamond Abrasives And Precision Angle Guides For Straight Edge and Serrated Knives, 3-stage, Gray

See the latest model at Amazon.

The ability to select between a fifteen and a twenty degree angle makes this a great sharpener for all kitchen knives. For a knife sharpener, the price is a little on the high side, but you get what you pay for in quality. I expect my Trizor will last for decades.

Pros

  • Speed. In under two minutes, this sharpener will make a dull knife extremely sharp.
  • Durability. This unit is solidly built and will last a lifetime with proper care.
  • Versatility. I love the fact that I can use a single electric sharpener for both my Japanese and western knives.
  • Overall feel. There’s a bit of an X factor to this unit. I really like the way this unit feels. At around five pounds, it feels sturdy but isn’t difficult to move. The blade feels steady passing through the sharping channels.

Cons

  • Price. This is a premium knife sharpener with a price tag to match. The cost could be prohibitive to those just getting started building up their arsenal of culinary tools.
  • Limited uses outside the kitchen. As I mentioned above, this knife sharpener does a stellar job with kitchen knives, but is not ideal for other types of blade. It just sharpens a little to sharp for a knife that you may use out in the yard – it will get dull faster since the angle is 15º.
Kitchen Professor author
About the Author: Bryce Heitman

Bryce is not a real professor, but he's real nerdy in the kitchen. He's been barbecuing, chopping, and generally blazing food for many decades. He thinks there's definitely a better spatula or utensil out there that hasn't been invented yet.

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