Nerdy Science in the Kitchen

Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV Electric Knife Sharpener

This review will focus on one of the premier and most innovative electric knife sharpeners on the market, the Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener.

Chef’sChoice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener for Straight and Serrated Knives Diamond Abrasives Patented Sharpening System Made in USA, 3-Stage, Gray

See the Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener at Amazon.

This electric knife sharpener is appropriate to use for American-style, European-style, and Asian-style knives, even serrated knives can be sharpened on this model. The differentiator for this Chef’s Choice model is the sharpening angle; EdgeCraft dug deep to provide an innovative solution to the electric sharpener market.

They filled the need of being able to sharpen knives to an even sharper angle than what is considered “standard.”

Just as the name implies, this sharpener can sharpen your knife blades down to 15° which is the normal angle for many of the Asian manufactured knives. It can even sharpen, actual reprofile, the cutting edge of other knives, making them sharper than the factory model.

Chef’s Choice knife sharpeners are made by the EdgeCraft Corporation out of Avondale, Pennsylvania. They make a variety of equipment for home and commercial kitchens aside from their line of knife sharpeners, including cutlery, food slicers, waffle makers, and hot beverage appliances. They were founded in 1984 and right out of the gates, EdgeCraft released the Chef’s Choice line of electric sharpeners and have remained a powerhouse in the electric knife sharpening arena.

Similar to some of the other three-stage electric sharpeners, the 15 Trizor XV boasts three sharpening stages, included 100% coated discs in the first two stages (Stage 1 and Stage 2).

This sharpener has the capability to sharpen standard, straight-edged knives as well as serrated knives, like bread knives or some steak knives. The final and finest stage, Stage 3, can be considered a stropping or polishing stage which is patented by EdgeCraft. This final stage guarantees a finely honed sharpness for your knives.

Stage 1 can be considered a type of “pre-sharpening stage” as Chef’s Choice describes it, meaning that it can sharpen very dull, damaged, or reprofile another knife. It also means that this stage has the coarsest of the 100% diamond coats discs and will remove the most metal.

So, use this stage sparingly and only when needed. For normal usage in the kitchen, this amounts to once or twice a year depending on the knife and how much you use it. Stage 2 can be used for your routine sharpening tasks and is less coarse than Stage 1.

Stage 2 also uses diamond coated discs and at a slightly different angle which creates another bevel for added durability. Stage 3 is made of a flexible abrasive and only removes a fraction of the metal that Stages 1 and 2 remove.

Stage 3 provides the stropping and honing that your knife needs as the final stage of sharpening. Stage 3 is also the one to use for your serrated knife sharpening needs.

The Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener is one of the best kitchen knife sharpeners out on the market and can handle any sharpening task for high-quality gourmet knives, filet knives, sporting knives, and serrated knives.

For butcher knives, pocket knives, sporting knives, and, survival knives, I would recommend using Stage 1 and 2 in many cases. The slightly coarser grit and grind that is provided by Stage 1 and 2 can make the blades have a better “bite” which can be helpful depending on the task.

As a word of caution, the 15° angle that this sharpener provides directly impacts the durability of the knife blade. For this reason, we do not recommend that you use this sharpener for hunting knives, survival knives, pocket knives, or butchering knives since they would likely need to be sharpened after each use.

The fact is that a sharper blade means that the amount of metal actually doing the cutting is less which makes the knife blade wear down more quickly.

This model also comes in two color options: Brushed Metal or Platinum. Chef’s Choice offers a three-year warranty on this model for normal home use.

Pros and Cons:

Owners say in the reviews that The Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener delivers as advertised and provides a ‘scary sharp’ blade edge.

We hear this over and over but it is worth repeating – the user needs to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for sharpening knives.

It is doubly important when reprofiling a knife to a new cutting angle. One owner boasted of being able to cut through soft, ripe tomatoes with ease.

Another user did express some concern about the amount of metal that was removed from some high-quality knives.

Chef’sChoice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener for Straight and Serrated Knives Diamond Abrasives Patented Sharpening System Made in USA, 3-Stage, Gray

Again, using the sharpener as directed and using the proper stage for the knife blade will help lengthen the life of your knives.

See the Chef’s Choice 15 Trizor XV EdgeSelect Electric Knife Sharpener at Amazon