Nerdy Science in the Kitchen

Chef’s Choice 320 Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener

This is an honest and thorough review of the Chef’s Choice 320 knife sharpener. It was one of the first sharpeners that I got, and even though I have others now, I still use the M320 all the time.

See the Chef’s Choice 320 Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener at Amazon.

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.

Chef’s Choice 320 Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener

This review will focus on one of the high-end electric knife sharpeners on the market, the Chef’s Choice 320 Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener.

This sharpener is targeted at serious home chefs or outdoorsmen / outdoorswomen.

See how to maintain a hunting knife.

This sharpener has two stages:

  • Stage 1 with 100% diamond coated disks and stropping/polishing disk in 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.
  • This final stage guarantees a finely honed sharpness for your knives.

It is important to use the right stage for the sharpening job. Stage 1 is the coarsest of the two stages and should be used for dull blades when a new edge needs to be created.

This actually does remove some metal from the knife blade but that is a fact of life when sharpening blades. You cannot obtain a like-new cutting edge without removing some metal.

Chef’s Choice states that 98% of the resharpening will take place in Stage 2, the stropping/polishing stage so rest assured that only microscopic amounts of metal are removed.

The Chef’s Choice 320 has the capability to sharpen serrated knives and Stage 2 should be used for this task. This will realign and straighten all your serrated knives.

Stage 2 will also sharpen each of the serrated tips on your knife blade. However, since Stage 2 is the stropping/polishing it is worth noting that I believe you will not be able to sharpen a very dull or damaged serrated knife.

Please keep this in mind when selecting a sharpener. In the case of a very dull or damaged serrated knife blade, I would recommend a manual sharpening system like the KME KFS Knife Sharpening System.

Chef’s Choice 320 Knife Sharpener is a highly versatile sharpener and can handle any sharpening task for high quality gourmet knives, butchering knives, sporting knives, pocket knives, survival knives, and serrated knives.

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

This sharpener provides your blades with a 20° angle which is ideal for a wide range of blades and a very good compromise for a person with many different kinds of knives on a budget.

Pros and Cons:

Users at Amazon have overall positive feedback for this sharpener… Many of them commented that saving time and durability were the most valuable benefits of the sharpener.

A handful of customers complained that the sharpener only sharpened on one side. I think this is highly unlikely. And can be chalked down to not using the sharpener correctly.

It is critical to use the sharpener as directed and be sure to utilize the great documentation that is available on the Chef’s Choice website.

See the Chef’s Choice 320 Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener at Amazon

The Chef’s Choice 320 is available in several colors including black, white, brushed metal, chrome, and platinum.

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