We love sharp knives at Gastrotools. They make work in the kitchen faster, easier and, not least, more fun. But to keep your knives sharp longer than the first month after you bought them, you need to put in some effort yourself.
Most people have become acquainted with a honing steel like the one in the picture above.
But few people know how to use it correctly, how often they should use it - and even whether they are using the right honing steel.
In this article, we will answer all of that and much more. So if you want to know how to keep your knives sharp as razor blades for the rest of your life? Stick around for a moment.
What is a honing steel?
A ceramic honing steel is a tool you use to maintain the sharpness of your knives. Since it is a ceramic honing steel, it grinds very finely and thus functions as a grinding rod.
If your knives need sharpening, on the other hand, you use a knife sharpener or sharpening stone.
A honing steel consists of a "grinding rod" and a good handle. The grinding rod is produced in different materials. It is important that the hardness of the honing steel is as hard or harder than your knife's steel, so that it can straighten the knife edge.
At Gastrotools, our knives are made from extremely hard steel that has a hardness of 60 HRC. This sets high demands on the honing steels used for this - therefore our honing steel is made from ceramic with a hardness of 67 HRC.
What is the difference between regular honing steel and ceramic honing steel?
The difference between the different honing steels is the metal you hone on. A regular honing steel is made from a softer material that will be softer than our knives - and therefore will not work for honing, for example, Japanese knives, as the steel of the knives has a higher hardness than the honing steel itself.
A ceramic honing steel has significantly higher hardness and can therefore be used on virtually all knives you might find. If you want to be on the safe side, we can clearly recommend a ceramic honing steel.
How to use a honing steel
We have almost all tried to stand there. With the large chef's knife in one hand and the honing steel in the other. A worried look on your face and then just tried to figure it out.
It doesn't have to go so darn fast, even if it might look a bit extra impressive.
Hold an angle on your knife of 10-20 degrees depending on the knife and hone down along the honing steel. Remember to hone the same number of times on both sides of the knife. It doesn't have to be much more complicated than that.
How often should you use a honing steel?
If you want to keep your knife as sharp as possible you should optimally use the sharpening rod every time you use your knives.
However, if you find this too arduous you can use the sharpening rod once a week as a minimum.
Frequent use of a sharpening rod will help keep your knives sharp for much, much longer.
Other tips for maintaining your knives
If you want more tips and tricks on how to take care of your knives and maintain them as well as possible, then we’ve written an article on this exact topic. Read it here…
If this article has made you want a sharpening rod in your kitchen, then have a look at our ceramic sharpening rod here.
