How to Sharpen a Knife

The following is an advertorial. I received the respective product in exchange for a review on my blog.This post contains affiliate links.

One of the most important kitchen skills to know is how to sharpen a knife. Why? A sharp knife is a safe knife. Dull blades do a crappy job at cutting things. When you have to force a knife to cut, you're more likely to injure yourself (and make your food look sloppy).

How to Sharpen a Knife with a Sharpening Steel

Sharpening a knife using a sharpening steel is simpler than you may think and is a quick way to sharpen your knives. A steel is a metal rod with a plastic handle. You'll often find one in a nice kitchen knife set.

This video from Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Home Cooking Skills show how to sharpen a knife with a steel:

See how simple it is to sharpen a knife? It is okay to work slowly. Speed doesn't matter as much as much as a job well done.

Using a Knife Sharpener

A lot of knife sharpening gadgets on the market suck. They don't work well or they wear down the blade quickly. I found that this is not true of the Razor Red knife sharpener, which I received to test and review.

The knife sharpener has a V-shape made with tungsten carbide technology through which you run the blade. A strong suction cup keeps the sharpener in place on your counter, so your hand doesn't have to get near the blade.

This knife sharpener is so simple to use, and you can use it to sharpen serrated knives (bread knives). Because of its design, I used the knife sharpener to also sharpen scissors, my gardening tools and machetes.

Yes, machetes! My husband and I use them for gardening. Before, my husband used some type of grinder in my grandma's tool shed to sharpen the machetes. Now we can sharpen them at home in a manner that's much safer.

I enthusiastically recommend this product because of its versatility and safety aspects. It makes a great gift idea for newly weds, as a house warming gift, for someone who has gardening tools that need to stay sharp and for senior citizens.

You can find the Razor Red knife sharpener on Amazon.com.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you click on an Amazon.com link and make a purchase.