After 6 years I finally realized I was sharpening my chef's knife wrong

Been working the line at a busy Italian spot downtown since 2018. Last week my sous chef watched me run my knife across the stone and just shook his head. He pointed out I was using way too much pressure on the pull stroke, basically making a burr every time without evening it out. Took me maybe 10 minutes of his coaching to feel the difference. Now my knife actually holds an edge through a full Friday night service instead of getting dull after 50 prep tomatoes. Anyone else have a chef call them out on a basic skill they thought they had figured out?

2 comments

2 Comments

logan_dixon1821d ago

That thing about the pull stroke and the burr, man... I read an interview with a Japanese knife maker once who said 90% of home cooks sharpen wrong because they don't understand the burr. They just scrub away hoping for the best, you know? The real trick is feeling that tiny wire of metal form on the opposite side, then flipping and barely touching the stone to knock it off. My buddy who used to work at a high end knife shop told me most people use too much pressure, like they're trying to grind down the whole blade instead of just refining the edge. It's wild how a tiny adjustment changes everything, from how it slices through a pepper to how often you have to stop and hone. Glad your sous chef set you straight, that's a game changer for sure.

kaiharris21d ago

Feel the burr with your thumb, flip the knife, and do two light strokes on that side. That one trick saved me from having to resharpen halfway through a dinner rush.