Top 7 Best Knife Sharpeners for 2017

Keeping your knives sharp and ready to use is crucial to your meal prep safety and efficiency. When you use a dull knife, you have to exert more pressure when cutting, slicing or chopping, not to mention that a knife that has become dull can also slip and cut you while you are using it. A good knife sharpener can not only sharpen your kitchen knives, it can also keep your survival, tactical or hunting knives razor sharp as well.

After extensively analyzing and comparing several dozen knife sharpeners of all types, we narrowed the field down to just the seven best. In total, we invested close to 26 hours creating this list, buying guide and comparison chart.

The knife sharpener that you choose should match your needs and expectations. Keep these criteria in mind to help you select the right knife sharpener for your own kitchen.

Type

Knife sharpeners come in a variety of makes and models today. It is important that you know what types of sharpeners are most commonly found on the market so you can choose the one that best suits your knife sharpening needs. Some of the varieties you may chance upon as you shop for a kitchen knife sharpener include:

Sharpening stones: Sharpening stones let you sharpen your knives by hand and are designed for durability and ease of use. They are made from ceramic, diamond, or natural stones harvested from stone quarries in Arkansas. They can be used either wet or dry. However, when you want the finest edge and the most polished finish on your knives, it is recommended that you wet your stone with a water or petroleum-based honing oil.

Sharpening rods: Sharpening rods, also called sharpening steels, also let you sharpen your knives by hand. As the name implies, this type of sharpener is made out of honed steel and has one side for sharpening and another for polishing. While ideal for keeping knives sharp, a rod is not suitable for sharpening dull knives. Instead, you should use an electric sharpener or a sharpening stone to sharpen knives that have been allowed to go dull.

Electric sharpeners: When you want a fast and easy way to sharpen knives, you may be want to go with an electric knife sharpener. Electric sharpeners sharpen your knives quickly and with little effort. They also hold the blades of your knives secure so that you avoid guessing at what angle to insert or pull through the knife. Moreover, electric knife sharpeners can typically be used on other cutting tools like utility knives or scissors.

Handheld sharpeners: Handheld sharpeners also let you quickly and easily sharpen knives, scissors, and other cutting tools. These sharpeners are often smaller in size and portable, letting you take them with you when you go hunting, fishing, camping, or on other outdoor excursions for which you may need a sharp knife. They do require, however, a bit more effort on your part because they lack the power and speed of electric sharpeners. You must exert a bit of muscle power to run your knives through the diamond abrasives and ensure that they reach the desired angle and bite.

These examples are the most common type of kitchen knife sharpeners available in most stores and online. Each one is capable of keeping your knives sharp and ready to use.

Function and Range of Use

Before you select a kitchen knife sharpener, you should also think about how you plan to use it. While you presumably will use it to sharpen your kitchen knives, you may consider the quality and style of knives that you will sharpen most often with it. You also may decide whether or not you need a sharpener that can also be used on cutting tools like craft scissors or lawn and garden gear.

When you plan to use the sharpener for more than just keeping your kitchen knives sharp, you may choose a model like the Work Sharp WSKTS knife and tool sharpener. With a multi-use sharpener, you can keep your kitchen knives and other cutting utensils razor sharp while also using it to sharpen the blades of your lawn mower, yard shears, garden hoe, hatchet, ax, and other outdoor equipment. You can also use a multi-use sharpener on pocket knives, utility or sporting knives, or even smaller paring knives.

However, when you want a sharpener that will give you the same sharpening quality and precision found in restaurant kitchens, you may choose one like the Presto 08810 professional electric knife sharpener. A professional quality sharpener can keep the edges on standard kitchen knives sharp and polished. However, it also can also sharpen European and Japanese kitchen knives as well.

Professional knife sharpeners are ideal for people who take their cooking game seriously or for those who host frequent dinner parties or family dinners. You can confidently chop, cut, and prepare ingredients when you use a professional quality knife sharpener to sharpen and polish your knives.

Price

Finally, you should think about the amount of money you plan to spend on your kitchen sharpener and what kind of budget you have set aside for this purchase. Kitchen knife sharpeners come in a variety of price ranges today. You can find high-quality sharpeners at reasonable prices as well as sharpeners that are sold for top dollar.

When you pinpoint your price range, you can then shop for a knife sharpener that will give you the performance and longevity you expect from it. In most cases, handheld sharpeners and sharpening rods tend to be lower in price than electric sharpeners. However, it is not impossible to find a moderately priced electric sharpener that will fit even the most stringent of shopping budgets.

That being said, however, you should note that professional grade sharpeners tend to cost more than standard electric or handheld sharpeners available on the market. If you want a sharpener that will last for years and give you the highest level of durability, precision, and polishing available, you may find it better to spend more money now than face having to replace lower priced sharpeners that are of lesser quality every few years. When it comes to deciding your price range for this purchase, you may reflect on the old adage of getting what you pay for or getting your money’s worth out of the knife sharpener.

Sharp kitchen knives are the key to safe and efficient meal preparation. You can keep your knives sharp and prevent slips and cuts with dull knives by investing in a durable high-quality kitchen knife sharpener.