The best knife sharpener of 2024
The most important element of a knife sharpener is its ability to sharpen the edge along the length of the blade. However, many other factors may make other devices more suitable for you. Here are some of those factors:
- Ability to sharpen different types of knives
- Cleanliness
- A sound
Generally, sharpening a serrated blade requires a special sharpener for serrated knives, but you may still want to sharpen straight chopping knives, boning knives, fillet knives, sabers, or regular blades (or even a pocket or hunting knife). Although the Chef’s Choice sharpener is the best for chef’s knives, both for Just three stages and Work Sharp devices offer a little more flexibility for different blades. The Presto, for example, can adjust its slots to direct the different blades more efficiently. The Work Sharp uses attachments and belts of varying roughness for kitchen knives, pocket knives, or scissors—a modular approach that may turn off casual cooks but will likely appeal to DIY enthusiasts.
Despite the good results, the Work Sharp looks much more at home in a garage than on a kitchen counter.
Another consideration is how clean your sharpener is: if you’re sharpening in your garage, then you might not sweat the steel shavings that some sharpeners like the Work Sharp or Presto sharpeners. In the kitchen environment, cleanliness is a must, and the Chef’s Choice Trizor and $23 AnySharp Pro sharpener were the cleanest. However, all of the above recommendations require minimal, if any, cleaning.
Finally, sound is an issue for some – and some of these devices are significantly louder than others. The Chef’s Choice Trizor is a bit quieter than the Presto sharpeners, but neither was quiet. If you want a quiet option, non-electric sharpeners will be your best bet.
Of all the tests, the only device that didn’t seem to have an edge was the $8 Kadell 3 Stages sharpener (no longer available), which wasn’t as affordable as the KitchenIQ sharpener and also performed worse than any other sharpener I tested. Besides, it seems that almost any knife sharpener is better than none. So invest in the high end or get a tool for $6. Either way, food preparation will get a lot easier when you do.
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