Sharpening Vs Honing
Sharpening Vs Honing, whats the difference? While both are critical to knife care, knowing when to use each is crucial. With sharpening steels and honing irons looking similar there can be a lot of confusion, so lets set the record straight.
Whats the difference? Sharpening Vs Honing a knife
This is a fantastic question that comes up a lot especially from home cooks! Usually it happens when the honing steel comes out and people see the memorable chef's knife going back and forth across the honing steel. So let's start with the standard Chef's knife, one of my favorites is this one.
Sharpening Vs Honing a knife
Here's the quick version. Sharpening involves steadily working a knife across a whetstone or sharpening steel that removes some metal of the blade creating a new bevel. Honing involves bending the edge of the blade back into alignment. When you slice the very edge of the blade can bend to the right or left slightly.
Here's the point: Honing removes no metal where sharpening does.
Knife sharpener
When we talk about sharpening what we’re really talking about is the blade edge (heres our article about knife blade edges) that causes cutting or slicing. When this edge gets dulled through use the edge rounds. In order to sharpen a blade, we are putting a harder knife edge angle back into the tip of the blade edge.
If we were to take our blade and draw a line down the center we could find the two angles. As we work our blade across a sharpening instrument like a sharpening stone or in a system like we sell at Its Just Sharp, we put the angle back into the rounded edge and it is considered sharpened.
If you need help with sharpening check out our article dedicated to our sharpening method showing you how to sharpen a knife.
Sharp Edge
Side note: this theory applies to any instrument that produces a cutting motion. Knives, axes, hatchets, scissors, and chisels to name a few. These are all examples of bevels that cut.
The smaller the angle of the blade, the finer the cut and the more delicate the blade. For example, a shaving straight razor might have a combined angle of 10-15 degrees, whereas a kitchen knife might have an angle in the mid 30s.
Here we have a fixed-angle sharpener and our knife from earlier. I simply set the knife into the clamp, select my angle and the whetstones ensure that I get the blade angle I’m looking for. These stones act much link sandpaper does.
In sharpening, we are actually removing some of the metal of the blade itself. If you are sharpening you’ll probably notice some of the metal shavings left behind like so.
Knife Honing:
Honing acts differently. when we hone a chef's knife we aren’t removing any material whatsoever. In the normal use of a blade, like chopping on a cutting board the durable edge can start to roll over. This can cause you to have to put a ton of weight into the edge and only succeed in smashing whatever you’re trying to cut.
Instead, to get the edge nice and straight we use honing implements like a kitchen honing rod or quality strops to extend and maintain a sharp edge.
If you’ve ever seen a cook pull out a honing rod and run his knife across it over and over, it's unlikely that they’re sharpening the blade, but rather honing. Some restaurants commonly use honing rods, to create a show for customers. This technique requires practice, a strong grip, and control to not hurt the knife or owner.
The same goes for barbers who use straight-edge razors with strops prior to a shave. The object of both is to get the edge as straight as possible before use to get the cleanest cut or shave possible.
Honing instruments are much softer in nature. hanging strops, stropping stones, and honing irons fall into this category.
Japanese Style knives
Some Japanese style knives have a specialized edge where there is only one angle instead of two. These sushi knives are specialized for the chef using them and provide a clean flat cut needed for sushi rolls.
Usually they are lighter, however they have a much higher price due to their blades. If you own one only sharpen one side into alignment to keep from breaking. We found that YouTube has a ton of relevant information and details.
Cutting Board
To keep your kitchen knives in the best condition, a quality cutting board is mandatory. We recommend a rigid wooden one with a handy damp towel under it creating a firm base.
Chefs never use a steel or stone board in any kitchen, those materials would break equipment, ruin the hone, and destroy blade tips.
No matter what your favorite blade is with a little knowledge how you can keep it sharp and well-honed at all times!
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a honing steel?
Honing irons and steels are rods set in a plastic or rubber handle that allow the user to safely hone their knives. To use one, hold the knife edge against the iron or steel and pass it back and forth bending the edge back into place.
How do I keep a sharp knife?
Proper knife care will help you keep your knife sharp and ready. Sharpen them when the edge dulls and frequent honing every few hours of work will help. Also keeping your knife in a sheath or knife block every time will help keep your knife usable longer.
How do I sharpen a knife?
To sharpen a knife involves working a knife edge across a whetstone, oil stone or sharpening steel removing small amount of metal and moving up in grit level until the desired sharpness level has been achieved.
Can you over hone a knife?
Probably not. Since you are simply moving the edge back into alignment if it was moved too far one way it can always be moved back to center if done correctly. You can read more on over honing a knife.
Are you trying to hone your knife with a honing iron? Check out this guide here. https://www.seriouseats.com/knife-skills-how-to-hone-a-dull-knife
