It’s a terrible reality of owning kitchen knives: no matter how nicely you care for them, their blades will ultimately dull over time. While sharpening knives at home may initially appear frightening, the best knife sharpeners make essential maintenance easier and immensely more comfortable. Chef’sChoice Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener is our choice for an intuitive sharpener that consistently delivers sharp edges while we stand behind all the picks on our list.
Knife sharpeners, such as this electric model from Chef’s Choice, maintain the sharpness of your knives.
How can you know if your knives need sharpening? When simple tasks like slicing onions and chopping parsley become much more difficult. “Sharp knives cut right through whatever you’re trying to cut, whereas a dull knife can easily catch and slip,” explains Dru Tevis, corporate pastry chef at SoDel Concepts and a Food Network Holiday Baking Championship contestant. However, there is more to it than that. “It’s so much easier to slip and cut yourself with a dull knife,” Tevis continues.
When weighing all the sharpening alternatives on the market, consider ease of usage, durability, and price. For example, whereas a manual knife sharpener may easily be found for less than $25, electric knife sharpeners are more expensive—even if the machine’s powerful motor sharpens knives rapidly and with little if any, effort on your side. Using a sharpening tool, such as a knife, is common in the industry. These, however, have a learning curve.
Here are our favorite knife sharpeners, including manual and electric types (plus a bestseller sharpening stone), with tips and recommendations from great cooks.
- Best Knife Sharpener Overall: Chef’sChoice Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener
- Best Value Knife Sharpener: KitchenIQ Deluxe Edge Grip 2-Stage Knife Sharpener
- Best Professional Knife Sharpener: Sharp Pebble Premium Whetstone Knife Sharpening Stone
- Best Knife Sharpener For Beginners: Presto EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener
- Best Manual Knife Sharpener: Zwilling Vertical Knife Sharpener
- Best Upgrade Electric Knife Sharpener: Wusthof Easy Edge Electric Sharpener
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1. Chef’sChoice Trizor XV EdgeSelect Professional Electric Knife Sharpener
$180
This electric knife sharpener has three slots for sharpening, honing, and polishing straight-edged or serrated knives. The sharpener’s first two stages use diamond-coated abrasive disks to sharpen and hone 15-degree edges, while the third stage uses “flexible disks” to polish the knife. It simplifies knife sharpening because you don’t have to do much. Furthermore, the manufacturer claims that sharpening a knife the first time takes only one minute, and resharpening takes only 10 seconds.
2. KitchenIQ Deluxe Edge Grip 2-Stage Knife Sharpener
Look no other than the KitchenIQ Deluxe Edge Grip 2-Stage Knife Sharpener if you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-use, and affordable model. This small model will handle most home needs while it doesn’t have many bells and whistles. This two-step manual model is designed for Western-style knives (including serrated blades) and includes two sharpening slots: good (to refine a blade’s edge) and course (to polish and set the blade’s edge). It also has a unique V-Grip design that lets you lay it perfectly against the edge of your worktop for simple sharpening.
3. Sharp Pebble Premium Whetstone Knife Sharpening Stone
$34$60SAVE $26 (43%)
This sharpening stone is snuggled within a bamboo base, which helps to keep the entire setup stable as you sharpen. It has two sides, one with a lower grit for knives that have lost their bite and one with a higher grit for sharpening and finishing your knife. The kit includes a guide that connects to the knife’s spine and supports you keep the blade at the proper angle relative to the stone’s surface while sharpening. The manufacturer claims that their water-based whetstone enables a mess-free sharpening process—a plus if you want something easy to clean up.
4. Presto EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener
$45
Presto’s knife sharpener has a two-stage sharpening system. The first stage includes “precision grinding” to start the process and create an angled exact edge. The second stage hones, polishes, and, most importantly, sharpen the blade. Knives with a straight edge, often known as non-serrated knives, are designed for the sharpener.
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5. Zwilling Vertical Knife Sharpener
$90
Electric devices are faster and easier to use, but manual models offer greater control and precision. This model from trusted German knife company Zwilling features V-shaped ceramic sharpening stones and interchangeable adaptors for Western- and Japanese-style knives, permitting you to reach the proper angle for your blades. Ceramic sharpening rods for fine or coarse grinds are also included. When it’s time to sharpen your dull blades, insert an adaptor and draw your knife through; once its factory edge is restored, you can put everything in the convenient built-in storage box.
6. Wüsthof Easy Edge Electric Sharpener
$200
Another well-known German knife firm, Wüsthof, produces its electric sharpener. This premium knife sharpener offers three stages: shape, sharpen, and refine. It is a top-of-the-line model for those ready to invest. Also It includes slots on either side of a central abrasive belt, allowing you to sharpen all sides of your knives uniformly. It is also effective on serrated knives.
How We Chose The Best Knife Sharpeners
Forbes Vetted is well-versed in knives, having researched, tested, and reviewed the top knife sets, chef’s, and steak knives, to mention a few. As a result, we know a thing or two about the most important knife accessories, notably sharpeners. We used our knowledge and consulted great chefs to learn what they examine for in knife sharpeners to select the best options currently on the market. We then scoured the market for the best electric and manual variants and whetstones. After choosing bestseller models that fit our quality standards, we examined their durability and convenience while considering real-world customer feedback.
Which Knife Sharpener Works Best?
According to most expert cooks, the best knife sharpener is a whetstone. However, this sharpening method requires more practice and is more time-consuming, so manual and electric knife sharpeners are more popular among home cooks. The Chef’s Choice ProntoPro Diamond Hone Knife Sharpener, which employs diamond abrasives and has two blade angles, is our favorite model.
However, not everyone can utilize manual or electric types. “If you have true Japanese knives—which are an investment on their own—you can only use a sharpening stone,” says Dan Kluger, chef at New York City’s Loring Place. Japanese knives are sharpened to more sharp angles than Western-style knives, resulting in sharper, more sensitive blades.
Do Knife Sharpeners Ruin Knives?
It will not harm your treasured blades if you use your knife sharpener properly and if it is of great quality. “I’ve never had a knife that was less usable after running it through a sharpener,” says Abra Berens, executive director of Granor Farm in Three Oaks, Michigan, and author of Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Seeds, and Legumes. “I’ve had a useless knife because it was so dull.” However, sharpening delicate Japanese-style knives made of high-carbon steel with a mediocre electric sharpener will reduce their lifespan.
If you’re concerned about damaging your blades in a sharpener, try having them sharpened professionally at a kitchen or knife store like Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma.