To keep a knife blade sharp, you only need to sharpen the cutting edge once or twice a year, depending on how often it is used. The rest of the time it is enough to hone it with special tools. This way, the knife will cut food well and wear out slower.
People use water whetstones or mechanical sharpeners for sharpening. And they hone the blade using a sharpening steel or a honing rod. Let us take a closer look at a honing rod and how to use it in a professional or personal kitchen.
Most craftsmen and professional cooks know this tool as a musat. Musats differ from each other in the material of the abrasive element. As for the honing rod, we are talking about a high-strength carbon alloy. That is why it is also called a "sharpening steel". Musats can be ceramic or diamond-coated.
Given the fact that they are similar in design and purpose, people often confuse musat with a sharpening steel. The key is to understand the purpose of the tool. It is not used for a proper knife blade sharpening. It is used to hone the knife edge to keep it sharp for everyday use.
A sharpening steel is a round metal rod with a length of 20 to 30 cm. It helps to make the knife sharp again by bringing back to alignment the deformed line of the cutting edge. Note that this does not involve sharpening.
Here is the difference between the two processes:
You need to hone a knife as often as possible, especially if it constantly used. It is common to hone a knife every day, and sometimes before each use until the blade is completely dull. Only then you should use a stone to sharpen it.
To understand how a honing rod works, you need to imagine what the blade looks like under very high magnification. The cutting edge is very thin, so it can cut a variety of foods. But because of this, it is vulnerable to deformations that result in the edge folding over on itself.
It happens when you use a knife for:
The cross-section of the edge of a perfectly sharp knife, has the shape of a triangle with a sharp apex. But after use, this aoex will roll over to the side or twist. The knife will start cutting worse.
You can restore sharpness if you fix the mentioned damages. You can do this with the help of a sharpening steel. When you run the rod across the blade, the hard surface of the honing tool brings the cutting edge line back into alignment (pushes the apex back to its place). This is possible due to ductility of carbon steel.
The constant bending back and forth causes the top of the triangle to break off after some time. When it happens, you can not use a sharpening rod to make the blade sharp and you have to do a complete knife sharpening with a water stone or with a mechanical sharpener instead.
Theoretically, any tool or object can be used as a sharpening steel. But it has to be made of a harder alloy than the blade itself.
Blade edge honing tools are usually made of steel. You can often find them included in sets with kitchen knives. The rod can be of two types:
The larger the ridges, the coarser the finishing of the blade surface will be. Therefore, you should not use such tools for regular honing.
A smooth surface works better and is just as good at removing rolled over parts. But it has one drawback - such a tool is not suitable for working with Japanese knives. Manufacturers from Japan use harder steel grades compared to a sharpening rod. Besides, such steel is less ductile and may crack when rubbed against the rod.
The honing rod guide below will help you to properly hone your knife with no risk of injuring yourself. It is very important to hold the tool properly in your hands or rest its end on the table.
The rules are as follows:
The blade should rest on the steel rod with its heel at the top end of the rod. The blade should be at a 15° angle to the rod. You can change it according to the sharpening angle provided by the manufacturer.
The honing process consists of the following steps:
To hone the edge, repeat each step from 5 to 10 times. The number of times that you have to repeat a step depends on the degree of sharpness of the blade. You can hone only one side or two sides alternately.
When you finish honing, rinse the blade and rod with water and wipe the tools dry with a soft cloth. Honing does not remove metal particles from the blade, but it can cause microscopic swarf to come off the blade. So you should not neglect cleaning.
After you finish straightening, you can check the sharpness of the blade with a piece of paper. If the knife is sharp enough, it will cut through without creasing or ripping the paper.
When purchasing a sharpening steel, you should pay attention to the size of the rod. The length of the abrasive part (not including the handle) should be longer than the blade of the largest knife in your collection. We are talking about classic knives. This rule does not apply to bread knives with a serrated edge, as people almost never hone them, and rarely sharpen them at all.
This rod length allows you to run the entire knife blade over the abrasive element of the sharpening steel in one motion. If you use a 25 cm long kitchen knife, you need to get a honing tool that is at least 30 cm long.
The next important thing is to keep the working part of the rod clean. If you do not clean the surface, it gradually becomes contaminated with very fine steel particles. And the honing rod will lose its abrasive properties.
You should clean the honing steel with a clean cloth or a kitchen towel. Once or twice a month, you can wash the honing rod in hot water and detergent with a synthetic fiber brush or a cloth for non-stick frying pans.
Never use a metal sponge or other hard objects to remove contamination. Some people suggest using an abrasive scouring powder, but it is also too coarse for a honing rod surface.
Something to keep in mind is that even the best and strongest sharpening steel wears out with use. The service life depends on the frequency of use of the rod as well as its quality and manufacturer. On average, you need to change the honing rod every 2-3 years.
The sharpening steel is designed for straightening western-made knives. You can hone blades made from European alloys. They are tough, but also have high ductility. But the steel rod is not suitable for Japanese knives.
Knives from factories in Japan should only be honed with ceramic or diamond rods. A steel rod with a smooth or ribbed surface is not suitable for this purpose. Japanese manufacturers use high-strength but brittle steel. When it comes in contact with the steel rod, it wears down quickly and can crack.
If you do not want to damage an expensive professional knife made in Japan, you should only fix edge damage with diamond or ceramic musats.
Before you begin processing your knife, you need to understand the difference between straightening (honing) and sharpening. You only need to remove the rolled over areas of the edge with a sharpening steel on a regular basis. You can only use the water stone or a sharpener to restore the blade's sharpness once or twice a year.
Honing rod is suitable for processing western type knives. If you follow the guide above, you will be able to keep your knives sharp on your own for a long time. However, remember not to use a honing steel rod with Japanese blades. Only ceramic or diamond-coated musats are suited for them.
Sooner or later the honing rod will not be able to cope with the damages and you will have to sharpen the knife with a proper sharpener. It is best to use professional sharpening tools from TSPROF for this purpose. They remove any defects while preserving the same blade sharpening angle.
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