Knife Sharpeners Reviews

The Los Angeles Times published the best knife-sharpener review we found. Its review investigated many types of knife sharpening systems -- manual and electric grinders, water stones, rod sets and pull-type carbide and ceramic sharpeners. Testers use each sharpener and then put the sharpened knives through slicing, chopping and mincing trials. A review from The New York Times is limited to small models, and many of the knife sharpeners it reviewed are not reviewed elsewhere. Unlike some other reviews, this one did take into account ease of use for right- or left-handers.

Two magazines known for their rigorous testing, Consumer Reports and Cook's Illustrated, sidestep manual sharpeners and review only electric models. Consumer Reports embeds its brief review of electric knife sharpeners in an article about knife sets and devotes few words to each sharpener's pros and cons. In its 1997 report, Cook's Illustrated reviewed six electric knife sharpeners, including the Chef's Choice 110 and 330. The newer Chef's Choice 120 and 320, which grind more aggressively, were not included. Cook's Illustrated's review, though dated, includes a good deal of useful information, and testing is rigorous. We hope to see the magazine update its coverage. Cook's Illustrated dismisses sharpening stones as too time-consuming, but other reviews praise manual grinding systems that employ stone rods at pre-set angles.

The most in-depth coverage of knife sharpening can be found at the Web site for the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts and Letters. Editors publish an eight-part knife sharpening tutorial that discusses everything from steel alloying elements to micro serrations. This highly technical article groups knife sharpeners into six categories: Stones, guide systems, rod and clamp systems, V-systems and crock sticks, pull-through systems and electric sharpeners. Although this report is decidedly for the knife-sharpening enthusiast, it does discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems and provides useful critiques of some individual models.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

We found the greatest number of reviews for Chef's Choice electric knife sharpeners, which reviews say are fast and easy to use. Electric sharpeners, however, don't offer a great deal of control. Those who want to fine-tune their knives more precisely will prefer a manual sharpener. We found the best reviews for the Spyderco Tri-Angle rod-type sharpener. The Meyerco Sharpen-It is a budget pull-through sharpener. Although it doesn’t offer a lot of fine control, the Meyerco is quick, compact and inexpensive.