Website design By BotEap.comBefore choosing a professional sharpening service for your kitchen knives, it is essential to carefully examine your prospects. Because there are many services that charge comparable prices, but do not always offer comparable quality. Remember the time you made copies of your front door key, and even though all the key cutters charged a normal fee, the first one you went to made lousy keys and the second one made fabulous ones? It’s the same with professional sharpening services. And while spending a premium (especially for sharpening Japanese knives) definitely gives you access to a higher level of expertise, it’s not a guarantee in and of itself.

Website design By BotEap.comIt is best to be well informed. Get feedback from other customers. Read reviews. ask a lot of questions prior to you send your knives.

Website design By BotEap.comwhat can go wrong

Website design By BotEap.comWhile a top-tier professional sharpening service is a cook’s best friend, a second-tier one is their born enemy. This is how someone inferior can sabotage a knife. They can:

Website design By BotEap.com1) Not grinding sharp enough. Duh. These are small potatoes, compared to the others.

Website design By BotEap.comtwo) Grind it unevenly. Which will a) not allow your knife to perform at its optimal level, and b) will require unnecessary additional sharpening to fix.

Website design By BotEap.com3) Grind more than you need to grind, thus shortening the life of your knife. (Every time you sharpen, you remove the metal from the blade.)

Website design By BotEap.com4) Grind it too hot, so the edge is weakened, compromised. Steel is permanently damaged and loses its ability to stay sharp. Time to buy a new knife!

Website design By BotEap.comNeed I say more? Please do your homework.

Website design By BotEap.comGrinders and Knife Makers

Website design By BotEap.comAn important tip to keep in mind when deciding on a quality sharpening service is to know the difference between a commercial sharpening service and a professional cutter. The former is primarily used by butchers, fishmongers, and super commercial kitchens (also known as Wendy’s, Applebees, etc.) who generally use disposable and fairly inexpensive knives. The sharpening service collects, sharpens and returns the knives en masse once a week and often supplies them as well. Very industrial, very crude and efficient. The second (a professional knife cutter) is used primarily by chefs and restaurant consumers and is designed to handle high quality cutlery with delicate blades. More care, more quality. Guess which one you want?

Website design By BotEap.comNot to confuse the issue, but some sharpening services do both types of business. If this is the case with a service you’re considering, you might be fine, but proceed with caution. Try to ask them some questions like: Who does the sharpening? Is it a large or small crew? Who are most of your customers? This will help indicate what type of business they are running. If they start to refuse, or just don’t respond (if you do it via email or something), then they’re probably 1) not as slicker as you’d like or 2) not great at customer service. Both are negative in my book. Unless there are other compelling positives to keep them going, like if they’re down the street or a foodie friend of yours raves about them, I’d look elsewhere.

Website design By BotEap.compatience ends first

Website design By BotEap.comDon’t be impatient or impulsive when deciding on a professional sharpening service. Take a little time to do your research and you’ll avoid unnecessary wear and tear on your knives or (worst case scenario) ruining them for life. You’ll be pleased when they return crisp and sleek and ready to help you complete your kitchen prep work. Nothing makes cooking more fun than a sharp knife!