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Knife Advice: Honing Steel

Updated: Jun 26

The most misunderstood kitchen knife maintenance tool

By Alena J

The most common misconception about honing steels (sometimes called rods) is that they are a sharpener. They are not. In fact, they are not intended to take off any steel at all. We see knives come in all the time with honing scratch marks on the side. If you thought you were sharpening your knife, you weren't alone.


chef using honing steel rod to straighten the burr on a chefs knife

So what is it for? A honing steel is intended to bend the burr back straight (that little bit of metal that folds over when you use a blade), not remove it. In most professional opinions, when used correctly, this is the number one way to maintain your blades between sharpenings. Not only will it allow you to get longer use between visits to see us, but it will maintain the structure of the edge better.


That means less steel removed every time you get them sharpened. Which means less knives in landfills and more money in your pocket.


All it takes is a little time to learn how to use one. The main advice we have is to go gently and practice on some knives that are, well not your favorites. If you don't have a honing steel, you can pick them up at a local hardware store or easily find them second hand.


Watch lots of youtube videos and happy honing!

Founder of Moleta Artisanal Sharpening smiling wearing sharpening apron



Alena has been sharpening professionally since 2009. She loves to garden, cook, craft and still gets excited for people to try their blades for the first time after Moleta sharpens for them.

Comments

Over 200+ 5-star Reviews!

We have a beautiful set of Shun knives that we sent to the manufacturer to be sharpened and they came back worse than when we shipped them! I brought them to Moleta and they are now just as sharp as when we bought them! Plus we got out camping utility knife nice and sharp! I'll be buying family gift certificates for Christmas

Nicole C, January 2022, Google Review,

Incredible quality work and even better customer service! I made an appointment to have several of my knives and scissors sharpened.My knives ranged from an inexpensive set of steak knives to my $400 Global Japanese workhorses, along with two pair of medium-tier kitchen shears. The are all as sharp as the day I bought them, and I almost can't wait to wear them out again so I can have them sharpened again by Moleta.

 

I cannot recommend this business enough!

Laura Grunert, March 2022, Google Review,

Did a great job with our knives, including a $300 shun knife that my husband had shredded- he put it through a pull-through sharpener and left lots of notches in the blade. To be fair, I also dropped it and nicked off about 2 mm from the tip... but she put a whole new edge on it and it came back from Moleta as good as new!!

Cecelia M, November 2021, Yelp Review,

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