Will an Electric Sharpener Ruin Your Expensive Chef’s Knife?

Should I use an electric sharpener on my expensive chef’s knife?

Q: I just purchased the Trizor XV after reading this article. However, once I sharpened my Pampered Chef santoku knives I became inspired to get a better chef’s knife. The Pampered Chef knives got me through college and were a great beginner knife, but they don’t hold an edge and are very, very heavy. I checked Wirecutter’s guide to buying chef’s knives, and was dismayed to see the official recommendation for the MAC MTH-80 is to sharpen it with a stone. Yet, I already bought the Trizor XV. Am I doing a terrible disservice to the MAC by using the Trizor XV on it? I don’t want to buy an awesome knife only to in turn ruin it or not get the full benefit of the expense through inferior sharpening. Maybe I should just stick to my Pampered Chef knives or go for a bargain pick from the article? Thanks for the direction!

A: You would not be doing a terrible disservice to the MAC by sharpening it on the Trizor XV, but you wouldn’t be getting the best out of either. The MAC will reach and hold its full potential if you sharpen it on stones—but that requires significant investment of time and money. The Trizor will put a great edge on our budget pick, the Wüsthof Pro 8-Inch, an inexpensive stamped-steel knife. Because you already own the Trizor, that would be our recommendation. You can rest smugly knowing that your cheap knife is nonetheless likely sharper than most people’s fancy blades. Just remember that most of the time you only need to use the finest/honing setting (do so regularly), and once or twice a year the middle/sharpening setting. The leftmost/coarse setting is necessary only when you need to set a completely new edge, as on a brand-new knife or a truly dull or damaged (chipped or bent) one.

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