Reddit reviews Wüsthof - 2 Stage Hand-Held Sharpener (2922)

No recipe really. If you have a grill, top rack whole boneless breasts seasoned with your favorites. I love using smoke pellets or wood chips for extra flavor.

My recommendation for making your life easier is to get a simple digital food thermometer so you don't over cook meats. And get good knives. It's crazy to me how many people own knives that can't cut.[Victirinox Fibrox handled] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IEBTZ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_brOgybF3RE15E) are amazing in my opinion. For ~$100 you can get a set of 4. I use mine daily and LOVE them, it's not even that expensive when you consider their utility.

When you cook your meats you can bake or grill them. Let them cool then use a serrated blade to get nice thin, smooth slices. Also bear in mind it doesn't HAVE to be paper thin like the deli. Flavors are what's important. I have found that when I use the wood chips or smoke on the grill I get that nice exterior that seems to help hold the slice together and packs in tons of flavor. Don't be afraid to season.


*Edit - dayum! This got a little bigger than I expected. I just wanted to note that in the picture you see my chefs knife that I used to slice. Someone mentioned the serrated blade will tear the meat - this may be true but with my Victorinox I haven't had any issues. The blade is very thin. Also these knives are incredibly sharp. I accidentally removed the corner of my thumb when i first got them. I use this [Wusthof knife sharpener] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TWNZ08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_lPWgybG5MC9QY) to maintain when it's needed.

Professional Chef here.

First off, you really only need the chef knife. Butcher knife can do pretty much everything that the chef knife can do besides the detail work. It's going to come down to preference.

Second, BIFL quality of a knife is going to depend on what you're using it for. If you're just using a chef knife for your everyday knife in your own personal kitchen, then it could potentially last you for the rest of your life. If you're using it for commercial purposes then it's only going to last as long as 3-10 years depending on the quality of the knife due to sharpening.

Third, as for sharpening is concerned depending on what kind of metal you are working with and how often you use the knife, you're probably going to need to sharpen every month-3 months. I work in a commercial kitchen and I sharpen my knife every week at least, sometimes twice a week.

Most people will tell you that something like this works just fine for sharpening your knife, but I find that they don't hold an edge for very long and the quality of the edge is sub par. Personally I use this and it gets me a RAZOR sharp edge every time. If you can shave your arm with one pass then you did it right. Just watch some youtube videos on how to sharpen a knife using wet stones and you'll be a pro in no time.

Keep your knives sharp! A sharp knife may cut you easier, but it is safer than a dull knife. The reason being is the amount of PRESSURE you apply to the object your cutting. A sharp knife will give little resistance and wont need as much pressure as a dull knife. So if you do cut yourself it will be with very little pressure as opposed to SMASHING a dull knife into your flesh. It's a bad time, trust me.

Anyway, stay stafe, have fun, and enjoy your knives.

Sure. Those sharpeners are great for really dull edges, but aren't appropriate for regular use.

The carbide teeth make an arbitrary angle on each side of the blade even though the cutting edge still has a fixed profile. They also remove an arbitrary amount of material down the edge depending on how you hold the knife and how hard you press.

Over time, the shape of the blade literally changes and it often ends up "cupping" a cutting board so it won't chop flat any more. Or the heel gets extended, or the tip angle flattens. The cutting teeth also have a tendency to chip stainless steel knives.

As well, many knives are differentially hardened on the edges, so you want to avoid removing material from the edge as much as possible, even if your technique is perfect.

I got this one for free with a knife

And my M-I-L has this one

They work well as long as you give your knives a quick swipe or two after every use. The carbide jaws are just used to establish the initial edge profile. The material removal rate is way too high for regular use.

For any type of sharpener like that it's critical that you don't use a lot of pressure with the ceramic rods or you'll damage the rods and it will gradually perform less and less well.

If it is something like this device, you should stop using it. Carbide blade sharpeners tear off metal and leaves a poor edge. It will feel sharp because it leaves a ragged biting edge which dulls quickly.

https://www.amazon.com/W%C3%BCsthof-2-Stage-Hand-Held-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNZ08/

A professional knife sharpener will be able to bring it back to full performance.

Thank you for your reply. I am not really sure if I understand the difference between the two, but I guess that I am in the 'remove material' category. I use a Wuhstof 2-stage knife sharpener.

http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Precision-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNZ08

Off topic question for you, my dad has a set of Wusthof knives and one of these. How horrible is that for the blade?

I would just get one of those cheapo drag style sharpeners
http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Precision-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNZ08/ref=sr_1_9?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1345169472&sr=1-9
Steels are great but if you get one of these guys it keeps it simple and easy and if your not producing the amount of food a pro would it will work just fine. Also using a steel can be hard for some people

Knives: What kind of sharpener do you use or which is better? the stick or the groove thingy?

Also, are stainless steel pans always going to be expensive? Would you say it's worth it? I see stainless all the time in cooking shows and it seems like it's more versatile than cast iron or non-stick.

You don't like plastic but does that include the silicone cutting mats?

Do you have any other gadgets that you think every chef should have?

Most people around here suggest that you Get a victorinox chefs knife. Perhaps like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-5-Inch-Mini-Chefs-Fibrox-Handle/dp/B000QCLEFC/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&qid=1375322729&sr=8-31&keywords=Victorinox+knife

I would also recommend a sharpener, if you are living with other guys, it will get used and abused often, so keeping it sharp will be hugely helpful. While a sharp knife can cut you if you are not careful, a dull knife is unpredictable and can make prepping food a nightmare. Even a cheap one is better than nothing

http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Precision-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNZ08/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1375323134&sr=1-3&keywords=Knife+sharpener+kitchen

Also, I use something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/W%C3%BCsthof-2-Stage-Hand-Held-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNZ08/ref=sr_1_11?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1499532252&sr=1-11&refinements=p_36%3A1253523011

It keeps my knives very sharp. I use a little olive oil on the cutting edge, and make sure to keep the blade in proper alignment as I pull it through the sharpeners, and not too much pressure. It quickly aligns the blade and restores the cutting edge to razor sharpness. I don't even bother with a steel anymore, just sharpen a few times a month and Robert's your mother's brother.

Is the handheld sharpener all I need to keep my Wüsthof blades sharp, or are whetstones or something else the way to go?

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https://www.amazon.com/Wüsthof-2-Stage-Hand-Held-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNZ08

Usually smaller or neighborhood hardware stores will offer knife sharpening services. You can check at specialty cooking stores too like Sur La Table.

As for sharpeners you can do yourself, I'm a fan of these kinds of sharpeners. After that much time, they could probably use a good sharpening, but I'm sure the discussion will come up about sharpening vs. honing.

Also look for a honing steel if you don't already have one, and a simple sharpener. I really like this one - simple and easy for everyday use.

Edit: it seems this comment upset people. It’s honestly a trade off between time and practicality. Of course I’m not putting my $150 chef’s knife through this - it’s made to keep its edge better. I’m also not going to spend time money every week r get my $30 chinese cooking knife sharpened. The recommendation came from Chris Kimball, and according to OP’s question, it’s a ton more practical for a chinese cooking cleaver.