If you use a knife sharpener, good quality knives can last a lifetime if sharpened properly and well looked after, they may be regarded as life time investment, as they are not meant or built for use and throw purposes. The problem is, that every time you use one of your knives it becomes slightly blunter. This means that over time they become dull and not as effective as when you first bought them. Some people think dull knives are better than sharp knives because they’re safer, this is not the case, a sharp knife requires less force to cut or slice.
So how do you go about keeping your knives sharp?
This is where it is worth considering buying a knife sharpener, these can be either a manual sharpener such as Prestige Basics Knife Sharpener or an electrical one, for example AnySharp Global World’s Best Knife Sharpener. You could even try a Sharpening Steel if you would like to sharpen your knives a more traditional way.
Knife Sharpeners are good value for people who have good quality knives that are worth maintaining, if you have a cheaper set of knives, they are probably not worth sharpening, unless you particularly like them, we all have our favourite utensils. It is also worth checking if the knife that you want to sharpen is still in good condition, it is best not to sharpen a knife that is damaged.

So which is the Best Knife Sharpener?

Well this comes down to preference and whether you want to learn to effectively sharpen a knife by hand or maybe you just want the job done as quickly and hassle free as possible. Let’s take a closer look at the options available, this will hopefully give you enough information for you to make a good decision.

Knife Sharpening Steel

Name: Master Class Acere Sharpening Steel
Amazon Customer Rating: (4.5/5)
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This is the most popular Sharpening Steel on Amazon UK. You use it by firmly resting the tip of your sharpening steel on a dry cutting board, make sure it is resting firmly, and is not going to slip once you start to sharpen your knife blade. You then use your other hand to slide the back of your knife blade, downwards, across the steel. You should tilt the knife at about 20 degrees to get the correct angle on the blade. Do this about a dozen times before changing and doing the other side.
It is best to wash and dry your steel after use to get all the tiny bits of metal off.
So that is a very simple description of how to use a sharpening steel but should give you some idea as to whether it is something you think you could do. It is simple, with a bit of practice, just take your time and you should get a feel for it. The great thing about a sharpening steel is that you can keep it handy, in a draw, and just get it out after every use of your best knives so that they are always kept sharp. This is really one great advantage over any other type of knife sharpener.

Electric Knife Sharpener

Name:Anysharp Global Best Knife Sharpener
Amazon Customer Rating: (4.5/5)
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This is the bestselling electric knife sharpener on Amazon UK. It sharpens any knife with diamond precision, and even sharpens hardened knives, and those with serrated edges. It really is a good all round knife sharpener, it is easy to use and has a power grip suction on it so that it sticks firmly to flat surfaces, this makes it a lot safer to use. It is not too expensive either, and requires no skill or judgment of angle on your part. This makes it an ideal knife sharpener for those who are not too confident at sharpening manually.
The only thing you have to do is store it, but it is only 60mm high, and round so this is not too much of a problem.
This is probably the best electric knife sharpener for ease of use and it removes some of the problems some people have about electric knife sharpeners because it does sharpen serrated edges, it also comes with a “10 Year Product Lifetime Warranty”, this makes it superb value for money when you think of all the money you may save if you sharpen your knives rather than having to throw them out and get new ones when they become blunt.

Manual Knife Sharpener

Name:Prestige Basics Knife Sharpener.
Amazon Customer Rating: (5/5)
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This knife sharpener works a little bit like an electric one in that you insert your blade into it and then swipe it a couple of times to get a sharp edge. If you just want to sharpen straight edge knives easily then this maybe a good choice. It has very good reviews and customers cannot speak highly enough about it. This is a no nonsense sharpener.
Just remember to dampen your knife slightly before you try to sharpen it and you should get good results. A very handy little tool, that no kitchen should be without when you consider the price.

Any of these make an effective kitchen knife sharpener, it really depends on your own personal preference. Your choice can be made on ease of use, where are you going to store it, and also how often you are going to use it. Do you need to sharpen a variety of knives? Or is it just for occasional use?