5

I have finally invested in a nice Wusthoff Santoku and a Mac paring knife and I want to keep them up and running well! The knife shop I bought from taught me how to hone my santoku, so that's fine, but I was wondering if a)do you hone a paring knife? and if so, b)is there any differences in the technique for honing a paring vs a santoku?

Thanks!!

user20022
  • 51
  • 2
  • When you say *hone*, I assume you mean using the steel, as opposed to actually *sharpening* on a whetstone or drystone? Hone seems to be often used in the sense of sharpen as well.... – SAJ14SAJ Sep 04 '13 at 18:19
  • Yes I meant use a steel, not sharpening on a whetstone! – user20022 Sep 07 '13 at 22:14

1 Answers1

3

Yes, you should hone your paring knives. The technique is much the same, except that paring knives are smaller.

Since physical skills are hard to describe in text, and you have already had in-person coaching, won't try to describe the technique; just use the one that you are most comfortable with.

Note that some santukus may have a different bevel angle than a paring knife, but given that honing is about straightening the microscopic burrs, not about sharpening or removing metal, this tends not to matter very much.

SAJ14SAJ
  • 72,735
  • 13
  • 153
  • 231
  • Great thanks! I know that you should use more like a 17-18 degree for Santokus as opposed to the 22-23 that seems common for chefs knives. Should the paring also be done at 22-23? – user20022 Sep 07 '13 at 22:14