Serrated knives do not need to be honed and sharpened as often as most smooth blades. This is mainly because their pointed teeth do most of the work and the serrations just work by following the points through the items being cut.
Because of the lower amount of friction that these edges handle, they degrade more slowly.
There is also the fact that most serrated knives cannot be sharpened using the normal sharpeners used for straight blades. One must make sure they use serration-specific sharpeners and understand the process of sharpening these types of knives.
For your serrated knife to be able to cut through that sizzling prime rib steak, you must take good care of the blade.
A good set of knives is not cheap. You must, therefore, make sure that they are well maintained, so they last for a lifetime.
Even if you do not have an expensive set, you still need to know how to care for the blade, so you get value for your money. You do not need to buy a new one each time it’s too blunt to cut.
Read on to understand how you can use an electric sharpener to make the blades sharper and the knives easier to use.
Should You Learn How To Sharpen A Serrated Knife With An Electric Sharpener?
Like most questions about kitchen equipment, this one too has different answers. The truth is while sharpening a serrated knife is not that hard once you understand the angles, choosing an excellent electric sharpener is a task on its own.
If you do not choose one that is meant to sharpen these types of knives, you are likely to damage both the blades and the sharpener — a terrible move for anyone who needs to save some money.
I do not argue with the fact that there are great companies that offer sharpeners that can work on serrated knives. However, one needs to be careful when working with them.
Electric sharpeners are great because they take less time to complete the process than you would if you chose to use traditional methods.
Then what is the problem? Well, if you always want to have control over all activities going on in your kitchen, these offer you no comfort.
With an electric sharpener, you cannot control how much material is removed from the edge.
All you do is put your knife in one of the stages and let it do all the work for you. If you buy an electric sharpener that takes too much material from the edge, you end up losing a serration each time your knife is sharpened.
When you sharpen too often, you are likely to end up with a plain edged knife!
What Can You Do?
Before we begin on how to use an electric sharpener for your serrated knife, there are a couple of things you need to know so that you do not lose any serrations.
Your serrated knife requires you to exercise a great deal of patience.
The process needs you to pay attention to each serration. There is also a technique that is used to make it easier but these techniques take time to master.
The major idea is to control it so that you do not end up damaging the serrations.
If you have expensive knives and have no idea how this process works, it is always great to choose to seek the help of a professional knife sharpener.
There are few things worse than washing a good investment down the drain because you wanted to save a few dollars by doing it yourself.
Using The Serrated Knife Sharpener
Now that you understand what you need to avoid, it is easier to sharpen the knife with minimal damage.
The first step is to understand the shape of the serrations and how far apart they are. Once you have noted this, the next step is for you to understand how the electric sharpener works.
Step 1
Place the sharpener on a flat surface.
Plug it in and power it on.
Let it stay on for a few minutes as you thoroughly clean your knife. Always use warm water to remove any dirt from the knife. Dry it with a kitchen towel.
Step 2
This is the most crucial step. There are different stages in each sharpener. One for the dull stage, another for finer blades, and the last for polishing the knife. Gauge your blade to find out what stage it is on.
Run it through the sharpening stage.
Pass it at the heel of the knife and slowly end at the tip. Hold the blade down so that the wheels are abrasive. This will ensure the wheels are in contact with the blade, so they sharpen the knife.
Complete 2 runs on either side of the serrations so the blade will run for a total of 4 times.
Check the knife to ensure that it has achieved the desired sharpness. If not, repeat the process.
Follow the angle guide to ensure that you run the knife correctly.
Run it through the polishing phrase to ensure it is working.
Rinse it with water before use.
Like A Knife Through Butter
Excuse the pun.
Learning how to sharpen a serrated knife with an electric sharpener is not hard. You need to consider a couple of things before doing this to ensure that you follow the tips listed above when working on the blade.
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