[0 - 2] - I took that wet stone, and I...
[3 - 8] Okay, maybe you want to look away, but this is horrible. (peppy music)
[9 - 12] - A good chef's knife is one of the most important tools
[12 - 13] in your kitchen.
[13 - 14] - Most people don't think too much about it,
[14 - 17] but having a well cared for, sharp knife
[17 - 18] is a really big deal
[18 - 21] when it comes to safety and food quality.
[21 - 22] - Today, we're gonna do some knife care talk,
[22 - 24] and we are joined by a very special guest,
[24 - 28] pro chef Nick DiGiovanni, of TikTok and TV fame. Hey, Nick.
[28 - 30] - Hey Hannah. Hey Lisa.
[30 - 31] Great to be with you both today.
[31 - 32] - Well, we're so happy to have you with us.
[32 - 35] You know, I've been watching you on TikTok.
[35 - 36] I love what you've been doing,
[36 - 38] but one thing that really struck me
[38 - 40] was the way you open every TikTok
[40 - 43] with that knife-throwing into the cutting board.
[43 - 45] It started making me think
[45 - 47] about how people should take care of their knives.
[47 - 49] And I'm hoping you do.
[49 - 50] I hope you take care of them
[50 - 52] after you throw 'em around like that.
[52 - 54] - Yeah, knife care is extremely important to me.
[54 - 57] And I was actually trained to use wet stones in restaurants,
[57 - 59] but now given that I really want to keep this knife sharp
[59 - 60] every single day,
[60 - 62] I've transitioned over to electric sharpeners,
[62 - 64] which are just way more convenient for me.
[64 - 65] - We are gonna show you a couple of different methods
[65 - 69] of knife care, from electric, to manual, to honing steels,
[69 - 71] so you can see how pro chefs and home cooks alike
[71 - 73] keep their knives in tip top shape.
[73 - 76] First up, Lisa. (upbeat music)
[76 - 79] - Okay, so I'm gonna talk about electric knife sharpeners.
[79 - 82] Now, I recently updated our testing.
[82 - 84] When it came time to look at some new competition,
[84 - 87] we bought our old winner, and some new ones,
[87 - 90] and we did all the testing all over again,
[90 - 92] and just made sure that this was still the model to buy.
[92 - 93] And it definitely is.
[93 - 95] I bought this one myself.
[95 - 98] It's the Chef's Choice Trizor 15.
[98 - 101] It's an electric sharpener with three slots,
[101 - 103] and they go from coarser to finer,
[103 - 105] and they will really bring back your knife
[105 - 106] to perfect condition.
[106 - 109] I have some copies of our winning chef's knife.
[109 - 113] This is the Victorinox Swiss Army Fibrox Pro
[113 - 117] 8" Chef's Knife, and we love this thing. It's great.
[117 - 120] It's inexpensive, but it's got really great steel,
[120 - 122] so it can take a great edge, and hold it.
[122 - 124] But I did a terrible thing
[124 - 127] when I was sharpening knives to test the sharpeners.
[127 - 130] I started by dulling the knife on a wet stone.
[130 - 133] It's a stone that you basically draw the knife
[133 - 135] over at an angle.
[135 - 137] You do it on both sides the same way,
[137 - 141] and you'll get a beautifully sharpened knife. Definitely doable.
[141 - 144] We wanted something a little more instantly usable
[144 - 147] by anybody, a little more foolproof, and repeatable.
[147 - 150] So that's why we really favor an electric sharpener.
[150 - 153] They don't take off as much metal as people say.
[153 - 155] We actually look at the knives, and the bad ones do.
[155 - 156] They chew up your knife.
[156 - 159] But the good ones, like this one, do a beautiful job.
[159 - 161] We have a test called the paper test,
[161 - 164] where we basically slice the paper. (paper tears)
[164 - 166] So this is not the sharpest knife.
[166 - 169] This is actually one in my knife drawer,
[169 - 170] and I'm kind of embarrassed to say
[170 - 172] that's the shape it's in, not great.
[172 - 175] Here's a factory new copy of this knife.
[176 - 178] And you can see, beautifully sharp.
[178 - 183] Just, you know, absolutely slices pieces off that paper.
[183 - 185] So I used a wet stone in my testing
[185 - 189] in a really unorthodox way, that we don't recommend at all.
[189 - 191] Maybe you want to look away, but this is horrible.
[191 - 193] I grind the knife along it.
[193 - 196] And then I take that same piece of paper.
[197 - 198] It can't cut the paper anymore.
[200 - 203] (laughs) Okay, so you can see, it's a big difference.
[203 - 208] It just rips up the paper, and crumbles it.
[208 - 210] So if I'm gonna sharpen on this sharpener,
[210 - 211] it takes about two minutes.
[211 - 212] And the first thing I'm gonna do
[212 - 215] is I'm going to pass it through these slots.
[215 - 217] The first set of slots, which is the coarsest one,
[217 - 218] and there's a wheel in there
[218 - 221] which is coated with actual particles of diamond.
[221 - 223] Diamond is harder than any steel.
[223 - 225] It's gonna regrind that edge.
[225 - 228] And there's a slot here that has a spring in it.
[228 - 230] So you cannot mess up that angle,
[230 - 232] 'cause one of the things about sharpening
[232 - 234] that makes a wet stone a little challenging,
[234 - 237] you've got to come in at the same angle every single time.
[237 - 239] This is gonna do that for you.
[239 - 240] A lot of the sharpeners we tested
[240 - 241] had too much play in them,
[242 - 243] and you could hit it at all kinds of angles,
[243 - 245] and wreak havoc on your knife.
[245 - 247] Take about three or four seconds per pass.
[247 - 249] And you're gonna do it up to 20 times,
[249 - 251] depending on how bad your knife is.
[251 - 252] And then you're gonna do something
[252 - 253] that's called looking for a bur.
[253 - 256] And that is that on the side that it's not sharpened on,
[256 - 257] it will feel a little rough,
[257 - 260] if you feel across it like this.
[260 - 261] Never go the lengthwise.
[261 - 264] And then, you know you're ready to go to the next stage.
[264 - 267] So I will demonstrate the first stage.
[267 - 269] (knife sharpener whirring)
[269 - 272] (knife sharpener grinding)
[274 - 277] (lively jazz music)
[281 - 283] Okay, I can definitely feel
[283 - 286] a very rough edge all the way down one side,
[286 - 287] and that's called the bur.
[287 - 290] It's roughed it up, but it's ground the first bevel,
[290 - 292] which is the angles of that edge.
[292 - 294] Now I'm gonna go to the middle one.
[294 - 297] I'm gonna do one or two pulls per side.
[297 - 299] This time, I'm gonna take about three seconds per pull.
[299 - 301] You don't wanna linger in one spot.
[301 - 302] You wanna go...
[302 - 303] You don't want to go too fast.
[303 - 305] You just want to go at a nice, steady pace,
[305 - 306] and try to match it on the other side.
[306 - 309] Basically, one or two pairs of pulls in the second slot.
[310 - 314] (knife sharpener grinding)
[318 - 321] Now I'm gonna feel again, another bur.
[321 - 322] So I'm gonna go to the third slot,
[322 - 324] which is the finest slot.
[324 - 328] And it's basically gonna be three pairs of pulls,
[328 - 329] two to four seconds.
[329 - 330] And then you're gonna do a couple pairs
[330 - 332] that are really fast.
[332 - 335] (lively jazz music)
[335 - 338] Now two real quick ones, one-second pulls.
[338 - 341] (knife sharpener grinding)
[345 - 345] And that's it.
[345 - 347] Now, let's get a piece of paper.
[347 - 349] See how we did.
[349 - 352] This is the same knife that just bent the paper.
[352 - 356] Go at the heel. (paper tears) Whew.
[356 - 358] So that knife is really sharp.
[358 - 359] When I was testing,
[359 - 361] I used an industrial sharpness tester
[361 - 364] that also measured the force to cut a little wire,
[364 - 368] and, boy, it was like as good as factory, or even better.
[368 - 371] I also sliced up some tomatoes, because, you know,
[371 - 373] paper's one thing.
[373 - 375] Industrial sharpness testers are one thing,
[375 - 378] but this is just, I mean, wow.
[378 - 382] Beautiful slices of tomato, because this knife is sharp.
[382 - 384] You don't need a serrated knife.
[384 - 386] You don't need anything special.
[386 - 388] But this just glides through the food.
[388 - 390] A knife is a tool.
[390 - 391] The point is not sharpening.
[391 - 392] The point is getting back to cooking,
[392 - 394] and making delicious food.
[394 - 396] If you want something foolproof, quick, easy,
[396 - 398] and really effective, then I would say
[398 - 401] go for the Chef's Choice electric sharpener.
[401 - 403] So do you use an electric sharpener?
[403 - 404] Let us know in the comments.
[404 - 406] And now we're gonna go see Hannah,
[406 - 408] who's gonna show our winning manual life sharpener.
[408 - 411] (rhythmic percussion music)
[411 - 413] - All right, so one of your options
[413 - 415] for sharpening at home is a manual sharpener.
[415 - 418] This is actually primarily what I use. They're smaller.
[418 - 419] They're easier to store.
[419 - 420] You don't have to plug them in.
[420 - 423] They're generally a little cheaper than the plug-in models.
[423 - 424] I think this one's around 50 bucks.
[424 - 427] This is our winner here, from Chef's Choice.
[427 - 428] There are a couple things
[428 - 430] that a good manual sharpener shares,
[430 - 431] you know, across categories.
[431 - 433] First of all, the guides,
[433 - 435] the walls that hold the knife in place
[435 - 437] as you run it through the chamber for sharpening.
[437 - 441] This model has really tall, thin guides,
[441 - 444] and that helps the knife hit the sharpening components
[444 - 446] at the right angle.
[446 - 447] A lot of the other models I tested,
[447 - 448] there was a ton of play in there.
[448 - 450] So it was up to the user to, you know,
[450 - 454] keep a perfectly straight blade as you pulled it backwards.
[454 - 456] Another characteristic that some of the bad sharpeners
[456 - 458] I tested shared,
[458 - 461] was they didn't allow full access to the blade.
[461 - 464] So you weren't able to get complete access,
[464 - 466] complete sharpening, all across the blade.
[466 - 468] Sometimes a little bit of plastic
[468 - 469] on their chamber blocked it,
[469 - 472] but you really want to sharpen the entire blade.
[472 - 474] 'Cause if you don't, over time,
[474 - 476] your knife will wear in a weird way,
[476 - 476] and you'll have, you know,
[476 - 478] this will all be sharpened, and there'll be a bump here,
[478 - 479] and you'll have an un-sharpened bit
[479 - 480] at the bottom right here.
[480 - 481] So you want to make sure
[481 - 485] that the sharpener can reach fully across the blade.
[485 - 488] And this is really a sign of a good sharpener.
[488 - 491] So full blade access, and high, precise walls
[491 - 494] to make sure that the blade hits the sharpening components
[494 - 496] at a precise and steady angle.
[496 - 498] It doesn't leave it all up to the user.
[498 - 499] All right, so I'm gonna show you
[499 - 501] how to use a manual sharpener.
[501 - 503] And you'll see, there are two slots.
[503 - 504] The first one is for sharpening.
[504 - 506] The second one is for honing and polishing.
[506 - 507] So finishing off that edge.
[507 - 513] I have a really dull knife here. (paper tears) Dangerously dull.
[513 - 515] So to sharpen this knife, you want to make sure
[515 - 519] that you get from the base to the tip in an even stroke.
[519 - 524] And you just slow, one, two, three, four, five.
[524 - 527] And depending on how dull your knife is...
[527 - 528] I can hear this grinding.
[528 - 529] This is a very dull knife.
[529 - 531] Depending on how dull your knife is,
[531 - 535] you might want to do it for five strokes, and then test it.
[535 - 536] I'm gonna take this one for 10,
[536 - 539] because I can tell that it's really, really dull.
[539 - 540] This is my abuse knife,
[541 - 542] that I cut through chicken bones with.
[542 - 545] It's feeling smoother as I pull it through.
[545 - 547] Even pressure, 10.
[547 - 549] You don't need to do as many strokes
[549 - 550] in the honing and polishing.
[550 - 553] This is really just finishing it off.
[553 - 555] (paper tears) Oh my gosh.
[555 - 556] So much better.
[556 - 559] So Lisa and I have been talking about sharpening,
[559 - 561] which is reshaping the blade.
[561 - 563] Chef Nick DiGiovanni is gonna talk about honing,
[563 - 565] which is realigning the blade.
[565 - 569] And he's also gonna show you a really cool recipe. (upbeat music)
[569 - 571] - Let's talk about honing.
[571 - 572] There's a really important distinction
[572 - 574] between sharpening and honing.
[574 - 577] Honing is a way to prolong that sharpness on your knife
[577 - 578] by giving it quick attention in the kitchen
[578 - 580] to realign those edges on your knife.
[580 - 582] Just like with any other tool in the kitchen,
[582 - 584] you'll want to find a good honing rod.
[584 - 585] The America's Test Kitchen winner
[585 - 587] is by Bob Kramer for Zwilling.
[587 - 588] And it's got a few great characteristics
[588 - 590] that make it really efficient.
[590 - 592] First, it's got a really nice, sturdy handle
[592 - 593] that you're not gonna lose grip on.
[593 - 595] Second, the piece on the end of the handle
[595 - 596] doesn't bow out too much,
[596 - 598] which lets you get in at that right angle with your knife
[598 - 599] when you go to sharpen.
[599 - 600] And it's nice and long,
[600 - 603] which lets you take those nice, big sweeps with your knife.
[603 - 605] And this honing rod also has different textures on it,
[605 - 607] which means you can be more or less aggressive
[607 - 609] based on your needs when honing that knife.
[609 - 610] Typically, with honing,
[610 - 613] you want to go at about a 15-degree angle, from heel to tip.
[613 - 614] And oftentimes, in a restaurant,
[614 - 616] you might see someone going really fast,
[616 - 617] back and forth, like this.
[617 - 620] I've cut my hand doing that several times in the past.
[620 - 622] So I want to show you the America's Test Kitchen method,
[622 - 624] which is a lot safer, and has less moving parts.
[624 - 626] For this method, you'll want to plant the honing rod
[626 - 627] in the center of your cutting board
[627 - 629] so that it's not moving around.
[629 - 631] Then, using that same 15-degree angle,
[631 - 633] you'll take long swipes, back and forth,
[633 - 635] going down the honing rod,
[635 - 638] alternating each time, and going from heel to tip.
[638 - 640] And again, if you're cooking a lot of stuff,
[640 - 642] you can use this method to quickly get back
[642 - 644] to a nice clean edge.
[644 - 645] I want to bring up an important point
[645 - 647] that I think a lot of people overlook in cooking,
[647 - 648] and that's that a sharp knife
[648 - 650] isn't just important for things like prep work,
[650 - 652] where you're chopping onions or carrots.
[652 - 654] It really comes into play for presentation.
[654 - 657] So in order to show the importance of a really sharp knife,
[657 - 657] I'm now gonna show you
[657 - 658] how to make some pan-seared,
[658 - 661] sesame crusted tuna steaks from America's Test Kitchen.
[662 - 664] To start, we'll spread a few Sesame seeds
[664 - 666] in a shallow baking dish.
[666 - 667] We'll then rub about a tablespoon of oil
[667 - 669] on all sides of our tuna steaks.
[669 - 671] Then we'll hit each side with a little bit of salt,
[671 - 673] and then a little bit of pepper.
[673 - 675] Then we'll press each side of our tuna steaks
[675 - 677] into the Sesame seeds to fully coat.
[677 - 679] Once it looks something like this, we're ready to cook.
[679 - 682] Now we'll heat one tablespoon of oil with a high smoke point
[682 - 683] in a 12-inch, non-stick pan.
[683 - 686] Once your oil begins to smoke, place down your tuna steaks,
[686 - 688] and leave them over high heat for 30 seconds
[688 - 689] without touching them.
[689 - 691] Then, turn this down to medium-high,
[691 - 693] and leave it for another minute before flipping.
[693 - 695] Once they look something like this, give it a flip.
[697 - 698] Now, here's where it's important
[698 - 699] to have a really sharp knife.
[699 - 702] We'll slice our tuna into 1/4-inch thick slices.
[702 - 703] Using a dull knife here
[703 - 706] would absolutely mangle the Sesame tuna crust.
[706 - 708] And now it's time for my favorite part, eating it.
[709 - 711] A perfect, rare tuna steak,
[711 - 714] and absolutely nothing can beat that Sesame crust.
[714 - 716] - Wow, that tuna looked amazing.
[716 - 719] And you can really tell how important a sharp knife is
[719 - 721] - Whether it's electric honing, or manual,
[721 - 723] just make sure you use one of those methods
[723 - 724] to keep those knives sharp.
[724 - 725] It's really important.
[725 - 727] - Nick, thank you so much for being here with us.
[727 - 728] - Thanks so much for having me.
[728 - 729] It's been a lot of fun.
[729 - 730] - So for more information
[730 - 732] about all the products we talked about today,
[732 - 733] check out the links below.
[733 - 734] - Hit that Like button,
[734 - 737] ask us any of your knife sharpening questions
[737 - 739] in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe.
[739 - 743] (lively alternative music)