How to Sharpen a Knife with a Whetstone | Kenji's Cooking Show

Hey folks, here's a video showing you my technique for knife sharpening. my buddy Barney stopped by with some of his new knives, which I really enjoy. You can get them here: kankitchen.com/
(As always, I don't receive anything from those knife sales, and I never do any kind of paid sponsorships or paid endorsements of any kind.)

[@cliang001]

Using your book "the food lab" to raise up your gopro was next level product placement

[@aget19]

Every night is pizza night

[@MCWilson]

Every day is product placement day

[@amal-ti2zz]

Thought the same thing

[@joelcurtis562]

Deserves it. That book is THE SHIT.

[@patrickmiller7794]

@@joelcurtis562 Can confirm. I love The Food Lab and I give it as gifts to my pals who are interested in improving their kitchen game.

[@justgivemethetruth]

4:06 - The most useful thing I have heard after watching about 12 knife-sharpening videos. Thank you. Width of the knife divided by 4 . tan( 15 degrees ) = 0.27 or about 1/4

[@ZainxIqbal]

I swear every time I watch a Kenji video I add something new to my never-ending list of "things I'll buy when I get rich" haha. Knives look gorgeous. Great video as always, man.

[@Mark-jq6en]

There's a good tip on finding angles by using a sharpie to fill in the edge up to the bevel. Do 1-2 passes in the whetstone, then take a look. If you're too high, it'll just get rid of the tip of the edge, if you're too low it'll just get rid of the "shoulder" of the bevel and not the edge.

[@eireyouok101]

Started watching Kenji during lockdown and I'm happy to say I'm here to stay

[@sol029]

Same. And my late night snack game has gone way up! All my cooking really. He's an amazing teacher.

[@jasonthomas723]

Same here! I'm hooked

[@zrobeast]

He used to upload like one or two videos every few months (sometimes longer) before the lockdown happened. Now he uploads at least a few times a week and puts out better content than a lot of other channels.

[@pinkyjohns5198]

Me, too and his videos have been a lifesaver!

[@markgebo197]

Gave this a try after watching and all I can say is I’ll never have a dull knife again. As a total noob I was able to get my knife sharp enough to shave. Thanks.

[@princeofcats8916]

“...easiest way is to just use come basic trigonometry.” So I’ll just guess. Got it.

[@Matthew-ir1ed]

Eh, for a chef's knife, I just lift it by the width of half my thumb A paring knife I lift by about 1/4 of my thumb's width

[@Matthew-ir1ed]

@Ryan Gilmore yeah but you still need some kind of baseline. If you go purely by where the edge currently is, your bevel angle will drift over time

[@djkim23]

But kenji does teach it! 1/4 of the width of the blade gets you 14.5 degrees!

[@barrackobamar]

6.49 DROW RANGER tldr

[@abelltube]

@@Matthew-ir1ed This is the way. No guide necessary.

[@ΚώσταςΜπέκος-ι4ι]

A nice and easy way to flatten your stone at first, before you pass it with the fixer, is to "divide" the wet stone in nice little squares with a pencil, then use the fixer. When all the pencil marks are gone, your stone is as flat as you'll get with the fixer and ready for sharpening.

[@wolfingitdown2047]

Whetstone knife sharpening has to be one of the most meditative things I do regularly outside of cooking itself

[@malachimerriam1640]

Literally two days ago I sharpened all of my knives, and I love doing it.

[@wolfingitdown2047]

Malachi Merriam I’m really looking forward to doing it this weekend myself! My blades need a little love

[@markyork1]

Agreed

[@markyork1]

Sharpened my everyday driver least week, I secretly wish I did it more often because of this exact reason

[@wolfingitdown2047]

Mark York same here. Just gonna have to use a strop everyday to get my fix

[@sciencebug314]

literally everything you need to know about knives and sharpening, in 14 minutes!

[@cooperkane5571]

I just recently bought a whetstone. Perfect timing Kenji!

[@meijikenbootes]

Same here, just acquired a set of King #1000 and #6000

[@freshballs1458]

same

[@MS-js8ui]

I just got my first stone as well. You all should join the sharpening and chef knives subreddits.

[@MCWilson]

This is one of the best videos JKLA's ever published. Seriously, thank you.

[@andytunnah7650]

I've watched so many sharpening vids and they all leave something out, this is the first one where as someone who has never done it before can get it. Also you record it over your shoulder! Everyone records it facing the opposite way making it SO difficult to replicate.

[@Justin_Alfeche]

Knife sharpening was a skill I refined earlier in the lockdown! I even brought my kit when visiting my folks and in-laws (partly for my benefit too =p). Japanese Knife Imports has great videos for anyone wanting to go more in depth on technique or tutorials for different knives. Good stuff though, Kenji!

[@westcoastwarriorsarchive7929]

That table is amazing

[@scottrowe533]

Great primer on using a whetstone to sharpen high-quality kitchen knives. As always, Kenji, thank you. And a special thanks to Barney. Stay safe, be well and take care of those you love.

[@tree453]

wtf. i watch your channel all the time and had just bought a couple wetstones today to sharpen my knives and came to youtube for a tutorial....... this simulation is breaking down.

[@urinapasindayao8382]

I made some lasagna a couple weeks ago and then he made a lasagna video..

[@joer8035]

I knew there was a reason I haven't used my new whetstone I bought months ago... I was waiting on Kenji to tell me how to use it :)

[@neilaspin008]

Spent half an hour with a Mino Sharpe on one of mine just now and it's stll blunt. I've got them attachments too!

[@Bboombox10]

Your videos help me to become a better man. Thank you Kenji!

[@icebergsimpson03]

I'm glad you mentioned that you aren't supposed to use a honing rod on hard-steel knives. I would've totally done that with my new KAN :).

[@mcrius]

I was just thinking it was time for you to do a video on this. Sharpening with a whetstones is so much fun when sharpening your knives. Just put on some music and spend time to properly take care of them. The only knife I don’t use stones is my Yaxel super gou 161. I’m too scared I’ll ruin it and bought their tool (which is still stones but with rolling guides). Ps, thanks for the baking soda tip for baked potatoes. So crunchy! Edit: A good tip when flattening the stones is drawing a bunch of lines with a pencil both horizontally and vertically. Once they all disappear it is ready.

[@pinkyjohns5198]

I just bought a Kan knife and a whetstone! This is right on time!

[@youknowvin]

I have touched up my Japanese knives (Shun ,et al) with a ceramic hone for at least ten years. No problems and much quicker than stropping.

[@joeytierney7938]

Cool stones.... I can’t seem to keep a consistent edge without a guide. Thanks for the tips

[@WormyLeWorm]

Hey I bought that same strop a while back. Made it simple instead of trying to find the right leather and such myself. Helps me keep a wicked edge on my harder knives for sure. Good techniques.

[@mfreeman313]

A bit of advice for you folks who are nervous about getting started-don't be. Get one of your cheaper knives and tilt it up until the cutting edge is on the stone and just get started. Take it slow and get the feel of it. You really can't do it perfectly at first. If you get the knife somewhat sharper, you're doing great. If not, don't worry, you're not alone. Watch another video or two and get back on that horse. As you get more practice you'll do better and it'll be more satisfying. It's a great feeling to keep your knives sharp.

[@noochification]

As an aerospace engineer who enjoys cooking, I loved the look up at the end there. What flew over?

[@riddlydiddlyimawantedmanin4442]

sounded like an aeroplane

[@justinvia7506]

Barney brought tomatoes and bread in that bag. In my head I like to imagine Kenji's bacon friend came over and they all enjoyed some BLTs after shooting this vid

[@kankitchen]

Not to ruin the picture in your head, but I headed over to Wursthall after we shot this video--which I still count as a win! I highly recommend the Chorizo Verde.

[@18DSull]

Just got paid so I am gonna do the Kan pre-Order with the signed book. Very excited to get it.

[@danieldinh9911]

5000/10000 stone just came home today, ordered 3 days ago. This video timing is perfect.

[@m_drunk]

notification popped up just after I got my shipping notice from Kan. I'm very excited.

[@gentrix918]

Thank you for making this video, i can't imagine someone better for explaining this.

[@Siloguy]

Try here kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXfLfnqAjs2Mprc

[@jacobestes]

This is rad! I was going to sharpen my kitchen knife tonight, and I always look up a video again on it before I do it.

[@backtofitzgerald00]

THANK YOU! I have been waiting for this for a whiiile. Thanks again!!

[@ggermont]

Sharpening my knives was on my to-do list for this weekend - great video, perfect timing! Many thanks!

[@Craig-ib7gk]

Kenji, if you start with the point below the bolster on the right side of the stone as you're showing, it is almost immediately removed from the grit when you start the draw, and thus gets near-zero tapering (and thus near-zero sharpening). I doubt that is what you want. The point below the bolster should start the draw near the upper far *left* of the stone, finishing with blade tip just exiting the lower far right. And of course, reverse that for the other side. Failure to do this is one of the reasons over time you see a "droop" near the bolster on very old knives.

[@djkim23]

wow i'm here early! i bought some kan knives so been looking forward to this video!

[@Gwyllgi]

Kenji is so supportive of his friends

[@bartman311]

Finally! The video I’ve been waiting for!! Thank you!!! Love it

[@Phoenix-jd4yf]

my whetstones coming in he mail tmr,wow this is a prefectly times vid,thx kenji!

[@j.mccann2166]

Very excited that this dropped just a couple days after i bought my first forged knife. Not as nice as the KAN stuff, but this video has some good lessons. I didn't know about the honing rod issue.

[@Shogunfs]

I actually purchased the basic kit from Kan! Can't wait to get them!

[@Bandichar]

That table is beautiful

[@kaytlinkuns7576]

Great video, Kenji! Would you consider doing a video on oil smoke points and grease fires? I just saw a post on the SE subreddit of someone who was trying to get wok hei and started a grease fire. My partner (who also loves your videos!) also started a grease fire in our house years ago when he was first learning how to cook 😬 because of that I’m always pretty conservative with heat and empty pans.. but I’d love to be more informed!

[@careecaree5341]

for the finnishing pollish you can use leather belt and you rub the knife against it. Shines more and also cleans all the dirt. Is common practice here.

[@X100FlowerSplendorX]

Thank you!! I read your article on serious eats, and ordered a stone, but I've been too intimidated to try. These additional visuals are helpful.

[@MangoTheRetriever]

This is going to be a game changer!

[@cretudavid8622]

Pro tip : just pick a flat stone from the river it works a lot better than you would think. I found one that was arround 2500 grit

[@airwilliam24]

Wish I had a river near me. Some of those stones work really well. Just gotta find a nice one. They don't remove metal really fast but some of them are good as finishing stones.

[@ellemdee276]

I so needed this demo, thank you! I do wish you'd done a before & after with the tomato slicing, but maybe on another video someday.

[@ressalg]

Try warming the strop leather with a hairdryer before rubbing the polishing compound into it. You'll get a nice thin, even coating.

[@Yupppi]

"You have to know it's sharp" like you would do when grabbing a knife :D But agreed, even average market knives start to shine if you learn to sharpen them. It made cooking so much more enjoyable. Like imagine just gently driving the knife through a tomato instead of pushing or sawing, or doing a rocking motion on a carrot that is hard and round and difficult to handle, and the knife just bites it and keeps it steady and cuts through. My kitchen accidents also saw a big diminish after learning to sharpen knives.

[@Basomic]

Very awesome, practical video! I also like that outro with your books and links listed!

[@bunkersurf2779]

thanks could you also make a vid on how to be honing knives?

[@WyattUTFT]

For anyone who wants more info about this, japanese knife imports has a really good KZbin playlist on all the little details of sharpening

[@Farmeraap]

Thanks! Just bought a pair of chosera stones. Great timing

[@russhillis]

I've always been told to run the knife across a honing rod without pressure. Regardless of the steel.

[@omniadoc]

Knife sharpening, some trigonometry, and a cooking channel. KZbin recommendations are working at its best. Great channel though!

[@shadowoftime01]

Okay, thank you for this, I learned a lot and glad I’m not going to screw up my Kans when I get them! I’ve been using a honing rod with my first chefs knife I got not realizing it could damage it (pretty sure it’s a hard steel). Heading over to Amazon to buy some sharpening steel before everyone else buys everything after watching this!

[@martinculkin6701]

Coolest table ever.

[@youknowvin]

Raising the blade 1/4th the height sure enough works for 15 degrees because the tangent (opposite over adjacent) is about 0.25. So raise the blade 25% of the height for 15 degrees. A three to one ratio is actually 18.3 degrees

[@RyanTaylor-pi8gq]

A little advice for you Kenji, try sharpening in sections. For one thing, doing so will allow you to keep pressure over the stone at all times, a substantial improvement over trying to press on the end of the blade and the handle. Pressing on the edges, as you do here, is much harder to control, and could distort the steel during sharpening. Also, there's a lot of misinformation about sharpening angles around on the internet, but the two largest German knife manufacturers, Wusthof and Henckels, factory sharpen to 14 and 15 degrees per side respectively. Believe it or not, knives made with very hard steel (much harder than VG-10) will frequently be sharpened to 8-12 degrees per side! Also, you mention that a single bevel knife should be sharpened 90/10... unfortunately, this is wrong. The flat face (or more typically, concave face) of single bevel knives should remain flat. Look up uraoshi sharpening for more info! If it so happens that you have a yanagi ba that you've sharpened the back of (and it sounds like you might), I have a little shop in oakland that does repair on knives. I'd be happy to try to help.

[@twosenpaiforyou6598]

how do you go about sharpening in sections?

[@connertp]

How do you feel about using a Sharpie or other marker to color the edge and check your progress as you sharpen? Is it helpful to get the feel of having the right sharpening angle or seeing which parts of the blade you may be missing?

[@JKenjiLopezAlt]

Tim Conner assuming you like the angle of the bevel to begin with and want to maintain it, it works!

[@rickwoods5274]

You know, for a little while now, my household has been saying "when COVID is over we're going to have our knives sharpened". Maybe we'll buy a whetstone set and do it ourselves!

[@TrappedinSLC]

There’s also mail-in services if you have a particular knife you’re worried about or if there is some damage you want a professional to deal with.

[@Kellet]

this is my favorite trevor dunn piano cover wow

[@AB-wl1fg]

Would be awesome to watch a video of your knife collection !

[@Matthew-ir1ed]

diamond stones for life :). higher price up front, but theyre less messy, require no surface prep, dont need to be soaked, and they last longer i just use them dry, and then wipe them clean with a bit of rubbing alcohol when im finished with it

[@supernoobaruba]

Thank you!! I just bought my first chef's knife a few days ago and I was hoping you had a video explaining how to sharpen one

[@bebecakes1418]

I need to practice sharpening my knives 😩 I’ve just been switching them out once they get dull. Bad line cook!

[@trenvan5546]

Dude.. you're paid to cook! if your place of business uses a knife service that replaces knives then do it! though I would still do a lot of touchup since they will be simply ground on a wheel and replaced over and over. and those knives will be butter soft. if you can get it done with what they provide I say go for it. if what they have just sucks then I would bring my knife roll and take it home with me everyday. a grinder sharpened knife will be sharp for a while and is good for basic task.

[@bebecakes1418]

@@trenvan5546 my last job there was a gentleman who came by once a month to sharpen knives but the knives would sometimes come back to you even more dull.. he would also take off a lot of material. practice makes perfect i guess and i'll just have to practice on my beater knives :)

[@Iturner72]

I come back here every 6-9 months or so 🤠

[@kinghamy8850]

You’ve taught me so much with your videos thank you😊

[@dawnbrown127]

Oh wow this notification popped up while I was cutting some veg wondering when I should sharpen my knife for the first time

[@TravisRS]

Your comments about honing rods are interesting. My local knife store sells primarily Japanese knives, teaches whetstone sharpening classes and recommends using a ceramic honing rod on all their knives! Wonder what the deal is...

[@kankitchen]

Just please use very light pressure. You should be fine.

[@JKenjiLopezAlt]

Travis Schwantje honing rods aren’t terrible, you just have to be very careful as hard steel is more brittle than you may be used to with western knives where you can really wack them on the rod without much risk. Ceramic rods are a good choice because they are lighter and less likely to smack into your knife blade. But a strop is the safest and easiest choice, unless you have a bunch of mixed knives and just want to keep one honing rod.

[@kankitchen]

@@JKenjiLopezAlt Amen

[@knifenutsdave]

Ceramic honing rods works very differently than the traditional steel honing rods. Ceramic is dramatically harder than the steel of the blade, so you are abrading the edge when you hone on a ceramic rod. Therefore, it's more like sharpening rather than "honing" in the way a steel rod will. For that reason, I don't like it. If I finish on a 12,000 grit waterstone, honing it on a ceramic rod that is dramatically more coarse is going to change the edge characteristic. However, steel rods generally are not as hard as even the most mainstream japanese chef knives in VG-10 steel (I personally haven't seen any japanese kitchen knives hardened to less than 60 HRC) so honing with those won't be super effective, and then there is also the concern of banging the edge against the rod as Kenji mentioned. But also as Kenji mentioned, a strop is generally superior to both once you get the technique down and don't accidentally round the edge. I have a honing steel from Shun which theoretically should be harder than their VG-Max steel (~61 HRC) and it seems to actually realign the edge well, aka it brings back the aggression to an edge that might be rounded or overbuffed from bad stropping technique.

[@TravisRS]

@@kankitchen Thanks! I really appreciate the advice

[@EienHunterIshikawa]

Hi Kenji - I'm glad you're covering this topic and mentioning that we should investigate different methods to find what works best for each person. I recently made some knife sharpening tutorial videos using techniques I learned from sharpeners in Japan. Thanks.

[@farhanfriedman9972]

Strategic placement of your book. It also doubles to help prop up your camera stand to the right height.

[@ronetele13]

Very enjoyable video. Do you keep your whetstones in the water bath between uses? Do you clean them after sharpening each knife?

[@markfagohii8632]

Why do you go back and forth (both directions) vs the one away direction when sharpening the knife on the stone? Does this matter or is it preference?

[@Myoldusernamewasgood]

What's all the water bottles off to the side there for? You making a soup later on?

[@dennisc8578]

Yes, was looking forward to this!

[@pricemccarty7842]

Any updates for home cooks to sharpen their knives?

[@ceremus]

One thing that I learned from someone who went as far as to put a knife under an electron microscope is that the common notion that a steel honing rod "realigns the edge" is a common misconception. What it actually does is remove a tiny amount of steel material as to create a micro-bevel, thus removing any portions of the edge that have been flattened or malformed and restoring the knife's keenness. (Google: "Science of Sharp, Steeling" to find the article). Another bit of advice I've gotten in terms of knife honing is that if you really want to use a honing rod with a Japanese-steel knife, use a ceramic rod. While a honing steel may or may not be harder than the steel in your HRC60 Japanese knife, ceramic is guaranteed to be harder than any knife, and you can verify its removal of material by the dark streaks of swarf left on the rod. Generally though, a leather strop with a fine abrasive compound like Kenji demonstrated is preferable.

[@lafroing]

Have you ever used a diamond stone? I have a 2-sided 325/1200 grit stone. I use it dry, then a strop or honing rod.

[@nubcake67]

What if your knife is serrated? Such as a bread knife?

[@ninnusridhar]

While I don't have proper strops I literally use an old leather belt. Along with my 500-800-1000 grit whetstones I've had more fun cooking than ever before

[@chadrudolph1596]

King Deluxe 300 can crack if you soak it. It is a splash and go, in the Neo line. The red Kings are soakers.

[@Septimius]

That camera on the tripod has a lens with barrel distorion, so the whetstone appears curved and I was so confused for a moment.

[@matt_wilson]

Thank you for this video. I have a stone for my Misen knife and also have a rod. I've been afraid of the stone but think I can manage after watching this

[@brendanwang106]

ive been waiting for this video! thanks kenji:)

[@EthanDyTioco]

the last frame :^D !

[@skylarkesselring6075]

Kenji your videos are great man. i hope you got more bagel content planned :)

[@marcolosada3463]

Is there anything you have to do differently when sharpening a meat cleaver? Or any other knife meant to go through bone?

[@Errhhk]

those will get dull regardless

[@lightfire33]

much larger angle, no less than 30 degrees. (you don't need a razorblade to cut bone, you need strength e.g. more steel)

[@666louis]

what lightfire33 said, but if you just follow the existing angle it's your easiest bet. E.g. try the sharpie method. Paint the edge black with a sharpie and try a few strokes and see whether you're matching the original angle. Also take note how that feels during sharpening and the sound on the whetstone. It changes as well if you match the angle.

[@ThePixarLamp]

I like that you listen

[@msb6100]

oops, i've been honing my Kan knife with a ceramic rod. I'll hit it with the strop in future. Thanks for the vid.

[@justsilver9779]

Very informative. Can you please do a few more sharpening demonstrations?

[@ChiefSteef]

Kenji if i could only buy one whetstone grit, what grit would you recommend?

[@JKenjiLopezAlt]

Depends on the steel but I’d say 800 or 1k for most uses.

[@ChiefSteef]

@@JKenjiLopezAlt Oh I just saw this reply. Thanks for taking the time to answer!

[@cellobarney]

The website is up this time! :)

[@zga042]

I notice your stroke doesn't involve the very tip. is this intentional? or do you work on the tip separately

[@BjarturMortensen]

I think they kind of addressed it in the video, but would it be a mistake to purchase an expensive knife as my first kitchen knife and sharpen it (when it gets dull)? Or should one first try using and sharpening cheap knives before moving on to an expensive one? I am about to purchase my first knife (will be living by myself but I have used chefs knives for many years but not very good/sharp ones) and I'm considering a Zwilling Professional S, which I see as an expensive knife. Should I purchase a cheap one first? Anyone have any thoughts?

[@Passionforfoodrecipes]

I thought I could grind out a food pun about knives here.. But I'd probably get too many *cutting remarks.*

[@vinnygi]

Edgy humor, I love it!

[@bijuchacko1149]

You're whetting my appetite for puns.

[@lz_377]

You must have a sharp mind!

[@chrismurphy3683]

This joke left a pretty bad tang on the palate

[@vinnygi]

Chris Murphy -perhaps I can try to bolster your confidence in our humor.

[@majesticseeotter_45]

What whetstones do you have?